Seixal. 🌊 Black beach below green cliffs

I reached Seixal on 10 February 2026, coming down to the north coast from the Fanal forest. It was a sunny day: people were sitting on the black beach and mist hung over the cliffs. I only dipped my feet in, but my husband and our travel companions went for a swim.

In this guide I’ve gathered what’s worth knowing before you visit: the beach, the natural pools, the Véu da Noiva waterfall, Seixal wine, São Vicente and the road where rocks fell several times in 2026. I checked the figures against municipal sources, Visit Madeira, the bathing area regulations and SIGA timetables.

Where is Seixal?

Seixal is a parish (freguesia) of the municipality of Porto Moniz on Madeira’s north coast. 612 people live here; in 1950 there were more than twice as many (DREM, censuses). The name comes from “seixo”, a small willow that grows by streams. According to the municipality, its wood was once used to make barrels for wine, the parish’s main product. The parish stretches from the sea all the way up to the Paul da Serra plateau.

How to get to Seixal

By car

The quickest way is through the tunnels: from Funchal take the VR1 west, then the VE4 via Encumeada to São Vicente and the VE2 along the coast. Finally you turn off onto the old ER101 road to Seixal. That’s about 41 km and under an hour’s drive.

The scenic route, which takes roughly twice as long, goes via Ponta do Sol, the Paul da Serra plateau and the Fanal forest, then down the ER209 to Ribeira da Janela. That’s about 70 km and 1.5–2 hours. The ER105 from Encumeada up to Paul da Serra has been closed since 12 January 2024, so you have to get onto the plateau from Ponta do Sol or Calheta (DRE road bulletin of 15 October 2026, DNoticias).

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1: Above the clouds on the way to Paul da Serra, 2: The Paul da Serra plateau, 3: Til trees in the Fanal forest, 4: Heading down to the north coast. Photos: Ewelina Podrez-Siama 2026

The Porto Moniz municipality only describes a paid parking zone in Porto Moniz itself. By the beach in Seixal there are small car parks and on-street spaces, but it gets tight in summer: in June 2025 residents complained about hire cars parked on the pavements. Come in the morning. I explain how to hire a car in my guide to car hire in Madeira.

By bus

SIGA (Rodoeste) buses run to Seixal. The most convenient is line 340, with no change, but because of the stop in Ribeira Brava the journey takes more than 3 hours (SIGA timetable from April 2026).

If you take the early bus with a change and come back at 17:15, you’ll have almost 7 hours in Seixal. Check the timetable just before you go, because the SIGA website also still has older files with different times.

On a jeep tour

I went to the west of the island on an organised jeep tour. We drove in a convoy of open-top Land Rovers through a eucalyptus forest and over the Paul da Serra plateau to the Fanal forest, then down to Seixal and on along the north coast.

I’ve described the route, the prices and what’s included in my guide to tours and excursions in Madeira.

For lunch the tour stopped at a little restaurant with its own patch of laurel forest, which only opens for groups. The place was amazing, and the espetada was served the traditional way, on a wooden skewer. Sadly, I don’t remember the restaurant’s name. You’ll find similar tours from Funchal, often with hotel pick-up, in the box below.

The beach in Seixal

The beach by the harbour (Praia do Porto do Seixal) formed naturally only a few years ago, next to the marina and the Clube Naval. It has black sand, with green terraced slopes rising above it. There are showers, a bar and kayak hire, and entry is free.

In 2026 lifeguards watched the beach from 1 June to 30 September. It’s the only place in Seixal with the status of a bathing area with lifeguards (Portaria 206/2026). The beach doesn’t have a Blue Flag: in the Porto Moniz municipality only the pool in Porto Moniz has one.

The waves near the shore can be strong. In September 2026 a SUP competition was held here in big swell and heavy surf. In October 2024 a Polish snorkeller got stuck on the rocks in a hard-to-reach spot, spent the night there and was only picked up in the morning by an Air Force helicopter, because the sea made a boat rescue impossible.

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1: The beach in Seixal below the green mountain, 2: Waves on the dark-sand beach in Seixal, 3: Houses above the beach in Seixal. Photos: Ewelina Podrez-Siama 2026

Natural pools in Seixal

The pools by the Clube Naval

Right next to the beach are the pools by the sailing club. Entry is free from 10:00 to 19:00, and there’s a sunbathing terrace with loungers, a bar, a shower and toilets. There are no lifeguards: in the 2026 regulations the pools are listed as bathing water without supervision.

Poças das Lesmas

About 1.5 km further on, by Praia da Laje, are the Piscinas Naturais do Seixal, also known as Poças das Lesmas. Visit Madeira gives an entry fee of €2.50 and a lifeguard since 2024. In mid-December 2025 a storm destroyed the stone wall of the sunbathing terrace and the balconies. Since 10 September 2026 the Poça das Lesmas and Mata Sete pools have been run by the parish of Seixal. I couldn’t find any information on whether the repairs are finished, so check the price and opening hours on the spot.

In 2026 the pools were entered in the 7 Maravilhas de Portugal (7 Wonders of Portugal) competition.

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1: A natural pool in Seixal, 2: A wave on the beach in Seixal, 3: Terraces above the beach in Seixal, 4: The beach right next to the pools in Seixal. Photos: Ewelina Podrez-Siama 2026

Véu da Noiva waterfall

Véu da Noiva, the “bridal veil”, is a waterfall that drops from the hanging valley of the Ribeira de João Delgado stream straight into the ocean. It owes its name to its height and the large amount of water. The viewpoint is on the old road between Seixal and São Vicente, at 115 m above sea level and about 10 m from the tarmac (geosite PM04).

From Seixal it’s 2.7 km: a short stretch on the VE2, then about 100 m of the old ER101. There are 2–3 small free lay-bys at the viewpoint. No official source gives the height of the waterfall, so I’m not repeating the figures from blogs.

Rockfalls on the road by the João Delgado tunnel

The most dangerous stretch of the north coast road in 2026 is right by Véu da Noiva: on the VE2 between the João Delgado and Ladeira da Vinha tunnels. Rocks fell there on 30 March, 5–6 May (the road was closed for the whole morning), 15 May (a police officer was injured), 30 May and 20 August, when several cars were damaged.

On 3 September 2026 the regional government approved a tender for a so-called artificial tunnel (falso túnel), 200 m long, for about €8.2 million. Until it’s built, drive carefully after heavy rain and check the road bulletins. On 15 October 2026 the VE2 was not on the list of closed roads.

Along the roads on the north coast you’ll also see smaller waterfalls running down the rocks, like the ones in my photos from February.

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1: A roadside waterfall on the north coast, 2: A roadside waterfall on the north coast, 3: A cascade on the slope beside the north coast road, 4: A waterfall on Madeira’s north coast. Photos: Ewelina Podrez-Siama 2026

Chão da Ribeira

Above Seixal lies the Chão da Ribeira valley, with laurel forest, terraced fields and stone huts. Since 2022 there has been a picnic park here with 4 barbecue spots, water, toilets and a car park. Walking paths and canyoning routes start from the valley.

From the beach it’s about 6 minutes’ drive on the ER229. After a night of heavy rain on 6 May 2026 it was closed for several hours. On the last Sunday of January the Festa do Panelo takes place here: families cook a stew of vegetables and cured meats in big pots.

Take care on paths outside the official PR trails: on 13 October 2026 a tourist fell about 10 m on the Vereda da Palha Carga in Seixal, and 16 rescuers took part in the operation.

Seixal wine

Seixal is famous for white wine from the Sercial and Verdelho grapes. The vines grow on pergolas right above the ocean, between São Vicente and Seixal. In 2022 the regional government recognised land in Seixal (including Sítio do Lugar and Fajã da Eira) as exceptionally good for these varieties and approved a project for access to the vineyards with a rail lift (resolution 682/2022).

Seixal is not a separate appellation: the DO Madeirense and IG Terras Madeirenses designations cover the whole archipelago. The register of the IVBAM wine institute lists two producers from Seixal: Terras do Avô and Seiçal. A reliable option for a tasting nearby is Quinta do Barbusano in São Vicente: Tuesday to Sunday at 10:00, 11:45, 14:30 and 16:00.

São Vicente

9 km east of Seixal lies São Vicente, a small town at the mouth of a river. Its best-known sight is the Capelinha de São Vicente, a tiny chapel built into a lone block of basalt. It dates from the late 17th century (sources give 1692 or 1694, arquipelagos.pt), and the latest renovation was completed in 2020.

It’s also worth looking into the late 17th-century parish church with its painted ceiling, gilded woodwork and azulejos, and strolling along the new seafront promenade, opened in October 2025. On the hill above the town stands the tower-shaped Chapel of Our Lady of Fátima, from the 1940s.

The São Vicente caves are closed

The Grutas e Centro do Vulcanismo (caves and volcanism centre) have been closed since 17 March 2020. They closed because of the pandemic, but a 2021 survey found that more than 95% of the route is unstable. In August 2026 the new management of the Naturnorte company announced work towards reopening, with no date. Websites that give opening hours and ticket prices are out of date.

Weather on the north coast

The north is noticeably wetter than Funchal. Funchal gets an average of 574 mm of rain a year (IPMA normal 1991–2020), while the station in São Vicente gets about 1175 mm (2012–2021 average, my calculation from DREM data). Porto Moniz, 10 km west of Seixal, gets only about 630 mm. In July and August São Vicente gets about 13–15 mm of rain a month, Funchal 1–2 mm.

IPMA issues wave warnings for the north coast: yellow for waves of 4–5 m, orange for 5–7 m and red above 7 m (IPMA criteria). In December 2025, under a red warning, waves of up to 7.5 m were forecast, with individual waves of up to 14 m. The best time for swimming is June to September: there are lifeguards, the least rain and the smallest waves.

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1: Mist over the cliffs of the north coast, photo: Ewelina Podrez-Siama 2026, 2: The north coast cliffs seen from the jeep, photo: Ewelina Podrez-Siama 2026, 3: Clouds over the north coast in February, photo: Anita and Andrzej Podrez 2025

You’ll find the forecast and a month-by-month comparison on my Madeira weather page.

A day plan for the north coast

1. In the morning, drive up onto the plateau from Ponta do Sol and stop in the Fanal forest. If you’re coming through the tunnels, start at the Véu da Noiva viewpoint.
2. In Seixal: the black-sand beach and the natural pools – in summer ideally before midday, before the parking runs out.
3. In the afternoon, drive 10 km west to the pools in Porto Moniz or 9 km east to São Vicente.
4. Head back to Funchal through the tunnels via São Vicente – about 40 minutes’ drive.

Seixal: frequently asked questions

Data checked 17 October 2026. I’ll check the price and opening hours of Poças das Lesmas under the new operator, and the SIGA timetable, before the 2027 season.