Paul do Mar

The road Lined up and white: stay out. The picture is for that choice, and it is not a map of where to paddle. The bottom is rock. Funchal being sunny and small does not make this point small. Check it before the coast road, which is narrow and slow once you leave the VR1. If you need shops, Calheta and Ribeira Brava are the towns, not the lane above the break. Do not stop in that lane. People in the water on a small afternoon are visible. So is a shore that is already white. Those are different days. Nothing here teaches the take-off. Stand on the wall and watch more than one set. One small wave is not the next wave. If the white water is already on the rocks where you would climb out, the swim is over, even if it is only noon and Funchal still looks easy. Weekend traffic parks in the lane. Leave that lane for the village. A no from the picture means a different bay, Calheta or a south-coast pool, not a walk down to the stones for a better view. Look once more before you drive back across the island. The set that matters is often the afternoon one. Look before you set off, and look again while you can still change the plan. Funchal's sky is a weak guide to the rest of the island. Keep a jacket in the car. Do not leave the car in a lane. When the picture and the town disagree, the picture wins. Ten minutes is a fair second look. An hour can be a different shore.