Alagoa beach — Attraction in Machico

Wish I could rate the (natural) beach (5 stars) and the surroundings (1 star) separately. The beach itself is a lovely place, one of the rare spots on the island with fine black sand (at low tide). Also the breaking waves are always beautiful and it's the only surf spot for beginners on Madeira. The facilities, however, are in a really poor condition. Showers, toilets are practically unusable. Toilets without seat and paper, awful smell. Also the outside of the place is degenerating more and more. When we first visited this place we were delighted by the nicely designed beach front installations, built with government and EU funding. But 10 years later obviously nobody in the municipality seems to feel responsible or have invested a single Euro into maintenance....

The beach is lovely with natural volcanic sand. It's a shame that sometimes the rocks at the beach gets in the way, especially when getting into the sea. The worse thing about this beach is the surfers that come here with classes to teach people, because when they come they cover all of the sea and leave no space for other people to swim. They should have a section for surfers and a section for people to swim because it becomes unfair. And if we go into the water when they are in there we become worried that the surf board might hit us. But surfers don't come all the time it just...

A truly captivating beach where you can ride the waves yourself or simply marvel at the breathtaking performance of skilled surfers dancing upon the ocean, set against a backdrop of majestic cliffs. Don’t miss the chance to explore the old distillery and enjoy a delicious meal in one of the excellent seaside...