Praia das Palmeiras — Attraction in Santa Cruz

Ok let's be honest Madeira is great for adventure, hiking, getting away from the cash-driven world and the possesion, but don't look for beaches here they are in Porto Santo and it's not far away. The beaches here are natural so rather not as in travel agency catalogs. Praia das Palmeiras is a great place to stop and listen to the sound of the waves, for wonderful sunrises with Ilhas Desertas in the distance and that silence without the tourist madness. Right next to the beach there is a playground where kids can safely spend their time and everything in the center of the town, where in winter you will feel like you are in a forgotten town somewhere at the end...

The closest resort in Madeira to the airport, just a couple of miles, which makes it very convenient although it experiences more wind than most other places on the island. Surprisingly, it doesn't suffer greatly from noise of planes landing, considering it's proximity to the runway. It has a promenade, a town square, several decent restaurants and a few shops, including a bank. I would definitely stay here...

Lived here for half a year and the people are really friendly and helping. The beach and ocean are also very beautiful to walk along or dive and see a lot of different colorful fish. There is also a very nice fresh fish, vegetable&fruit market just down the road. With pretty cheap prices and kind people. So a...