The small island of Porto Santo is the northernmost of the Madeira Archipelago. As the closest point to the Portuguese mainland, and because of the good protection offered by the large harbor built in the 1950s when the island served as a NATO airbase, Porto Santo is a common first stop for boats headed south.
Like the rest of the islands in the archipelago, Porto Santo is volcanic, with cinder cones dominating the landscape. But the 1000-1500’/300-500m volcanic peaks on this island are not high enough to catch the rainclouds carried south by the Portugese tradewinds, and the result is an arid landscape.
Cactus dot the hillsides, and most of the few trees on the island were planted in an attempt at afforestation. A beautiful sandy beach lines nearly the entire south shore of the island.
The year-round population of the island is only about 5000 people, although summer visitors expand that count significantly. Our mid-November visit definitely felt like the off-season – stores and restaurants in the main town were open, but none were busy. And that fantastic beach was nearly completely deserted, despite the sunny skies.
Porto Santo has a fantastic, slow feel, and most of the island is completely undeveloped. Just our kind of place!
