The Porto Moniz natural pools stay open through the winter. That is the municipality’s rule, not a guess about the sea. Ticket prices, winter hours, and the village parking tariff below were read on 17 October 2026 from the municipality’s beaches page and its parking page. The place description, including a car park at the complex, is from Visit Madeira. Where those pages disagree, both figures are given. Nothing here is filled in from a blog.
The pools phone on the municipality site is 291 850 190. The general municipal line is 291 850 180. The contact record for the pools puts them at Sítio do Lugar, Porto Moniz, 9270-095.
What the complex is
Visit Madeira calls the pools the emblem of the municipality: volcanic rock, formed as lava cooled, with the sea entering constantly and the water renewed because of that. The municipality’s English page says you can see local marine life, and that the average annual water temperature is between 20 and 21ºC. That is a year-round average. It is not a winter reading, and it is not a promise for the day you go.
Size, from the municipality’s English beaches page: lounging area approximately 3217 m², swimming area 3800 m², about 2 metres deep, about 7600 m³ of seawater. Visit Madeira’s place page says the solarium is about 3210 m² and the swimming area 3800 m², with about two metres of depth. The swimming area matches. The solarium figure does not. Neither page explains the gap.
On the complex itself, the municipality lists a bar, changing rooms, a playground, a first-aid post, sun loungers and parasols for hire, and lifeguards on constant duty. Visit Madeira also lists a children’s pool, a car park, and access for disabled people. Hire rates for the loungers are not printed on either page.
Tickets
The municipality charges all year, per entry. From the English beaches page:
| Who | Price |
|---|---|
| Over 3 years old | €3 |
| Age 3 and under | Free |
| Municipality card, series SX, RJ or RB, PM, and AC | €0.50 |
| Student card, or card 65 | €1.50 |
| Disability card of 60% or more | Free |
A discount means showing a senior, student, or handicap card. The page says the rest of the rules are at the ticket office. It does not describe an online shop. This guide did not find an official online ticket page on the municipality or Visit Madeira texts read on 17 October 2026. Buy against the ticket-office rules, or call 291 850 190 before you assume a website will sell the entry.
Parking
Two different things are published. Do not merge them into one price.
At the complex. Visit Madeira says the pools have a car park, and access for disabled people. That page does not give the number of spaces or a fee. So this guide does not either.
In the village. The municipality’s parking page says Porto Moniz village has 144 spaces, and that about 70% of village parking capacity is free for residents and visitors. Limited-duration bays, the blue lines, are paid every day from 9:00 to 19:00. The tariff on that page:
- Minimum €0.20
- €0.80 per hour
- €0.20 per 15 minutes
- Coins from €0.05 to €2.00 in the machines
You confirm the expiry time on the machine, print the ticket with the green button (red cancels), and leave the ticket visible on the dashboard. A warden’s notice increases the daily rate by 100%. The page does not say this blue-line tariff is the fee for the pools’ own car park. If a sign at the complex says something else, the sign is the rule.
Visit Madeira’s general island parking hours (weekdays and Saturday morning) are a different page and do not match this Porto Moniz clock. Use the Porto Moniz page for Porto Moniz.
Whether to go in winter
The municipality’s English page says the pools are open all year: 9:00 to 17:00 in winter, and 9:00 to 19:00 in summer. The Portuguese beaches page says the same clock, and calls the longer hours “horário de verão” rather than naming a summer season. Neither page gives the date the hours change. Call the pools if you need to know which clock applies on your date.
What winter does change is the day around the swim, not the fact of opening:
- The published hours are shorter.
- The 20–21ºC figure is an annual average, not a winter water temperature.
- The north coast is not Funchal. Our winter weather guide, weather by month, and Funchal by season are the contrast. The forecast is IPMA.
- Neither the municipality nor Visit Madeira, on the pages read for this guide, publishes a swell rule or a “closed when the sea is rough” line. Lifeguards are described as constantly on duty. That is not the same as a written closure policy. Ask at the ticket office, or call, on the morning you go.
So the official answer to “are they open in winter?” is yes, on the shorter hours, for the prices above. Whether the trip is worth it is the forecast and the sea that morning, which these pages do not decide for you.
Getting there
Visit Madeira’s how to move around page says a car is the autonomous option and that buses, taxis, and ride-hailing also exist. Island bus times are on SIGA. This guide does not copy a Funchal–Porto Moniz departure, because those times change and were not taken off a timetable for this article. Check SIGA for the day, and do not invent a last bus home.
Other water on the same municipal page
The beaches page is not only the paid complex. It also lists, among other spots:
- Cachalote natural pools, by the Cachalote restaurant, free.
- Clube Naval do Seixal pools, free, 10:00–19:00, inside the club.
- Aquarium natural pools, near the entrance to the village, described as volcanic and popular. The page does not put a price on them in the section read here.
Those are separate from the €3 complex. Hours and access can differ. Read the same beaches page before you treat them as interchangeable.
Weekly weather notes: subscribe to Madeira Journal.
Written with AI assistance from official and cited sources. Report an error: hello@madeirajournal.com.
