In Madeira, there are quite a few unique swimming pools you can go to. One of these are in the northwestern part of the country, in a town called Porto Moniz. There are natural volcanic formations that are converted into pools. You can find not one but two of these kinds of pools in this town. These pools are also filled with ocean water so no chlorine.
One of them is more natural than the other and the best part is that it's free, with no ticket to enter the pool. Water is usually warm enough so it's not a problem. Sometimes the waves are so high and rough that they will roll into the pools, in this case, they mostly close them down because it's dangerous. You don't want to get swept into the ocean itself there.
The location is quite scenic, just check out the photo below.
The waves there really are rough. Here are a couple of more photos of the surrounding water action.
The other pool is not entirely natural and has some constructed pools with smooth bottoms and so on. To enter this one, it requires a ticket. I only visited the free one you see in the first photo. Oh yeah, be prepared to see some scorpions, they can mostly be found on nearby rocks. If you are afraid of them, it's not probably the best location to swim for you.
Here you can see the second pool.
I also have a photo taken from another angle, higher up the cliff next to this town. Here you can see the natural pool far down below. This shot is taken on another day.
The road to get to Porto Moniz can be pretty steep so you are in for a wild ride. Here are a couple of photos taken on the road that leads there.
I will also leave this photo here. It's not taken in Porto Moniz but nearby. A scenic location where you can see most of the northern side of Madeira island.
If you ever travel to Madeira then I strongly advise you to check out these pools. Even if you prefer not to swim in there, it's still a unique sight to see yourself.
Don't forget to participate in my monthly weather guessing game here and you might win 10 HIVE. The game is open until the 17th of March.
