Madeira and Porto Santo
Lost a ring or other jewellery in Madeira
Funchal, Praia Formosa, the Lido, Câmara de Lobos, Calheta, Porto Moniz, Seixal, Machico, Caniço, Santa Cruz and Porto Santo.
Most of Madeira's beaches are pebble rather than sand. The island is volcanic, and the tourism board describes black pebble beaches as predominant throughout the island, while the sand beaches are golden, coppery or black, some natural and some brought in. A ring in pebbles is a different problem from a ring on flat sand, and a ring in a lava pool is different again.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewellery recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch or phone in Madeira and Porto Santo with a metal detectorist who can search there. We have arranged a search in Portugal before. The Lido, Doca do Cavacas and the other Funchal complexes are covered too.
Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach your beach or bathing complex, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
How a search works in Madeira and on Porto Santo
Do two things before you leave the spot. Drop a pin on your phone exactly where you were standing and write down the time. Then take two photographs, one facing the sea and one inland, with something fixed in the frame, a set of steps, a lifeguard post, the corner of a pool. On pebbles this matters more than anywhere.
Send the pin, the time and a photograph of the item on WhatsApp, and the work can carry on after you fly home. We find a detectorist who can reach that spot and brief them with your map and photos. Funchal, Câmara de Lobos, Ponta do Sol, Calheta, Porto Moniz, São Vicente, Santa Cruz, Machico and Porto Santo are separate municipalities, so give us the name of the beach or complex as well as the town.
For something lost in deep water, in a lava pool or off a pier, a diver is the right answer, and we will say so.
Places we cover in Madeira and Porto Santo
- Funchal and Praia Formosa
- Lido bathing complex, Funchal
- Ponta Gorda and Doca do Cavacas
- Barreirinha and the Old Town
- Praia do Areeiro, Funchal
- Câmara de Lobos and Vigário
- Cabo Girão
- Ponta do Sol
- Madalena do Mar
- Calheta
- Porto Moniz
- Seixal and Laje beach
- São Vicente
- Porto da Cruz and Alagoa
- Machico and Banda D'Além
- Caniçal and Prainha
- Ponta de São Lourenço and Cais do Sardinha
- Caniço, Garajau and Reis Magos
- Santa Cruz and Palmeiras
- Levada paths and viewpoints
- Porto Santo and Vila Baleira
- Cabeço da Ponta and Pedras Pretas
- Fontinha and Ribeiro Salgado
Where rings and jewellery go missing on these islands
Six stretches that behave differently, from Funchal concrete to nine kilometres of Porto Santo sand.
Funchal, Praia Formosa and the bathing complexes
Praia Formosa is the largest public beach on Madeira, two kilometres of pebbles and black sand in a group of four beaches, linked to the Lido area by the seafront promenade. The city's four bathing complexes, Lido, Ponta Gorda, Doca do Cavacas and Barreirinha, are run by the municipal company Frente MarFunchal.
Câmara de Lobos, Ponta do Sol and Madalena do Mar
Vigário beach, south of Largo da República, is the main bathing spot of Câmara de Lobos, around 400 metres of pebbles of different sizes. The beach at Ponta do Sol is a small pebble beach in a cove, and Madalena do Mar mixes pebbles with black sand.
Calheta and Machico, the imported sand beaches
Calheta is 100 metres of golden sand brought from Morocco when it opened in 2004 as the first artificial beach in Madeira, with a sunbathing area of about 7,300 square metres and two breakwaters on a slope. Banda D'Além at Machico is about 70 metres long and 100 metres wide, with golden sand also imported from Morocco.
Porto Moniz, Seixal and the north coast
Porto Moniz is known for its natural pools of volcanic origin, formed over thousands of years by cooling lava, with seawater entering constantly. The tourism board gives the bathing area about 3,800 square metres at roughly two metres deep. Seixal has a small black sand beach and its own natural pools.
Caniçal, Caniço, Santa Cruz and the east
Prainha at Caniçal is coppery sand of volcanic origin near Ponta de São Lourenço, and the Dunas da Piedade, dunes with limestone fossils, are at Prainha too. The PR 8 trail runs out along the cliffs of the peninsula to Cais do Sardinha at the eastern tip, where walkers swim in clear water with no lifeguard. Garajau beach, reached by cable car, has calm, clear water that draws divers and snorkellers. Reis Magos at Caniço is a pebble beach with a pier, and Palmeiras at Santa Cruz is a pool area and a pebble beach side by side.
Porto Santo and Vila Baleira
Porto Santo lies about 40 km northeast of Madeira and is reached by the Lobo Marinho ferry from Funchal. It has nine kilometres of fine golden sand, the thing Madeira does not have, with Vila Baleira as its town, and the beaches along it include Cabeço da Ponta, Fontinha, Ribeiro Salgado and Pedras Pretas.
What Ring Seekers does for a loss in Madeira
One person on WhatsApp
You deal with a single person from the first message to the last.
The detectorist gets your map and photos
Your pin, the time and your photographs go out first, so nobody starts on the wrong stones.
Plain about poor odds
A ring loose along nine kilometres of Porto Santo sand may not be worth a search at all. If that is your case, you will hear it from us.
We know how pebbles and lava rock behave
On pebbles a small item slips down between the stones, and in the lava pools it can lodge in a crack in the rock. Telling us which you were on decides how the spot is worked.
Costs before anything is booked
We explain the costs before any search is booked.
Pebbles, tide and lava rock across Madeira
What the ground is made of here and what the Atlantic does.
Pebbles far more often than sand
The tourism board splits Madeira's beaches in two. Black pebble beaches are predominant throughout the island, while the sand beaches are golden, coppery or black, natural or imported. On pebbles a small item can slip down between the stones, and it then has to be found and lifted out by hand. The imported sand at Calheta and Machico and the coppery sand at Prainha are the kinder ground.
An Atlantic tide and the water temperature
Madeira is in the Atlantic, not the Mediterranean, so there are two high waters and two low waters a day and the water level really moves. Tide predictions for Funchal come from the Instituto Hidrográfico, the Portuguese navy's hydrographic institute, and they show where the sea stood when you lost it, which is why the hour matters as much as the place. At Vigário beach the tourism board gives water of 18 to 24 degrees Celsius depending on the time of year, and fingers shrink in cooler water.
Pools, decks, piers and lava rock
Much of the bathing here happens off concrete and rock rather than sand. The Lido, Ponta Gorda, Doca do Cavacas and Barreirinha in Funchal, the pools at Porto Moniz and Seixal and the pier at Reis Magos all mean concrete decks, steps and rock edges. Things dropped there can end up in a crack in the rock or under a concrete edge. Glasses with plastic frames give a detector nothing to read, so they have to be seen.
Questions about Madeira and Porto Santo
My wedding ring went into the pebbles at Praia Formosa. Is it gone?
Not necessarily, but you have to narrow it down. Praia Formosa is the largest public beach on Madeira, two kilometres of pebbles and black sand in a group of four beaches. On stones a ring can slip down into the gaps between them instead of lying on top, so a spot marked to within a metre or two matters a great deal.
What should I do in the first hour at the Lido or Doca do Cavacas in Funchal?
Tell the complex staff before you leave, because the Lido, Ponta Gorda, Doca do Cavacas and Barreirinha are all run by the municipal company Frente MarFunchal. Then drop a pin where you were standing, write down the time, and take two photographs, one facing the sea and one inland, with a set of steps or the corner of a pool in the frame. These are concrete decks, steps and rock edges, so say whether it went into the water, down a crack in the rock or under a concrete edge.
I lost a ring in the sand at Calheta or Machico. Does that help?
It does, because sand is easier ground to search than pebbles. Calheta is 100 metres of golden sand brought from Morocco when the beach opened in 2004. Banda D'Além at Machico is about 70 metres long and 100 metres wide, with golden sand also imported from Morocco. Both are small enough to cover properly. Tell us which end you were on.
My Oura ring came off in the natural pools at Porto Moniz or Seixal
Those pools are volcanic rock, and at Porto Moniz seawater enters them constantly. The tourism board gives the bathing area there as about 3,800 square metres at roughly two metres deep. An Oura ring or a watch can lodge in a crack or a gap in the rock. This is a mask, a torch and patient hands on a calm day.
I lost my ring on Porto Santo and I am back on Madeira. What now?
Be realistic about the scale. Porto Santo has nine kilometres of golden sand and sits about 40 km northeast of Madeira, reached by the Lobo Marinho ferry from Funchal, so nobody pops across for ten minutes. Give us the named stretch, Cabeço da Ponta, Fontinha, Ribeiro Salgado or Pedras Pretas, the nearest access path, and the time of day.
What about an earring or a bracelet at Reis Magos, Palmeiras or Prainha?
Thin jewellery is the easiest thing to lose and the hardest to find. Reis Magos at Caniço is a pebble beach with a concrete sunbathing area and a pier, and Palmeiras at Santa Cruz is a pool area and a pebble beach side by side. Prainha at Caniçal is coppery volcanic sand beside Ponta de São Lourenço, the peninsula at the eastern tip of the island.
Madeira and Porto Santo
Lost something in Madeira? Send the pin and the time
Which beach or complex, where on it, what time, pebbles, sand or water, and a photo of the item.
A marked spot keeps its value after you have flown home. Tell the lifeguards or the complex staff while you are still there, then send us the pin and the time on WhatsApp.