Funchal Catamaran Trips: Where to Find the Boat

Where Marina Nova actually is

Funchal's waterfront runs for a couple of kilometres along the bottom of the city, and it does several jobs at once. There is a commercial port where the cruise ships tie up, there is the long seafront promenade, and there is the marina where the leisure boats and the tour operators berth. Marina Nova is the last of these, and it is right in the middle of town.

That central position is the single most useful thing about the arrangement. Most visitors to Funchal stay within walking distance of the seafront, which means that for a great many people getting to this boat is a stroll along the promenade rather than a journey. The absence of a hotel pickup matters much less here than it would somewhere spread out.

Cais 8 and the ticket counter

The instruction from the operator is specific and worth following exactly: check in at the Atlantic Pearl ticket counter at Marina Nova do Funchal, Cais 8. The counter is the first stop rather than the boat, and the catamaran is berthed a few metres away from it.

This matters because a marina full of white boats is genuinely confusing the first time. There will be several catamarans, several operators and a lot of pontoon, and the ticket desk is what turns that into a straightforward five minutes. Look for the counter, give your name, and somebody will point you at the right hull.

Why there is no pickup

Hotel pickup and drop-off appear on the operator's exclusion list, which is a deliberate statement rather than an oversight. The reasoning is not hard to see: the marina is central, most guests are staying nearby, and a transfer round a dozen hotels would add an hour to a three-hour trip for the benefit of very few.

The practical consequence is that you plan both ends yourself. That is easy going out, when you know the departure time and can leave in good time. Worth remembering for the return, too: the boat lands you back at the same pontoon, in the centre of Funchal, with the rest of the day yours.

Getting there on foot

From the old town at the eastern end of the seafront, the marina is a walk of a few minutes along the promenade, and it is a pleasant one. From the hotel district to the west it is longer but still walkable for most people, and entirely flat, which is not something you can say about many routes in Funchal.

The city is built up a slope, so the useful rule is that walking down to the sea is easy and walking back up is not. If you are staying high above the town, going down to the marina on foot and taking a taxi back afterwards is a sensible asymmetry.

Driving and parking

The operator names Almirante Reis as the nearest car park, which sits next to the cable car station toward the eastern end of the front. From there it is a short walk west along the seafront to the marina.

Parking in central Funchal is generally in paid underground car parks rather than on the street, and on a busy day the ones nearest the water fill up. If you are driving in for a fixed departure time, allow more time than the distance suggests.

If you are on a cruise ship

A good number of the people on any Funchal boat trip have arrived on a larger one. The commercial cruise terminal is on the same stretch of waterfront as the marina, a walk of ten to fifteen minutes depending on which berth your ship is using, so this is a straightforward excursion to do independently.

The one caution is the same as for any independent shore excursion: a three-hour trip plus the walk at each end plus a margin is what you need to fit inside your ship's all-aboard time, and nobody will hold the ship for you. Take the earliest departure of the day if your call is a short one.

How early to arrive

Fifteen to twenty minutes before departure is comfortable, and more than that on your first visit to the marina. That gives you time to find Cais 8, check in at the counter, use a toilet on shore if you want one, and board without rushing.

It also means you get a choice of where to sit. Boarding early is the difference between claiming a spot on the trampoline nets and taking whatever is left, and on a boat where the seating is genuinely varied, that is worth a few minutes of your time.

One more practical point about the marina itself: it is a working one, with fuel, chandlery and boats coming and going, not a sealed terminal with a waiting room. There is no departure lounge and no baggage store, so take with you only what you want on the boat for three hours, and leave the rest at your hotel.

Before you book

Before you set out

1. Note the quay number

   Cais 8 at Marina Nova do Funchal. The marina has several quays and knowing the number saves a walk up and down the pontoons.

2. Walk if you can

   The marina sits on the seafront in the middle of Funchal, so from most central hotels it is a walk along the promenade rather than a taxi.

3. Park at Almirante Reis

   The operator names this as the nearest car park. It is next to the cable car station, a short walk west along the front to the marina.

4. Find the ticket counter

   Check in at the Atlantic Pearl desk rather than going straight to the boat. The catamaran is berthed a few metres from the counter.

5. Board and listen

   Boarding is over the pontoon, and the crew give a safety briefing covering the boat's layout and how the swim stop will work later on.