Caniço is a civil parish and city in the municipality of Santa Cruz, on the south coast of Madeira, 6 km east of Funchal. The 2011 census counted 23,368 residents in an area of 11.99 km², which makes it larger than Santa Cruz itself, the seat of the municipality, and its building runs together with Funchal's urban sprawl. It was elevated to city status in 2005. Most visitors come for the coast: hotels stand on the clifftop above the swimming spots of Caniço de Baixo, with Funchal to the west and Madeira Airport to the east.
Caniço
- Currency
- Euro, in place of the escudo since 2002. Multibanco and ATM Express cash machines take international cards almost everywhere and mostly charge nothing of their own, while the Euronet machines clustered in tourist streets take high fees and give poor rates. VAT is already inside every price in shops and restaurants: 23% standard on the mainland, 22% in Madeira and 18% in the Azores.
- Language
- Portuguese, spoken here with a heavy accent even by mainland standards. English gets you about as far as it does on the mainland, and an attempt at a few Portuguese words is always taken well.
- Power plug
- Type C / F, 230 V, 50 Hz
- Visa
- Schengen: entry and short-stay limits follow the common Schengen rules.
- Time zone
- UTC+0 (UTC+1 in summer)
- Tap water
- Safe to drink across the country. Bottled spring water (água mineral) is sold everywhere for those who prefer it.
- Tipping
- Not expected, appreciated for good service. Around 8–10% in a restaurant if the service was exemplary, and it is perfectly acceptable to leave nothing if it was not. No tip for a coffee or a cake; €1–2 if you eat a full meal in a café. Nothing in pubs and bars. In a taxi, round the fare up and add €1–2.
- Emergency
- 112
When to go
Shoulder
Apr – May
The slopes above the town come into flower and the coast is warm without the summer fullness, though cloud still sits on the high ground inland.
High season
Jun – Sep
Peak season along this stretch of coast: warmest sea, hotels at Caniço de Baixo full, and the south side sunny while the mountains behind hold their cloud.
Shoulder
Oct – Nov
Rain becomes routine and the interior clouds over, but the coast at Caniço stays mild and the hotels thin out.
Low season
Dec – Mar
The quietest stretch, apart from the turn of the year, when Funchal's fireworks fill rooms across the whole sprawl; Atlantic swell runs harder along the shore.
How long to stay
Caniço works better as a base than as a destination in its own right. Two or three days covers the town, the coast below it and Funchal next door. Give it a week if you are driving out to the north coast, the mountains and the levadas and want a quieter bed than the city offers.
Getting around
Caniço lies 6 km east of Funchal, and the building between the two never really stops — the town has grown into Funchal's urban sprawl. The VR1 expressway runs past it, west towards Funchal and east towards Santa Cruz and Madeira Airport, so a hire car picked up on arrival reaches the rest of the island without going through the city centre. Buses link Caniço with Funchal; check current timetables locally rather than trusting frequencies quoted online, because they shift with the season. Taxis and hotel transfers cover the airport run. The town itself sits on the slope above the sea, with the hotels and the swimming spots of Caniço de Baixo on the coastal strip below, reached by roads that drop away from the main street.
What to see
Destinations in Caniço
Frequently asked questions
How far is Caniço from Funchal?
6 km east. The two are joined by continuous building — Caniço is part of Funchal's urban sprawl rather than a separate place out in the countryside.Is Caniço a town or a city?
A city. It is a civil parish in the municipality of Santa Cruz and was elevated to city status in 2005.How big is Caniço?
23,368 residents at the 2011 census, across an area of 11.99 km². That makes it larger than Santa Cruz, the seat of the municipality it belongs to.Which municipality and island is Caniço in?
The municipality of Santa Cruz, on the south-east coast of Madeira, Portugal. Madeira Airport lies in the same municipality, further east along the coast.