Lido Bathing Complex

Local name: Complexo Balnear do Lido

A ladder and a floating platform let swimmers leave the 49-metre pool and swim in the open Atlantic, with lifeguards watching both.

Lido Bathing Complex is a public sea-water bathing complex on the Funchal seafront, in the São Martinho parish of Madeira. It opened in 1932, closed in February 2010 after the Madeira floods and mudslides, and reopened in late 2015 following extensive repairs. The site has a large saltwater pool, two smaller pools for children, sundecks, showers, changing rooms, lockers, a shop and places to eat. A ladder and a floating platform give access to the sea, with lifeguards on duty over the pools and the swimming area.

Beach

Entrance: €6 adults, €2 under 17. Two sunbeds with a parasol €5.50. Cards and contactless accepted.
Accessibility: Wheelchair-accessible entrance and parking spaces.
Parking: Paid car park immediately outside the complex, plus paid street parking nearby.
Transport: Buses to Berilights/Simplicio P Gouveia (routes 827 and 16) and Porto Bay (routes 1340 and 16), 235–238 metres away.
Hours: Daily 8:30–20:00.

What makes it special

The draw is the way the complex opens onto the Atlantic. A ladder drops from the deck into the sea and a floating platform sits offshore; swimmers climb down or jump in, and lifeguards watch that stretch as well as the pools. The main saltwater basin is 49 metres long, enough for proper lengths, with two shallow pools beside it for children. The water is sea water and is not heated, so it is cold even in high summer. Sundecks run along the front, with loungers and parasols for hire. Outside the busy season the complex is used mainly by locals, who come to socialise as much as to swim.

Good to know

Lockers take your own padlock. Padlocks are sold at the complex and are yours to keep afterwards.
The water is cold. The pools are filled with unheated sea water, and that holds in summer too.
It is loud when full. The pool area and the sundecks get noisy, and some of the loungers are worn and wobbly.
On site: showers, changing rooms, toilets, a shop and places to eat; loungers and parasols are hired for a fee.
Cards are accepted, including contactless, so there is no need to carry cash.

Getting there

The complex stands on the seafront in São Martinho, west of central Funchal. Drivers use the paid car park immediately outside the gate, or the paid street parking nearby. There is no approach walk to speak of: the entrance is reached from the parking without steps, and it is wheelchair accessible.

Best time to visit

Better: the low season. On a visit in early November the complex was almost empty, with a handful of locals by the water and few people swimming.

Avoid: the busiest summer days, when the sundecks fill and the noise carries across the whole site.

Crowds make the difference here, not the weather. The pools hold unheated sea water and stay cold whatever the month.

Things to do nearby

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Sun & daylight

Historical landmark

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Madeira in winter: weather, sea and what to do

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