Santana Cable Car

The cabin leaves the clifftop and the shore comes up in about five minutes. Two waterfalls pass on the way down, and the glazing runs floor to ceiling, so reflections land in the middle of every photograph — except in the left-hand cabin, where ventilation slots in the glass on the waterfall side give a phone somewhere clean to point. At the bottom the surf takes over: water crashing on stone, salt in the air, benches and rocks to sit on. Walk left for under five minutes and the second waterfall is in front of you. The first one is a long scramble away, and the stairs that lead towards it are private and locked off.

• Maintenance closures: the cable car goes out of service for maintenance and was closed in June 2026. Check it is running before making the trip.
• Watch the last cabin: the service window is fixed and there is no road up from the bottom station. Miss the final ride and you are stuck on the beach.
• Facilities: free toilets and a drinking water point stand about 15 metres from the top station.
• Dress for the shore: the beach stays in the shade of the cliffs until the sun comes over them, and it is cold down there. Bring a layer.
• What is down there: a stony beach, a handful of houses and benches. The trip is about the ride, the falls and the sea.

Cars come right up to the top station in Santana, with the parking alongside it. In October 2025 the lot and its access road were closed for renovation, and visitors left their cars on the main road and walked down instead — downhill on the way in, uphill on the way back, which is hard work for anyone with mobility problems. From the station there is nothing left to walk: the cabin does the cliff. A footpath links top and bottom and one-way tickets are sold, so one leg can be walked instead of ridden; the state of that path is the catch.

Better: once the sun has come over the cliffs and the shore is out of the shade.

Avoid: the midday break, when the cable car stops, and cutting it fine at the end of the day — the last ride up is fixed and there is no walking out.

A queue forms at the top station, and whoever arrives early goes down first. Light reaches the beach later than it reaches the top station, because the cliff wall stands between the shore and the sun; before that, sitting on the rocks is a cold business.