What it actually is
- Surface
- Pebble (calhau)
- Municipality
- Santa Cruz
The beach below the Cristo Rei statue, at the bottom of a descent steep enough that the cable car is the sensible way to do it. The portaria classes it as limited use.
What the state says about it
Annex IV of Portaria n.º 204-A/2026/1 lists it as a designated bathing water, with a 2026 season running June 15, 2026 to September 15, 2026.
It appears in the “praia de banhos” column, which is how the annex records that assistance to bathers is assured.
What it costs
Free. There is no entry charge.
Getting there
It sits in the concelho of Santa Cruz, which is how the portaria files it.
The cable car runs 10:00–20:00 in summer and 10:00–18:00 in winter. The cliff is steep enough that it is the practical way down and back up.
No official source publishes a fare — not the regional tourism board, not the parish, not the municipality. Figures circulate; none of them is sourced, so none of them is here.
We print no bus route for this one. Route numbers are published here only for the four destinations checked against the operator’s own guides, and this is not among them.
Getting around without a carWhat we could not verify here
Carried over from the beaches page word for word, because you will meet these claims elsewhere with a confident number attached.
- The Garajau cable car fare. The tourism board publishes hours but no price, and neither does the parish or the municipality.