The boat is knifing through the steely water of the Atlantic when a fish leaps from the waves. With its fins outstretched, it’s spitfire-shaped, and it flies for roughly 100 metres before descending back into the depths.
More than 86 square miles of the ocean surrounding the Portuguese island of Porto Santo, 30 miles northeast of Madeira, is protected as a Unesco Biosphere Reserve.
The water is abundant with marine life. Earlier in this boat trip around the coast (with a company called Mar Dourado; €45/£38 per adult), a loggerhead sea turtle popped its head out of the water like a periscope.
At just seven miles long and 3.7 miles wide, Porto Santo is 20 times smaller than Madeira’s main island but its size belies how much there is to do.
Porto Santo’s standout sight is its beach – nearly six miles of silky sand. It’s sparsely occupied during my visit, despite its proximity to the capital Vila Baleira. Created by the build-up of broken-down corals and shells over millions of years, the beach is unlike the volcanic black sands and pebble shores found on Madeira, and the reason Porto Santo is known as the Golden Isle.
