Getting to Porto Santo from Madeira: Ferry or Plane in 2026

You reach Porto Santo from Madeira by the Lobo Marinho car ferry from Funchal or by a short Binter flight. The ferry normally sails at 08:00 and takes about two and a quarter hours, although in autumn 2026 the operator is warning of crossings of about three and a quarter. The plane takes about 25 minutes. The ferry carries cars and is cheaper for families; the plane saves most of a day.

In short

• Ferry: usually one round trip a day, out at 08:00, back in the evening. Visitor return from €58.90 (winter) or €72.02 (summer) plus fuel surcharge.
• In autumn 2026 the crossing is taking about 3h15, and there is no boat from 15 to 22 October.
• Plane: about 25 minutes, small turboprop, the first thing to suffer in strong wind.
• Book the ferry at least a day ahead in summer. Tickets are non-refundable.
• Stay a night if you can. The last boat back leaves before the island’s best light for much of the year.

Ferry or plane at a glance

The ferry in 2026: times, fares and the current delay

The Lobo Marinho, run by Porto Santo Line, is the only boat between the islands. It is a large car ferry with a restaurant, a lounge bar, a cinema, a children’s playroom and a sun deck on top. It leaves from the south harbour in Funchal, the long pier at the western end of the seafront, so from a city hotel you can usually walk or take a short taxi.

Times. On a normal day the boat leaves Funchal at 08:00 and starts back from Porto Santo in the evening: 20:00 in August, 19:00 in September, 18:00 on many days from late October. At the current crossing time that leaves a day tripper about seven to nine hours ashore. The exceptions matter:

• Many Fridays have only an evening sailing, out at 18:00 or 19:00 and back at 22:30.
• Some Sundays and holiday Mondays have two round trips.
• From 15 to 22 October 2026 there are no sailings at all.
• In November and December some Tuesdays and Wednesdays have no boat.

The monthly timetable is on the Porto Santo Line booking site and is marked as subject to change. Check it for your exact dates before you book a room.

The delay. At the start of October 2026, Porto Santo Line’s website carried a warning that, due to technical reasons, crossings are expected to take about 3 hours and 15 minutes instead of the usual 2h15. That cuts an hour off each end of a day trip. Check whether the warning is still up when you book.

Fares. Prices for people who are not Madeira residents, tourist class, 2026, before the fuel surcharge (set each month by the operator):

First class costs more and includes breakfast or a snack. The much lower prices you may see quoted (from €33.90) are for Madeira residents with the travel subsidy.

Day-trip packages. Porto Santo Line’s One Day Cruise bundles the return crossing with optional transfers in Funchal or Caniço, a bike, an island excursion, golf or a jeep tour. The basic version costs the same as a return ticket; the extras add roughly €7 to €50.

Booking. Buy online or at a Porto Santo Line office. Tickets are non-refundable, and changing a date less than 24 hours before costs €5 a passenger. In summer, on holiday weekends and around festivals the boat fills up, and car spaces go first. Be at the terminal 30 minutes before departure with photo ID, or an hour before with a car.

The crossing itself. On a calm day it is pleasant: out on deck, watching Madeira shrink and the flat, pale island grow. You may see dolphins. On a rough day it rolls and people are sick. Take a tablet before boarding if you are prone to it, and stay outside in the middle of the ship.

Flying with Binter

Binter flies Funchal (FNC) to Porto Santo (PXO) under a public service contract, on an ATR turboprop. Binter lists the flight at about 25 minutes, with daily departures in the morning and the afternoon. Fares for visitors change with the date, so compare them with the ferry when you book.

Two things eat into the time saving. First, the airport is at Santa Cruz, east of Funchal, and you still check in and go through security; from the west of the island the drive alone takes most of an hour. Second, wind. Madeira’s airport is known for it (our airport guide explains why), and a small plane on an exposed hop is quick to be delayed. Most days it is fine.

Plenty of people go one way by boat and the other by air, which gives you a fallback if the weather turns.

Taking a car across

The ferry takes cars, and arriving with one means no hire desk on the other side. But many Madeira hire firms do not let their cars cross to Porto Santo, or the insurance stops at the water. Ask before you pay for the car space, not at the harbour. Our car hire guide covers what else to ask.

If the answer is no, you lose little. Porto Santo is small and mostly flat, and Vila Baleira has car, scooter, quad and bike hire, plus buggy tours.

A day trip or a night?

A day trip works on either. With the 08:00 boat you get the beach and a stroll around Vila Baleira, or one viewpoint, not both at an easy pace. And for much of the year the return sailing leaves before sunset, so you miss the island’s best hour at Ponta da Calheta.

One night changes the trip: you see the sunset, you have a second day for a walk such as the Pico Branco trail (PS PR 1) or the climb up Pico do Castelo (PS PR 2), and the timetable stops running your day.

Keep a spare day behind it

Do not put Porto Santo at the very end of your holiday. A late plane or a cancelled winter sailing is a shrug if you have a free evening on Madeira, and a real problem if you fly home that night.

Once you land, our app has Porto Santo’s trails offline, with alerts if one closes.