Lugar de Baixo: town in Madeira

About Lugar de Baixo

Lugar de Baixo is part of the municipality of Ponta do Sol, with a population of around 336

Lugar de Baixo sits where terraced banana plantations and sunny south-facing cliffs meet the sea, which shapes its layout and its everyday rhythm: fishing, agriculture, and increasingly tourism. Spending half a day here gives a much better feel for the island than only visiting Funchal.

Lugar de Baixo sits right on the sea about 15 km west of Funchal, in the parish and municipality of Ponta do Sol. It covers 0.47 km² and had 336 residents at the 2011 census. The name simply means 'the lower place', given in contrast to Lugar de Cima up in the Lombada da Ponta do Sol.

The settlement was first farmed in the 16th century by tenants of João Esmeraldo, a nobleman from Picardy who held the Lombada estate, mostly smallholders, with some craftsmen and fishermen. Its patron saint is Santo António, and a chapel dedicated to him stood on the high ground where the palace was later built.

That building is the landmark: a vivid pink romantic-style mansion put up at the end of the 19th century as the Zino family's summer house, with the chapel of Santo António attached. The state later used it as Madeira's elementary school of practical agriculture and then as a primary school, and it stood empty from 1976. The regional government restored it in 2002 as an events venue, renaming it the Palacete do Lugar de Baixo, and since 12 February 2020 it has run as the 9-room boutique hotel 1905 Zino's Palace, with a restaurant, bar, heated pool and terraces over the banana terraces and the sea.

Below the road lies the Lagoa do Lugar de Baixo, the only tidal lagoon in the archipelago: a brackish pool held back by a natural dam of basalt blocks, fed by both seawater and fresh water and fringed with reeds. Waterfowl and waders, including migratory species, stop here, and it has long been the island's best-known birdwatching spot; around 30 species have been recorded over the decades. Its condition has varied a lot, with repeated cleaning campaigns and complaints about pollution and spreading reeds, so treat it as a quiet wildlife stop rather than a manicured park.

Lugar de Baixo is also one of Ponta do Sol's three bathing areas. The sea-front complex beside the marina has an adults' pool and a children's pool, a large sun terrace, a snack bar and free parking, and the pebble beach next to it was rated 'excellent' for water quality in 2025. Surfers know the spot for a right-hand reef break that works on northerly swells, over rock, so not a beginner wave.

The marina itself is a local talking point. Opened in October 2004, it was battered by heavy swells within days and rebuilt several times, and it is remembered on the island as one of its costliest public-works failures; the government has since discussed returning the area to nature. Eating here is straightforward and traditional: the restaurants along the ER101 at the tunnel mouth serve espetada, grilled fish and picado, and Ponta do Sol town and Madalena do Mar are both a few minutes away.