Car rental in Calheta, on the west coast

Delivery saves the first drive of about 49 minutes from the airport. Collection at the airport gives the widest choice: every car the search shows can be handed over there, while far fewer deliver to the west coast. Expect a delivery charge on a car brought to Calheta, and a higher deposit and excess on the west-coast cars than on the airport cars; all three are on the car's page before you pay.

So search Calheta first, then the airport for the same dates, and compare the delivery charge and the deposit on each car. Either way the handover asks for the same passport, licence and card as collection at Madeira Airport.

Calheta itself, Arco da Calheta about 6 minutes away and Paul do Mar 10 minutes away, each a delivery point of its own. Ponta do Sol, 12 minutes east, and Ribeira Brava, 17 minutes, are delivery points too, with fewer cars still. Choose the nearest one as the pick-up place, and check the voucher for the time and the meeting details.

A car delivered on the west coast can be left at the airport at the end of the trip, or the other way round, as a one-way in the search; the price shown includes any delivery charge.

Jardim do Mar is about 8 minutes away and Prazeres 9, and Porto Moniz and its natural pools, at the north-west tip, are 33 minutes up the west side. Funchal is about 36 minutes along the south coast and the airport 51 minutes on the way back, 50.9 km. The mountain road to Pico do Arieiro takes about 63 minutes from here. The times run from the centre of Calheta by the fastest road without traffic; cloud on the mountain roads slows them.

Before you get there, if you can. Fuel stations are thickest in the east of the island. Many stations are open around the clock and some close at 10 or 11 pm; cards and cash are both taken. The car goes back with the same fuel it had at the start, and a lower level is charged at the rental company's rate.

Electric and hybrid cars appear in the airport search on some dates, and the Engine filter's Electro/Hybrid option picks them out. Because the option puts fully electric cars and hybrids together, read the car's own description before booking. Fewer cars deliver to the west coast, so run the Calheta search with the filter on, and if none comes up, search Madeira Airport, where every car in the search can be collected.

A zero-emission, fully electric car pays a lower regional fee: 1 euro for each full rental day, up to 10 euros per contract, where any other car, a hybrid included, pays 2 euros a day, up to 20 euros.

Madeira's secondary ER roads are winding, often narrow and some very steep, with little room to pass; the expressways are wider and flatter. Where two cars cannot pass, the driver who reached the narrow stretch last gives way, and on a steep road the driver going down gives way. If one must reverse, it is the driver nearer a passing place; at equal distance a car reverses for a bus or lorry, and between two cars the one going up reverses, unless the car going down can manoeuvre much more easily. Rental cars may use paved public roads only, so unpaved tracks are off limits.

Bus line 380, formerly 80 and numbered 381 for the return, runs once a day each way between Funchal and Porto Moniz via Calheta. On the 2026 timetable it passes Ribeira Brava at about 10:55, Ponta do Sol at about 11:05 and Vila da Calheta at about 11:25. The return leaves Vila da Calheta at about 17:45 on weekdays and 17:30 at weekends and on holidays, reaching Funchal at 19:40 on weekdays and 18:40 at weekends. The times are approximate passing times, and there is no service on 25 December.

Other west-coast lines start or end in Funchal or Calheta, among them Calheta to Paul do Mar (263) and a Calheta to Arco da Calheta circular (218). No line runs directly from the airport to Calheta.

For a day by the sea, Calheta has Madeira's first artificial sand beach, free to use, beside the town's recreational harbour. Calheta Sand Beach is 100 m long, with about 7,300 m² of sunbathing area and two breakwaters protecting it; it opened in 2004 with golden sand brought from Morocco, and it has loungers and parasols, a bar, changing rooms and first aid.

For the car, the council's car parks include Praceta 24 de Junho and Girassol. Praceta 24 de Junho, in Vila da Calheta, charges 1 euro an hour in 15-minute steps of 0.25 euros; from 1 April to 31 October it opens 08:00 to 21:00 on weekdays and 09:00 to 21:00 at weekends and on holidays, and from 1 November to 31 March it closes at 20:00. A lost ticket costs 10 euros, and the council accepts no liability for damage or theft inside. Girassol, at Sítio da Estrela, charges 0.80 euros an hour and opens 07:00 to 21:00 on weekdays and 07:00 to 15:00 on Saturdays, closed on Sundays and holidays. Paid street parking was awarded to a private operator in January 2026, so check the signs on the street.