PR9 Levada do Caldeirão Verde

Unique, easy, and long hike in Santana. Expect to get wet from the tunnels! Bring proper waterproof shoes as they will get muddy. Views were great of the pinnacles but hike was rather mundane. Same view for 5 hours straight

Gorgeous walk. Through a number of tunnels and waterfalls. Get ready to get wet:-) we went all the way to waterfall inferno and enjoyed every single minute of it.

This trail is not so most popular, but it exceeded my expectations by far and turns out to be my favorite hike in Madeira! PR9 was actually a more beautiful levada walk than the PR6, but shhht—let's keep that as a secret between us. The first few kilometers are not the most exciting ones, but hang in there because it keeps on getting more beautiful every step! This trail just felt so raw and natural. It was like walking in the amazon in Brazil.

It was totally worth taking this tour. Not difficult at all, a good recommendation for someone with no experience or a top physical condition. Was also really fun walking through the tunnels, two of them were a bit longer and of course there was no natural light at all. Luckily we had some flashlights with us and made our way through. The waterfall at the end was very rewarding. Had a break for half an hour over there and then we went back all the way down.

Walking the levades today, Parque Florestal das Queimadas to the waterfall at Caldeirao Verde. Levades or little canals were built by hand hundreds of years ago to bring fresh water down to the coast. There are 100s of miles of them. The engineering is amazing, stuck hundreds of feet up on the side of a cliff with drops to match. What they couldn't go round they went through, small handmade tunnels that are well made for knocking your noggin on. Great views and not too steep. 7k out and 7k back so a fair shake at some distance. Amazing to see trout swimming in the little canals, some big enough to eat and fast as lightning.