🙂 Picnic Under the Palms is pure blissful indulgence!
🙁 Rocky shore exits suck.
We had very prompt and positive response from Mero Diving Centre on the south coast with direct shore entry from the dive base on the beach. We had booked a 10am dive for the four of us and were soon kitted out in equipment which was new and in good condition. We have been extremely spoilt and have dived all over the world in pristine conditions. The dive was pleasant but a little chaotic. We felt that the dive master leading the dive rushed from one place to the other and although we had buddied up with Charlotte and Caitlyn Paul and I lost each other early on in the dive which seemed to break up into two groups.The Viz was not great but we did see a large potato bass, turtle and good fish life on the reef.
Due to the rocky nature of the beach which has rather large stones we found the shore exit extremely difficult and would not repeat that experience in a hurry. Caitlyn had bought an underwater camera on Amazon for about £30 and it took excellent photos and videos!
We were excited to head back to Reid’s where we had booked a Picnic Under the Palms… it was just so special and very relaxing…exactly what we needed… The picnic was delicious and came with so much fizz and wine that we could not even finish it! We all had a snooze under the Palms with a gentle breeze to keep us cool … a Must Do if staying here!
After our snooze it was time to wake ourselves up with a brisk swim in the sea from the diving board at the base of the hotel!
We freshened up for my surprise. We were seated on the terrace for cocktails and canapés before we were collected fro the hotel.
Our ride soon arrived … SURPRISE! We were off to dine at the Forte Restaurant but I had booked a Classic Austin 12 from 1932 to transport us there and back … Paul loved this little twist to his birthday celebrations! We did a 30min tour of Funchal at various vistas for photos .. such fun!
On arrival a musician was playing the guitar – perfect ambiance for a wonderful evening.
Once again outstanding service and food and wine!
We were a bit giddy on our way back to Reid’s Palace with lots of honking and giggling! What a great evening!
Go Back to: Madeira OR Go to Day 8: Hiking OR Go To Day 10: Deep Sea Fishing
