Madeira in September: Weather, Sea Temperature, Crowds and Trail Fees

MADEIRA · SEPTEMBER · FUNCHAL · STATION 522

Madeira in September sits between the island’s driest month and a much wetter one. August at Funchal averages 0.4 rainy days and October 7.0. September lands at 3.1, with the sea still in the mid-70s and daylight lasting until past eight in the evening. If Madeira is already booked in your head, the choice left is the date, and the trade is mostly about rain.

One change affects every September trip in 2026. Since January 1, each classified trail on the island, every PR-numbered levada and vereda, charges an access fee and needs a booking. Bookings are made online only, through SIMplifica, the regional government’s portal. Entry comes in 30-minute slots from sunrise to sunset, so the length of a September day sets how many slots there are. Book your trail days when you book your flights (our guide to flights from the US covers the routes).

On this page

• Madeira weather in September79.9°F highs and 3.1 rain days at Funchal
• Can you swim in Madeira in September?Sea at 76.1°F, averaged from daily maxima
• How busy is Madeira in September?Cruise counts, Funchal’s EUR 2 tax and trail passes
• Things to do in Madeira in SeptemberMonte Palace, the Monte sledges, Cabo Girão and Blandy’s
• Two-day Madeira itinerary for SeptemberMonte by cable car, then PR1 after sunrise
• Madeira in September vs August and OctoberHow the three months compare on rain and sea
• Is September a good time to visit Madeira?Who should go, and when August suits better

Every figure here comes from one place: IPMA station 522 in Funchal, 58 meters up on the south coast. High ground on the island is colder and far wetter, and the other end of a coast has its own weather. A clear reading in Funchal tells you little about Pico do Areeiro at 1,857 meters. For the island itself and its other seasons, start with our Madeira guide.

Madeira weather in September: average highs, lows and rain days

IPMA, Portugal’s national weather service, publishes 1991-2020 normals for Funchal from a real thermometer at 58 meters, not a model grid cell. For September it gives an average high of 79.9°F, an average low of 68.7°F and 0.91 inches of rain across the month. A station normal measures the air at one spot where people live. A reanalysis averages a grid square that can blend sea, town and slope, and on an island this steep that blending shifts the numbers.

Measurable rain, 1 mm (0.04 inch) or more, falls on 3.1 days in an average September, about one day in ten. A downpour of 10 mm (0.39 inch) or more comes on 0.8 day, fewer than one a month on average. IPMA counts from those thresholds and US tables count from 0.10 inch, so do not line these days up against a US city’s. On a week-long trip, plan for a wet morning rather than a lost week, and keep an indoor fallback ready: Blandy’s Wine Lodge or the Mercado dos Lavradores.

Only 11.2°F separates the average high from the average low. Coastal nights at 68.7°F call for a light layer at most in Funchal. The mountains change the bag: the Funchal station cannot speak for 1,857 meters, where it runs colder and far wetter, so a warm fleece and a rain shell go in the daypack for PR1 and Pico Ruivo. Our packing list covers the rest.

On September 15 Madeira gets about 12 hours 24 minutes of daylight. The sun rises at 06:50 UTC and sets at 19:14 UTC, which on Madeira’s summer clock, one hour ahead of UTC, means 07:50 and 20:14. Trail entry slots run from sunrise to sunset in half-hour steps, so a mid-September day holds roughly two dozen of them. Dusk comes about a quarter past eight, just after the Cabo Girão skywalk closes at 20:00.

Can you swim in Madeira in September? Sea temperature and what it feels like

Open-Meteo’s Marine API puts the sea surface off Madeira at 76.1°F in September, averaged over 2015 to 2024. That figure is a mean of daily maxima, the warmest reading of each day, so it sits a shade above a 24-hour average and a little above what an early swim meets. August, from the same source, averages 76.6°F, so four weeks on the water has lost half a degree.

Water in the mid-70s lets most swimmers get in without a wetsuit and stay a while. The natural volcanic pools at Porto Moniz, on the north coast, charge EUR 3 for the serviced complex, with changing rooms, a children’s pool, a bar and a first-aid post, open 09:00 to 19:00 in summer. The neighboring Cachalote pools are free and open at all hours. Swim in the afternoon if you want the water nearest that 76.1°F.

We found no wind or swell readings for September in our sources, so we give no surf or sea-state forecast. Porto Moniz faces north and Funchal faces south, and the far end of a coast keeps its own weather. A calm bay in town is no guide to the north shore, so look at the sea on the morning you drive there.

How busy is Madeira in September? Crowds and prices

We found no hotel-rate or occupancy series for Madeira, so we rank no month as cheap or expensive. The seasonal curve we could read belongs to the cruise port. In 2026 APRAM, the port authority, counted 113,839 cruise passengers in Funchal in February and 4,071 in July, with 44 ship calls in February against 3 in August. Its charts, which plot 2025 and 2026 side by side, ran only to August when we read them on September 11, 2026, so we have no September count. Winter many times busier than summer holds in both years.

Trail slots sell online only, through SIMplifica. The Funchal-Monte cable car sells an e-ticket valid for 60 days after purchase, so you can buy it alongside the flights. Blandy’s advises booking its tours ahead and allows free cancellation up to 24 hours before. The Monte sledges take no bookings: tickets are sold on site, for the same day only. We found no data on how many weeks ahead Madeira hotels fill in September, so we set no deadline. Our Portugal trip-cost guide lays out daily budgets.

Funchal charges a Taxa Municipal Turística of EUR 2 per person per night, capped at 7 consecutive nights, so EUR 14 per guest at most. A couple staying ten nights in a row pays EUR 28. The count starts again after an interrupted stay. Children of 12 and under are exempt on production of an ID, as are people with a disability of 60 percent or more. The tax applies to every paid overnight stay in the municipality, whatever the booking channel.

A single classified trail costs EUR 4.50 per person, and the pass ladder above it is where extra money changes a walking September. A day pass for two trails or more costs EUR 9.00, three days EUR 22.50 and seven days EUR 52.50. The three-day pass saves EUR 4.50 over three day passes, the seven-day pass EUR 10.50 over seven. PR1 is excluded from the day pass and costs EUR 10.50 for anyone over 12, so budget it separately.

Things to do in Madeira in September

Monte Palace Tropical Garden stays open until 19:00 through September and shuts at 18:00 from October. Dry ground matters here too: Funchal averages 3.1 rain days in September against 7.0 in October, and the three-person Monte sledge ride does not run in rain or on wet ground. With the sea at 76.1°F, a garden morning and a swim at the Porto Moniz pools fit into one day.

Monte Palace Tropical Garden, at the cable car’s top station on Caminho das Babosas, covers 70,000 square meters of exotic planting, tile panels and a sculpture museum, for EUR 18 per adult. The Funchal-Monte cable car costs EUR 22 return or EUR 16 one way and runs 08:45 to 17:45. Monte’s wicker sledges, the carros de cesto, cost EUR 30 for one, EUR 40 for two and EUR 60 for three, Monday to Saturday from 09:00 to 18:00. Blandy’s Wine Lodge on Avenida Arriaga runs a 45-minute Premium Tour at EUR 23, ending with three Madeira wines. The Botanical Garden at Bom Sucesso holds more than 2,000 exotic species.

In September the garden’s 19:00 close outlasts the last cable car at 17:45, so a late visit means finding another way down. The museum inside still closes at 17:00. At Cabo Girão, the glass skywalk above Câmara de Lobos charges EUR 3 (confirm on site, as we could not reach an official page) and stays open until 20:00 from March to October, 14 minutes before the September 15 sunset. The sea at 76.1°F sits within 4°F of the 79.9°F afternoon high, a gap that widens as autumn cools the air.

The Cachalote pools at Porto Moniz are free at any hour. Children ride or enter free in several places: up to age 6 on the cable car (7 to 14 pay half), up to 14 at Monte Palace with an adult, and 12 and under at Cabo Girão and on PR1. The classified trails themselves stopped being free on January 1, 2026, except for residents of Madeira.

Madeira in September: a two-day itinerary

Make day one a weekday. Start at the Mercado dos Lavradores when it opens at 07:00, before the 07:50 sunrise. Take the first cable car at 08:45 and walk Monte Palace from its 09:00 opening while the morning is cooler, then queue for a sledge, since the office also opens at 09:00. After lunch in town, join Blandy’s 14:00 or 15:00 English tour. Drive west to Cabo Girão for about 19:00, an hour before the skywalk shuts at 20:00, and stay on for the 20:14 sunset.

Give day two to PR1 Vereda do Areeiro. Book the first slot after sunrise on SIMplifica, pay EUR 10.50 and walk 6.1 km one way from Pico do Areeiro toward Pico Ruivo in about 3 hours. Past the Pedra Rija viewpoint the route runs one way only; anyone who continues beyond it finishes at Pico Ruivo, so arrange transport from the far end before you start. If rain sets in or PR1’s status turns restricted, do the out-and-back to Pedra Rija for EUR 4.50 or head to the Botanical Garden. On a Sunday, the Mercado da Penteada opens 07:00 to 13:00 while Lavradores stays shut.

Madeira in September vs August and October

IPMA’s Funchal normals put the three months close on temperature and far apart on rain. The average high drops 0.3°F from August to September and another 2.5°F into October. Rainfall climbs from 0.05 inches to 0.91, then to 3.59, nearly four times September’s total. Rain days track it: 0.4, then 3.1, then 7.0. On Open-Meteo’s daily-maxima average, the sea gives up half a degree each month, from 76.6°F to 76.1°F to 75.6°F.

Shift four weeks earlier into August and you get a nearly rainless month, half a degree more sea and the same 19:00 garden close. Shift four weeks later into October and you take on 3.9 more rain days on average, lose 2.5°F off the afternoon high and lose an hour at Monte Palace, which shuts at 18:00 from October. Cabo Girão keeps its 20:00 close through both months.

Is September a good time to visit Madeira?

Yes, for travelers who want warm water and dry trails on most days: a 76.1°F sea, 3.1 rain days at Funchal and the garden open until 19:00. Swimmers and PR1 walkers come out ahead. September is a weaker bet for a trip with no slack for weather, such as a single fixed day for the high crossing, because the mountains run colder and wetter than any Funchal normal.

If rain is the deciding worry, pick August: 0.05 inches and 0.4 rain days at Funchal, a sea at 76.6°F and the same summer garden hours. If neither island month fits, our Portugal best-time guide covers the mainland calendar.

September is the last month of the year when Monte Palace stays open until 19:00 while the sea still averages above 76°F.

The last word

Book the PR1 slot first and build the week around it, then settle the ride home. The Aerobus to the airport runs 07:00 to 21:00, drops several departures on Sundays and holidays, and no longer stops at stop 9, Terminal SAM. Its fare is not printed on the regional timetable, so call the operator on 291 201 151. Save 112, the emergency number across Madeira, in your phone, and keep the last evening for Cabo Girão before the glass closes at 20:00.

Sources & data for this guide

• September, August and October normals (high, low, precipitation, rain days at 1 mm and 10 mm) · IPMA 1991-2020 climate normals, station 522 Funchal, 58 m · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Sea surface temperature, mean of daily maxima, 2015-2024 · Open-Meteo Marine API · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Daylight, sunrise and sunset on September 15 · sunrise-sunset.org, converted from UTC to Madeira time · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Trail fees, passes, SIMplifica booking, PR1 measures and one-way rule, trail status on Sep 8 · Visit Madeira (official) · checked Sep 8 and Sep 10, 2026
• Cable car fares and hours · Teleférico do Funchal (official) · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Sledge prices, hours and no-booking rule · Carreiros do Monte (official) · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Monte Palace prices and seasonal hours · Monte Palace Tropical Garden (official); several aggregators list EUR 12.50, the garden’s own site says EUR 18 · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Blandy’s Premium Tour · Blandy’s Wine Lodge (official); aggregators listing EUR 18 are out of date · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Cabo Girão fee and hours · several concordant sources, no official page reachable, confirm on site · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Porto Moniz pools · Visit Madeira, relayed by concordant guides · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Taxa Municipal Turística · Câmara Municipal do Funchal FAQ · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Cruise passengers and calls, January to August · APRAM charts plotting 2025 and 2026, higher recent series used; no September count published when read · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Market hours · Câmara Municipal do Funchal, Divisão de Mercados · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Aerobus route, hours, disabled stop 9 · SIGA Madeira official timetable; no fare printed · checked Sep 24, 2026
• We found no wind, swell, hotel-rate or occupancy data for September, and no official event dates for the month, so none appear.

To plan your stay

• Things to Do in Madeira: Trail Fees, Cable Car Prices and Opening Hours
• Where to Stay in Madeira: Funchal, Monte, the North Coast and the Levada Trailheads
• Madeira Airport to Funchal: Aerobus Stops, Timetable, Taxi Cases and When to Leave
• Things to Know Before Going to Madeira: Trail Bookings, Mountain Driving and Late Dinners

Nearby places

• Lagos, Algarve: The Walled Town, the Beaches and Getting Around Without a Car
• Ponta da Piedade: Cliff Walkways, Grotto Boats and the Best Time of Day
• Sagres, Portugal: Wind, the Beaches on Both Sides and Cabo de São Vicente