"The island of the golden sand " a Porto Santo Island Travel Page by bambino36

João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira discovered the island of Porto Santo in 1418 during the reign of Dom João I of Portugal.
According to records the island was at first named ‘Holy Port’ by its discoverers as they found shelter here from a storm that was chasing them.
Situated in the northern hemisphere on the 32º latitude, its territory of about 42 square kilometres is almost completely covered with calcareous matter, especially on the northern side. It is secured on limestone, which is visible in several places. The island is adorned with peaks, almost all to the north, the highest of which is ‘Pico do Facho’.

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The beach

Being one of the islands constituting the archipelago of Madeira, Porto Santo is amazingly different from the island of Madeira. Whilst lush green predominates in Madeira, Porto Santo is almost stripped of vegetation and the southern coast is bordered by a 9 km long beach of soft golden sand, which makes it a highly esteemed resort area.

Porto Santo is great to enjoy relaxing holidays beacause the island always maintains an air of tranquillity. The moderate climate felt all year round helps a lot too...