Portugal 
In numbers.
30m
Height
Dec–Mar
Best months
990m
Elevation
The water at 25 Fontes Falls, month by month
It roars from November to March.
The fullest months: from November to March. The thinnest: from June to September.
- 81%Jan
- 84%Feb
- 85%Mar
- 59%Apr
- 30%May
- 11%Jun
- 3%Jul
- 2%Aug
- 11%Sep
- 46%Oct
- 80%Nov
- 100%Dec
Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from December to March.
Estimate from rain, snowmelt and evaporation month by month (NASA POWER, 1991–2020) around the falls. Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Waterfall in Madeira, Portugal
25 Fontes Falls is a waterfall in Portugal. The water falls 30 m.
Getting there.
- Arco da Calhetanearest town · 6.1 km in a straight line
- Parking 1,450 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport (FNC)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 34 km in a straight lineCar hire at FNC airport (Funchal)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- From December to Marchbest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
How big is it?
How big it really is.
Height of the drop from Wikidata. Buildings and the person are drawn at the same scale.
Seen from the sky.
8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.
N
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.
Around the falls the river drops 576 m in 2.7 km. Here the river runs about 217 m below the lower rim of its valley.
What is around.
- 39viewpointsPaul, Risco, Pico do Vento and 36 more
- 15waymarked walking routesPR 6 - Levada das 25 Fontes, PR 6.1 - Levada do Risco, PR 13 - Vereda do Fanal and 12 more
- 7car parks
- —swimming spots
- 25picnic sites
- 3toilets
- 3information boards and visitor centres
- 1bus stops within 1 km
- 3other named waterfalls within 4 kmRisco, Lagoa do Lajeado, Canyon Lajeado
- 15caves
- 9campsitesCaramujo, Estanquinhos, Fanal and 6 more
- 40hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 kmMar Turquesa Guesthouse, Calhau Grande, Enginho Velho and 37 more
- 3restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Arco da Calheta6.1 km in a straight line
- Estreito da Calheta6.5 km in a straight line
- Calheta6.5 km in a straight line
- Canhas8.0 km in a straight line
- São Vicente8.4 km in a straight line
- Ponta do Sol9.8 km in a straight line
- Fajã da Ovelha10 km in a straight line
- Ribeira Brava12 km in a straight line
Weather
The weather, month by month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon °C | 12 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 14 | 13 |
| Night °C | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 12 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 32 | 38 | 40 | 26 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 18 | 38 | 43 | 45 |
| Wet days | 7 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Sun h/day | 4.8 | 5.8 | 7.0 | 8.4 | 8.8 | 9.6 | 9.2 | 9.2 | 8.3 | 7.0 | 5.1 | 4.7 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (990 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Recent years
Wet years and dry years
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 16% | 35% | 21% | 80% | 55% | 219% | — | 37% | 130% | 76% | 88% | 50% |
| 2021 | 249% | 37% | 78% | 36% | 53% | 154% | — | 68% | 65% | 7% | 44% | 73% |
| 2022 | 94% | 79% | 62% | 91% | 53% | 19% | — | 120% | 117% | 138% | 20% | 102% |
| 2023 | 16% | 64% | 15% | 9% | 14% | 246% | — | 110% | 58% | 176% | 50% | 52% |
| 2024 | 113% | 72% | 54% | 33% | 57% | 115% | — | 53% | 15% | 48% | 141% | 123% |
| 2025 | 56% | 58% | 58% | 50% | 96% | 54% | — | 173% | 107% | 96% | 61% | 118% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
25 Fontes Falls
Portugal
- 30 mHeight
- —Average flow
- Dec–MarBest months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q4632165) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Relief, river profile, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Paths, viewpoints, parking | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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