Redefining Rock Pools: The Albatroz Beach & Yacht Club

The Albatroz Beach & Yacht Club, a five-star traditional Madeiran property precariously perched on the Santa Cruz cliff edge overlooking the distant Desertas Islands, boasts entirely ocean-facing accommodation and a sea-level swimming pool to match. The nautical theme is continued through the hotel’s Portuguese-flavoured interiors, with starfish, shells, and various crustaceans dancing on the curtains of my ground floor suite as they billow gently in the coastal breeze, and on the navy and white striped pillows plumped up on my enormous bed.

Arriving just as dusk was beginning to mute the tones of pink in the sky and darken the swirling waters below, I followed a line of inviting lights along a curved wall leading down to one of the most dramatic spots to dip and dive in the whole of Europe, if not the world (Condé Nast Traveller concurs). Even at this time in the evening, the water cradled in the stark white walls of the pool shone a spectacular turquoise, contrasting strongly with the surrounding cerulean shades of blue. Even from this height, I could hear the Atlantic waves crashing against those white walls, at times overcoming the rocky barrier and spilling into the pool itself, showering the rippling surface with salty spray and droplets, and the occasional fish. There is a raw energy and power unique to the Atlantic, originally believed to have shrouded the mysteries of the lost city of Atlantis, and later attributed to the seas stretching beyond the pillars of Hercules into the distant land of the titans, supported on the shoulders of Atlas himself. I dared not make my descent into the depths just yet.

Moving from dusk till dawn, it was not until the following morning that I ventured down the stone steps to take a closer look, just as the light was beginning to brighten the clouds and touch the horizon, reflected off the faraway waves shimmering in the stirring sun. The sea felt calmer now, as if it had not fully awoken from its stormy slumber. Attached to the land only by the volcanic rock from which it was naturally formed, the pool juts out at an angle and is filled continuously by the Atlantic waves. Angular is in fact an understatement when it comes to describing this pool, which adds a new dimension to the term ‘rock pool.’ With clean yet harsh edges sculpting the sides, geometric lines cut the shape of the water into an asymmetrical island, simultaneously floating and sinking into the water with which it is filled.

Not unlike subtropical Madeira, situated on the same latitude as Morocco, the pool possesses a certain ruggedness and coarse charm characteristic to this Atlantic archipelago, with all the dramatic beauty and closeness to the elements that belong to this very special island. A hidden gem off the coast of Portugal, the pool at the Albatroz Beach & Yacht Club is microcosmic of Madeira itself, with an unparalleled proximity to nature and a relatively undiscovered luxury hotel scene.