Simon Calder visits the alluring North Atlantic archipelago in search of adventure

An abundance of altitude helps – as you discover at the pretty hilltop town of Monte, 550 metres above sea level. At the foot of the steps of the Church of Our Lady of Monte, you may feel you have stumbled into a gathering of gentlemen about to go boating or play cricket. In fact, they are practitioners of an ancient and effective form of gravity-assisted transport.

The carro de cesto is not a complex piece of engineering. This exotic conveyance evolved from the same gene pool as the toboggan two centuries ago. A large wicker basket capable of carrying up to three passengers is attached to a pair of wooden runners. Its initial purpose was to carry produce downhill to Funchal more safely and reliably than a wheeled vehicle, given the gradients.

Today the cargo comprises tourists – enjoying the exhilaration of speeding down a series of steep hills using public roads. As with a jet airliner, two pilots guide the craft as it descends. These fit young men are known as Carreiros do Monte. One of them, Arnando Gama, says his passengers tend to react in the same way: “They get very excited before the run, then they go quiet on the way down.”

I speculate that the descendants (as I call them) are inwardly whooping with joy as they glide downhill with a superb view of the capital, Funchal, aboard a fairground attraction that has been released into the wild.

Take the cable car from Funchal to Monte, from where the carros are a short walk. If you’re a solo traveller, you’ll save if you team up with someone else. For more information visit carreirosdomonte.com

For a compact island, Madeira packs some impressive heights – with roads and tracks criss-crossing the island at more than 1,000m. An excellent way to see the scenic highlights is on a 4x4 tour with a company such as Discovery Island. Driver Gil Pestana took me to parts that only the most robust of vehicles can reach.

Madeira was propelled into existence from beneath the Atlantic about 20 million years ago, when volcanic eruptions created an island that later became draped with forest. Some of that raw nature survives, and you can explore it on tracks that have been here for hundreds of years. “Enjoy the mountains, enjoy the forest,” advises Gil. “Makes brilliant photos, brilliant images, stays on the mind for lots of years.”

Discovery Island is one of several providers of off-road adventures by 4x4. A typical half-day tour explores the north and west of Madeira, though other itineraries are available.

When some visitors to Madeira hear the word “drive” they think of one thing: golf. The year-round warm weather combines with dramatic landscapes to make the island a natural choice. One golfer likened it to “playing in Jurassic Park” – only with greens that really are as smooth as a billiard table, and presumably fewer dinosaurs.

The sport arrived in February 1937, when the first golf course opened in the far east of Madeira. Santo da Serra, high and mighty above the ocean. Many luminaries, including former world number one Severiano Balasteros, have played here. I’m more of a kitten than a tiger when it comes to golf. But even when swings weren’t going well I adored the way the course plays on the beauty of the terrain. Enchanting surroundings more than made up for my lack of talent.

Whatever your golfing handicap, the scenery at Santo da Serra rewards everyone equally.

For more information visit santodaserragolf.com

Admiring the Atlantic is one thing – sailing across a slice of it is quite another and adds a new dimension. I set sail for a happy hour or two aboard the good yacht Happy Hour. The skipper, Luis, set a course from the marina in the heart of Madeira’s capital, Funchal.

The original owner of the good ship Happy Hour was a Madeiran gentleman named Duarte, who sadly passed away. But rather than sell the yacht, his family decided to launch a company that reflected his passion for the sea.

Now, many tourist boats sail out of Funchal and provide memorable experiences. But there’s nothing quite like having your own private vessel. There’s a wide menu of options for spending rather more than an hour happily on the ocean: from sunrise and sunset cruises to a full day exploring the south coast of the island – with the chance to see cetaceans, and to visit private beaches accessible only by sea. Or if you prefer, just find your own heavenly Atlantic location.

On a whim, you can choose a patch of blue sea and plunge in. The idea of swimming in open water in the world’s second-largest ocean may not tempt you, but while you are summoning up the courage just remember nine degrees. That’s not the temperature – it’s the distance from the Equator, which means this sapphire blue water is mild all year round. I can see why whales and dolphins are so attracted to this part of the planet.

For more information see happyhourmadeira.com

Making a splash anywhere in Madeira is great fun, especially in the volcanic rock pools in Porto Moniz at the far northwest of Madeira. Here, the raw materials of the island are clear for all to see. The lava has solidified into a superb series of tempting pools – nature’s water park.

You can feel the buoyancy the salt water provides as you drift through the natural sculptures admiring the scenery from exactly sea level. Part of the fun is being showered by spray from the Atlantic breakers meeting the first land they have found after travelling 3,000 miles from North America.

Buses 80 and 139 run from Funchal to Porto Moniz in about three hours, and the volcanic rock pools are free.