Four rounds. Two islands. One week in October.
Nothing to plan, with people worth knowing.
Four rounds. Two islands. One week in October.
Nothing to plan, with people worth knowing.
Golf has given me everything. The friends, the places I never would have ended up in, the conversations you only really have four hours into a round with someone you just met.
I wanted to do something away from the usual spots. Somewhere that gets to you the second you step on the first tee. Madeira does that, and most people have no idea how special it is.
So here's the week. Four rounds across the island and over on Porto Santo, courses that hang off cliffs above the Atlantic. Spectacular settings, challenging winds. Days off the course too: a boat out into open water where the whales are, a drive up through the clouds into the interior, time to wander Funchal. And dinners, the long ones, the kind where the plates get cleared and nobody moves, and you're still arguing about a putt from that afternoon.
I'm getting a small group together who love this game as much as I do. It lands on my birthday, which feels about right. If it sounds like your kind of week, keep going.
Four hundred miles into the Atlantic, closer to Africa than to Lisbon. Most of the people you know have never been. It rises almost straight out of the ocean, green to its peaks, the cliffs falling into the water. A dozen different climates within an hour of each other.
The 7th at Palheiro sits five hundred metres above the sea, the Atlantic below you on three sides. The wind comes off the ocean and does not apologise. You take a breath before you swing.
Some days the course wins. We think that is the point. You did not come four hundred miles into the Atlantic to play the same golf you can play at home.
Golf is why you come. Not all of why you remember it.
A private boat into open water, one of the richest whale and dolphin habitats in Europe. Sperm whales surface here through the autumn, and the captains know where to find them. A long lunch on deck, the island shrinking behind you, the afternoon with nowhere it needs to be.
The road climbs through cloud into the volcanic centre, then drops to a north coast that feels like another country entirely. You walk a stretch of the old levada paths cut into the mountainside, with someone who grew up here and knows where they lead. By the afternoon you understand the island in a way the courses alone would never show you.
Espetada turned over laurel wood, scabbard fish landed that morning, the fortified wine the island gave its name to. The evenings here have a habit of running long, the kind of dinners where the plates are cleared and nobody moves, and the conversation outlasts the golf you played that day.
Four groups of four. Four tee times. Small enough that by day three the trash talk on the first tee already has history to it.
You arrive hardly knowing anyone. At the end of the week you will not remember what that felt like. The drive back arguing about a putt someone missed. The dinner that runs three hours longer than it was meant to. Some of the people who matter most to me, I met exactly like this. That is what I am asking you to come for, as much as the golf.
Alex brings the group. We handle everything else.
You see a week that simply works. Behind it: a Swiss company that designs journeys most people never find. This is one of them.
It is all arranged. Luxury stay, every round, every transfer, the experiences. For one week, the only thing you do is show up.
This is one week of what we do. Come earlier, stay longer, or let us build something entirely your own, here or anywhere else worth going. The trip is fixed. The rest is open.
Our travellers consistently rate us five stars. Read what they say.
We've travelled a lot, but this one felt different.— Maximilian R.
Most of it. The four rounds of golf, the flight to Porto Santo, all necessary transfers, and your stay. Breakfasts, dinners together, the drinks alongside. The days off the course too, on the Atlantic, across the island, through Funchal. And Alex alongside you.
Your return flights to Madeira and the occasional meal left open so you can explore on your own. Visa, travel insurance.
This is for people who love this game, travel well, and are good company over a long dinner.
We read every application ourselves, and reply to each one personally.
Still have a question? A few practical answers just below.
Applying isn't paying, and it isn't a commitment you can't step back from. When you apply, you're requesting a place while we confirm details together, it's the start of a conversation, not the final step. A deposit is what secures your participation on the trip; nothing is binding before that.
We'll be in touch personally to go through the details, dates, room arrangements, anything specific to you, before anything is confirmed. Once you're ready, a deposit secures your place. Everything from there (documents, logistics, the finer points) we handle with you directly.
We'd rather you knew this upfront than discovered it later: deposits are non-refundable once paid, reflecting the commitments we make to hotels and courses on your behalf. But you're not necessarily stuck, if someone can take your place, and both we and the host are happy with the fit, we'll do what we can to arrange the transfer. We also strongly recommend travel insurance, which covers you for the situations we can't.
This is the one to feel secure about: if a trip doesn't go ahead, you receive a full refund. That risk sits with us, not you.
The golf and the week around it: four rounds across Madeira and Porto Santo, the flight to Porto Santo, all necessary transfers, and your stay. Breakfasts and dinners together, with the drinks alongside, and the scheduled days off the course, on the Atlantic, across the island, through Funchal. And Alex with you throughout. What's not included: your international flights, a few hours here and there left deliberately open, so you can explore or relax on your own, visas, and travel insurance.
At a five-star hotel in Funchal, with the Atlantic in front of you and the old town a short walk away. Spacious, refined, the kind of place that's a pleasure to come back to after a day on the course, with the comfort and setup you'd expect at this level. A proper base for the week, not just somewhere to sleep.
Most, but not all, and that's by design. Breakfast and dinner are included on most days, sometimes lunch too. But we leave a few meals open on purpose, so you can wander into Funchal, find your own table, or simply have an afternoon with nowhere it needs to be. The week has room in it, not just a schedule.
Comfortable for any golfer. The courses are walkable (or by cart), and the rounds set the pace of most days. Off the course, the optional bits, a boat day on the Atlantic, walks along the island's old levada paths, are as gentle or as active as you'd like; you can do all of it or sit any of it out. Nothing about the week asks more of you than a good round and a long dinner.
Still have a question? Write to us at info@theoccasionist.ch.