Santa Catarina Park is the main public garden of Funchal's hotel zone, set on a hillside above the marina with views across the bay. A small chapel at the western end dates from the 15th century; the rest was laid out in the late 19th century and includes ornamental ponds, a children's play area, and sweeping lawns lined with subtropical trees and flowering shrubs.
The park is one of the better places in central Funchal to sit and watch the harbor traffic below. The port handles cruise ships, fishing vessels, and inter-island ferries, and from the upper terraces you can see across to the casino hotels and the Lido complex to the west. It is also a good place to understand Funchal's peculiar topography — the city built up and down the hillside simultaneously, and the park gives you a sense of how it all fits together.