SNORKELLING THE AZORES

The View from Villa Franca Do Campo islet from Ribiera Das Tainhas

The Azores are an island archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean located almost halfway between the USA and Portugal.  Nicknamed the Hawaii of Europe, there are nine major islands in the group, Sao Miguel being the largest and the most populated. Nobody actually knows who first coined the nickname but it’s very apt given the islands verdant landscapes, tropical flora, volcanic craters and a myriad waterfalls. The combination of which tend to draw the sportier type of tourist to the islands in search of adventure, none more so than Scuba divers. 

The Azores are reported to be amongst the best, if not the best diving location in Europe, with a great many diving and travel companies, along with the ubiquitous diving organisations such as PADI all expounding the islands abundance of marine life. Sharks, rays, dolphins, whales, tuna, barracuda, turtles and the dive disrupting Portuguese man-o-war all compete for the diver's attention with nudibranchs, jellyfish, bonito, hermit crabs, unicorn shrimp and moray eels.   

In fact, so inspired were we with the sales pitch for the islands, we immediately bought a dozen Hawaiian shirts, packed the snorkelling gear and headed for the airport intent on finding out if these wondrous sounding islands with their seemingly limitless dive sites had anything to offer the snorkeller? 

Although there are a number of direct flights available in the peak tourist season most flights from Europe connect to the Azores via Lisbon. There are also direct flights from Canada and the U.S - who knew that? 

Apparently, the best time to dive in the Azores is between March and May, which was disappointing as it was July! Still undeterred by this timing issue we took comfort in the fact that the daily temperature tends to be warmer between June and August but it is worth noting that even at the height of summer, daily temperatures rarely get above 25 degrees centigrade and the sea temperatures are cold all year round so best bring the winter wetsuit with you. Sticking with the weather for a moment, it is imperative to understand that although the Azores have, what is termed, a subtropical oceanic climate. It is in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. This means that you will be often confronted with four seasons in a single day. In fact, so unpredictable is the weather on these islands that the local tourist board have installed a series of webcams at popular sites so you can actually see the weather at a specific site via the internet before travelling there. Which is a cool way of checking if it's worth making the journey. Although, the cameras are not always working very well. 

Now if you’re British, you will be used to experiencing the delights of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter in-between breakfast and lunch but if you're not, you need to be pretty careful with what you pack. Our advice is to think lightweight, waterproof and windproof. You can get away with shorts and t-shirt at times but always, always, have a waterproof jacket or fleece with you as when it rains here it really doesn’t muck about. The islands are also subject to strong winds that appear and disappear with “sunbathing ruining” regularity.  

View of the Islet of Franco De Campo from the natural sea pools of Quinta Velha Das Amoreiras

We flew with TAP airlines from Heathrow via Lisbon to Ponta Delgado the capital of Sao Miguel Island and having managed to be re-united with our luggage without too much hassle we grabbed a taxi and headed for our accommodation on the southern side of the island located in the tiny town of Ribiera Das Tainhas which is just east of the larger town of Vila Franco De Campo. Now when we say just east, we initially thought that whatever amenities were not available in Ribiera Das Tainhas, it would be only a short walk to the larger town of Vila Franco De Campo with its bars, restaurants and main public beach. Disappointingly there was nothing, literally nothing in Ribiera Das Tainhas and owing to a map reading error it turned out to be a long, long, long, long walk to Vila Franco De Campo. A walk that is made even less enjoyable by the fact it is downhill all the way from Ribiera Das Tainhas and consequently, after food and beer, uphill all the way back! 

Added to this is the narrow, badly illuminated roads between the two towns and the inherent danger of the local’s driving skills or lack of them. Now this lack of driving sense is something that we have experienced on other islands and appears to be directly proportional to how laid back the local inhabitants claim their island is. The more laid-back, relaxed “manana attitude” that is purported to exist on the island the more likely it is that the locals will drive like maniacs when they get behind the wheel. It’s an odd phenomenon but we’ve seen it throughout the Greek Islands, Spain, Italy, the Canary Islands, Porto Santo and beyond.   

In short, if your waiter takes an hour to bring you the menu and seems so laid-back, he almost appears asleep, there’s a good chance that he has lead feet in more ways than one and is consequently quite incapable of driving any vehicle below its top speed at any point, even when parking! It's also why, no matter what island you are on, you will never see a local's car without several large dents in the side, nicely complemented by a dozen deep scratches and a wing mirror held on by gaffer tape.  

The locals need to get to get from one place where they can be laid-back to another place they can be laid-back is so imperative that safety, common sense and the aesthetic pleasure of owning an intact car are literally lost in a fog of brake fumes and tyre smoke. The upshot of this that we were going to need a car to travel between the two locations as walking wasn’t really an option and whoever was going to be driving would need their wits about them at all times.  

In fact, putting aside the locals apparent need to head out of this world in a blaze of burning rubber and the concerns of being on the same road as them, you are almost certainly going to need to hire a vehicle on the islands as public transport is limited and the local taxis are scarce and quite expensive.  

Fortunately for us, we visited Villa Franco De Campo on the first evening and found that apart from one reasonable restaurant the whole place was rather shabby. Graffiti seemed to adorn every wall and whole place had a lonely, unloved feel about it. This then settled the argument about who was going to be the designated driver for the evenings, we simply wouldn't need one, as locating the nearest supermarket we stocked up on beer and vittles' and headed back to our apartment intent on cooking our own food and drinking in the comfort and safety of our own sundeck - complete with its own barbecue - for the length of our stay. 

So why did you choose to stay in a place with little or no amenities then we hear you cry? Well, the reason is that our apartment was one of three available in the amazing Quinta Velha Das Amoreiras. Located in 2.6 hectares of banana plantation with swimming pool and more importantly, a private beach consisting of natural, volcanic pools and access to the ocean beyond - a snorkelling location par excellence.  The next morning, fed, watered and rested from the trials of travel, we headed down to our private beach to find out what the underwater world of the Azores had to offer.  

The path down to the private beach via the banana plantation

The Azores like the Canaries are volcanic in origin and consequently their beaches are made up of black sand. Now sand is a visibility killer in all but the calmest of seas, but black sand and Atlantic waves can reduce visibility to a few feet at best, so you need to take note of the weather conditions hours before you plan on going into the water.  

We experienced several days of high winds and strong waves, so visibility was compromised for most of the days we were in the water none the less the Azores did not disappoint. Barely a metre offshore we came across huge shoals of brightly coloured parrotfish gorging on algae covered rocks. Mingling amongst the parrotfish we saw grey triggerfish, seabream and below, lurking amongst the rocks, one of the largest Moray eels we’ve seen anywhere. When the visibility became too poor, we headed back into the relative comfort of the natural rock pools whose walls bloomed with anemones and fan worms. Atlantic prawns and blennies flitted between nooks and crevices whilst shoals of juvenile fish huddled together for safety in the darkest corners of the pools. 

 

Molly Miller Blenny

Parrotfish shoals

Disappointingly we didn’t see any of the larger species that inhabit the Azores but for those who are happy to spend some cash and join a guided snorkelling tour, there is the islet of Vila Franco which is visible from its namesake of Vila Franca De Campo. There are a number of companies that offer trips out to this islet which is a designated marine reserve and although we have mixed views about snorkelling tour groups and their providers, we would suggest that given the conditions in the Azores, a guided tour maybe the best option for the novice snorkeller. 

As for off the beach snorkelling, we would recommend the public beach at Ribiera Das Tainhas as this has a rockier terrain than most of the other beaches and is therefore more to our tastes. As we had our own beach to use, we didn’t try out any of the other sites on the North of the island and we deliberately avoided the public beaches at Vila Franco De Campo and the capital of Ponto Delgada which are just swathes of overpopulated sand and, as such, of no use to the snorkeller.  

Grey Triggerfish

Large Moray eel feeding on fish carcass

When the days are too wet or windy, or just for a change of scenery, Sao Miguel has a number of other sites to see and do. We highly recommend the volcanic park of Furnas; There are two sites to visit. The Crater and lake and then the thermal springs and surrounding Terra Nostra Park. The actual hot springs in the town are a tad disappointing, being just a yellowish-brown pool filled with what seemed like half the inhabitants of Germany but the surrounding nature park of Terra Nostra was impressive as was the crater. The town of Furnas is also much nicer than the areas we had seen before and worth a little wandering around, as there are a number of quaint cafes, bars and shops. Furnas is located in the East of the island, a short drive from Ribiera Das Tainhas and approximately 50 km from Ponto Delgado. 

The other recommendation is the most touristy of all; the Setes Cidades lagoon in the North West of Sao Miguel. Yes, this is probably the most photographed area of the island and will be thronged with tourists, but visiting Sao Miguel without seeing this iconic landscape would be like visiting Paris and not seeing the Eiffel Tower or going to New York and not having a chilli dog. It’s just something you have to do. There are two main lagoons that make up Setes Cidades, Lagoa Azul (blue lagoon) and Lagoa Verde (green lagoon). There are 15 other smaller lagoons but the views of the two main ones are pretty much as breath-taking as you can get and worth mingling with the throngs of hikers, push bikers and media influencers who crowd the viewpoints. 

 

European (Mediterranean) Fanworm

Snakelocks Anemone

Common Atlantic Prawn

As for the après snorkel of bars and restaurants? We couldn’t tell you about that as the desolations and despair of Vila Franco De Campo put us off. We drank at the apartment and ate at the apartment and to be fair we’re better cooks than we thought.  So, if you are up for a bit of adventure and happy to cook your own food then Sao Miguel is well worth a visit and we highly recommend staying at the Quinta Velha Das Amoreiras with its private beach, even if it is in the middle of nowhere.  

The lagoons at Setes Cidades

A quick note on hiring a car in the Azores. Check the vehicle out carefully and we mean carefully. We forgot to check that the windscreen wipers worked only to find out that they didn’t when we were caught in a sudden downpour on a hilly road near Furnas. Considering the driving skills of the locals; being blinded by rain when in fast moving traffic and travelling on an unknown road, the whole incident was not a fun experience. So makes sure you check everything out before taking possession of the vehicle.  

Further information:

Lonely Planet Guide click here

Things to do in Franco De Campo if your bored with snorkelling  - as if!