If you directly landed here, I would highly recommend reading the previous part to get context of the next paragraph. We had just reached Ponta Delgada.
We ran trying to locate the “Moby Dick” counter – the boat we had booked for our whale-watching outing. The payment had to be completed within the next 5 mins. Soon, we got there – on time!
The best spot was at the top of the boat – right behind the whale-spotter and above the captain. This was where the action happened and we wanted to be in the thick of it.
As the boat started along the coast, we saw a lot of jellyfish floating around. The spotter and captain were glued to their walkie-talkies as they continued to get tips from spotters along the coast who had powerful telescopes.
After a few false alarms, the captain finally seemed to have spotted a whale. He raced in that direction and we saw it – a Fin Whale! It was at least 3 times the size of our boat and just a few feet away from us. Here’s the video.
We could see it rising high and diving back in. The captain told us that the higher the whale rises, the deeper it goes and is underwater for many minutes. For a while, we couldn’t figure out which direction it had gone in.
Nam saw it blowing water as it came up to breathe in the distance and told the spotter – who gave her a thumbs up. We clicked many more pics and continued to be out in the ocean while the other boats went back.
The captain was staying back to show us the dolphins! We saw 3 of them chasing our boat and playing with the waves. It was the best feeling!
The captain told us that since his boat was wooden, it didn’t make the annoying metallic sound like other boats. That attracted dolphins and whales to play along the waves left in the wake of the moving boat. He also told us the history of the boat and passionately explained why his family business was much better than the other “commercial” boats.
It was an afternoon well spent! With our hearts full, we headed back to shore.
After lunch, we drove to Ponta da Ferraria – a point along the ocean which had a natural thermal pool. It was a steep route down to the beach which was completely made of solidified lava! We found the pool with steps leading into it. But the tide was in and water was filling up fast inside the pool – it was too dangerous to enter at this point. We sat on the rocks instead and enjoyed the sunset. It was an amazing feeling sitting on that volcanic beach with no one else except us.
We got back to Ponta Delgada and found it covered in festive scenes! It was all lit up and people were celebrating the victory in a football match/tournament. There were stalls selling cherry liquor called “Ginja” in chocolate cups (we could eat the cups after having it!) and churros. We picked up some food from a supermarket attached to a petrol pump and got back to our apartment.
Day 3: More lakes, beaches and hot springs
Ashwin left early to go scuba diving. The rest of us sat home and enjoyed a bottle of port wine till he returned. We went back to Cafe Central, which had become our place for all meals, grabbed a sandwich and ate it outside while enjoying the morning sun.
Our first stop was the Agua de Alto beach – the route was along an expressway (I did not expect to find such a good road on this remote island!). It was a black sand beach and there was not a single person on it – we wondered where the flight full of tourists had gone!
After spending some time enjoying the waves, we headed to Lagoa do Fogo – the Lake of Fire.
The road kept going steeply up and we reached the viewpoint – Miradouro da Lagoa do Fogo. THIS was the most amazing sight so far in the trip – we could see the lake in the crater below and the ocean in the background. Pictures would not do justice to the sight – it was something you would probably see in an animated movie.
We spotted a narrow sand beach down below at the bottom of the crater and decided to get a little adventurous. We trekked down to the lake along a narrow trail. It was just us at the lake-side – accompanied by the chirping of birds and the clear water of the lake inside this giant volcanic crater!
The road continued up until we got to a point where we could see the ocean on both sides of the island. We kept going till we reached Caldeira Velha – a place with natural hot springs and thermal pools. We changed into swimwear and went right in. On the top level was a waterfall. The water was not too cold and we stood below it, enjoying the water. There were other pools with bubbling water and warning signs that they were too hot.
We came down to a pool with manageable temperature and the smell of sulfur. We sat there for a long time as the warm water felt very pleasant compared to the cold outside.
Finally, it was time to leave. We continued driving north towards Ribeira Grande. At the viewpoint called Miradouro do Castelo, we could see the gigantic waves of the Atlantic crashing into the cliff side. The size of the waves was something I’d never seen before – it was the true force of the ocean!
Throughout the day, we were lucky to see amazing and humbling sights. We got back to Ponta Delgada, had dinner and slept.
Day 4: Fly out to Lisbon
Our trip to the Azores had come to an end. We took the early morning TAP Air Portugal flight to Lisbon. It has been the most unique experience of our lives and we cannot wait to come back here!
Suggested changes to the itinerary
We missed visiting the tea plantation which lies in the north east of the island – you can add an extra day to cover that part of the island. You can also add in the town of Furnas and visit the thermal pools there which are quite unique.
Hope you enjoyed reading this one about the most unique place we’ve ever visited. Here are some other adventurous trips we’ve taken:
- How to Get Leh’d – A Non-Adventurer’s Tale (Part One)
- How to have a max weekend in Dubai – skydiving, dune bashing, malls, aquariums and penguins in the desert
Continue with your virtual travel of Portugal blogs here:
- The Azores Itinerary – the volcanic islands in the Atlantic
- Ponta Delgada – Whales, Volcanic Craters and Thermal Pools
- Discovering Lisbon – the food and sights
Do comment below and share your thoughts and don’t forget to subscribe!
6 thoughts on “Ponta Delgada – Whales, Volcanic Craters and Thermal Pools”