The Azores and its lakes

Sete Cidades lake


The Azores are a place of tranquility and inspiration, where the real can easily meet the mystic. The best of Nature is reflected in each landscape and leaves anyone absolutely amazed.

In this place, the craters of dormant volcanoes gave way to lakes hidden in mist, whose legends are still told today by the locals under the mesmerized gaze of visitors. But these lakes can be places of contemplation, as well as the stage for canoe trips or stand-up paddle adventures. There is incredible potential.

The Lagoa das Sete Cidades, on the island of São Miguel, is one of the most iconic in the whole country for its green and blue colors and was considered one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal. But the volcanic craters in this place gave rise to 11 other smaller and more hidden lakes, among them the Lagoa de Santiago, the Lagoa do Canário, the Lagoa Rasa and the Empadadas.

Also on the island of São Miguel, Lagoa do Fogo, part of a Protected Nature Reserve, offers visitors wild beauty and absolute silence only broken by the chirping of the birds that inhabit it. Those who want to venture out can go down to its shores along the outlined path and discover its white sand beach.

Also unmissable is Lagoa das Furnas, so associated with the Chapel of Nossa Senhora das Vitórias, a neo-Gothic building that stands out on its shores, and the fumaroles where the famous Cozido das Furnas is cooked every day. More recently, a point of interest that has attracted the most varied kinds of tourists from all over the world was added to this location: the Grená Park.

On Terceira island you can find the Lagoa Funda, located inside the volcanic caldera of the Serra de Santa Bárbara and which is surrounded by varied vegetation endemic to Macaronesia.

On the island of Pico, Lagoa do Capitão and the mystical Lagoa do Paul, almost always shrouded in mist due to its altitude, together with the lakes of Caiado, Rosado and Ilhéu, form a group of beautiful lakes where birdwatchers can be effortlessly found.

The island of São Jorge offers the lake formed in Fajã de Santo Cristo and the Lagoa da Fajã dos Cubres, which are the only ones in the archipelago by the sea and subject to the tides.

Poço da Alagoinha, on the island of Flores, has already become a place of cult in the Azores. The waterfalls along the green slope and their reflections on the lake make up a unique setting in the world. No less important are the Sete Lagoas, a group of lakes lodged inside the caldera of one of the primordial volcanoes on the island of Flores, whose names relate to their characteristics: Lagoa Negra, Lagoa Branca, Lagoa Comprida, Lagoa Rasa, Lagoa da Lomba, Lagoa Funda and Lagoa Seca.

 

Flores Island

 

On the island of Corvo is the Lagoa do Caldeirão, formed inside the crater of the volcano that gave rise to the island. This immense lake is covered by the Corvo Island’s Special Protected Area of Costa e Cadeirão, a classification that aims to preserve its rich biodiversity.

Fly with us to the Azores and visit these magical places!

To learn more, visit the official Tourism of the Azores website at www.visitazores.com.

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