Mosteiros

Where the road leaves the Sete Cidades caldera and drops to the sea, Mosteiros sits on the north-west coast of São Miguel: a village of fishermen and surfers, a coarse black-sand beach and, just offshore, a row of volcanic sea stacks that has become one of the Azores’ defining photographs. The village feels a world away from the island’s resort south, and that is its charm.

Black sand and four islets

The beach of Mosteiros is made of the island itself — coarse volcanic sand, warm in the sun, washed by translucent water. A little way out rise the Ilhéus dos Mosteiros, dark rock islets left by the lava flows that ran from the caldera to the sea, and at the end of the day the low sun sets directly behind them, which is why photographers gather here from across São Miguel Island. The village quay has natural bathing pools among the rocks, and the caldera itself is a short drive back up the hill, at Lagoa das Sete Cidades.

What to see

• The black-sand beach of Mosteiros
• The Ilhéus dos Mosteiros rising offshore
• Sunset behind the sea stacks
• The natural bathing pools by the quay
• The road down from the Sete Cidades caldera

Practical information

Mosteiros stands on the north-west coast of São Miguel, at the end of the road that runs around the caldera from Ponta Delgada. The beach has basic facilities but the water is Atlantic-cold and the currents real: swim with care, bring a windproof layer for the evening light, and drive the mountain roads slowly.

Image credit: Mosteiros Islets, São Miguel Island by Jules Verne Times Two — CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.