Things to know: 1. Admission is for up to 100 people for an hour and a half. If you arrive at a random time, you may not have a place. 2. Admission costs 10 euros per adult, less for children and the elderly, and there are also lockers for storing for 2 euros per unit. 3. There are 4 pools with varying heights from knee to thigh at the temperature of a jacuzzi and another pool with a waterfall at the temperature of a shower. 4. You can purchase tickets for viewing only without bathing. 5. The experience is pleasant and a little crowded, but not too much, thanks to the restrictions. There are plenty of toilets and changing rooms.

I loved the free parking lot of this place, there are two roosters walking around that really love some attention. You can take some nice pictures of these gorgeous animals, but becarefull, m they have a suspicious look in their eyes. They even convinced me of feeding them a banana, after which they fell in love with me. This makes it hard to leave the place, especially if you are not into long distance relationships with roosters... The hot springs are nice too, very beautiful but very crowded as well. I'd advice to go as early as possible so you can take some nice pictures without people posing. There are also changing cabinets at the top of the site with lockers. They are less busy so I'd recommend to use these to avoid waiting in line.

I had such a magical time at Caldeira Velha, it’s peaceful and beautiful. If you’re lucky it’ll rain while you’re there, really such a cool place. There’s not many bathrooms though, but there’s plenty of changing rooms.

Amazing place regardless of the weather, but even more amazing if you know about these hacks: 1. Book your tickets in advance and, if you can, arrange your schedule so as to visit the hot springs on a weekday to avoid crowds of tourists (the place IS touristy though, so you'll probably be with a lot of other people). 2. When booking your tickets, choose the first time slot of the day (the one that starts at 9.00 AM). 3. Before heading to the park, pack a swimsuit, a towel AND swimming shoes! Ideally, it's better to already wear a swimsuit under your clothes (this will be life-changing for your experience, you will see why if you continue reading). 4. If you plan on taking a backpack with you, make sure to empty it from all things that won't be necessary for visiting the park and leave as many things as possible in your car or at your accommodation. 5. If you've just entered the park and haven't put on your swimsuit yet, you may want to change. DON'T stop at the very first changing cabins you'll see. There are other cabins higher up on the path which are considerably less crowded, behind which there are lockers to store your stuff in. On your way to those cabins, you will find a building with a desk, a small museum and, close to it, another small building with showers. Go to the desk and ask for a lock to close your locker (if you've booked the tickets online, I think it is possible to also mention whether or not you may want to use a locker... and trust me, you do!). 6. After getting the lock at the desk, head over to the changing cabins near the waterfall and get changed. Put your personal belongings in the lockers behind the cabins. A lot of people also put their stuff on the ground near the springs. 7. Head back towards the desk where you came from and take a shower (most tourists don't even see the showers so they don't use them and that might be very unhygienic!). 8. You are ready for a nice bath/swim. Enjoy!

Very cosy, 4 warm medium size thermal lakes. The security staff are not very friendly, and unnecessarly strict and not welcoming, which we didn't appreciate. Other staff members were ok. You also have to pay for hot shower and locker extra money, which is uncomfortable if you pay already quite enough for 1.5h entirence.

Nice and surreal place to take a hot plunge. I thought the pools will be warmer. It is absolutely mandatory to get your ticked a day ahead of your visit

A park with natural spa. Buy tickets online in advance! The price of the ticket was 10 eur for adults, the price for a locker was 2 eur. Lockers are quite old, and do not have much space inside (I put my backpack and my shoes inside the locker). Your ticket is valid for 1 hour and 30 minutes, I suggest buying ticket for the first time slot (from 9.00 am to 10.30 am), at that slot there aren't that many people inside yet, you have a lot of empty parking spaces, and you most likely get an overall better spa experience. Spa has 4 natural pools. Pool at the top is the most beautiful with a waterfall, and the coldest water (water temperature around 24 degreec Celsius). Three pools below are smaller and the water thete is much warmer (probably around 40 degrees celsius, different temperatures on each pool). Close to the pools are two shower cabins, and two toilets (one for males and one for females). You get the keylock for the locker at the wodden cabin by the toilets. I think there can be max 100 visitors at the same time slot in the spa. I recommend visiting the spa, if you are visiting the island, it is really one of a kind experience.

Beautiful lake. Be there before 9 and you can drive in yourself to the parking. We were there at 8 and it was perfect.

Very beautiful view! we were lucky we catch with no clouds! We got the service bus from parking down which is i think 2km down no quiet sure and with bus we got a mini tour in 3 view points and the last view was to the lake.

Update Another visit this time not from the viewpoints but directly from the trails. Just me and nature. Clouds, birds, wind, somewhere piercing blue sky and sun rays. For a few hours no one on the trail. Unforgettable landscape sceneries like from the Lord of the Rings stories and I felt like a participant in the Fellowship of the Ring. Absolutely amazing. Not all trails are available due to bird protection but the one I chose (to be honest part of the section off the trail) was really demanding and treacherous (heavy night rainfall made the ground very soft and there were a lot of landslides). The path to the lake is easy. Further on it is harder but oh so beautiful! ...................... 1st visit. One of the places you must see. Stop and stay here for a while to feel the magic of this place. Photos or words cannot convey what you will experience while being here, standing or hiking the trails. The access road itself and the views along the way are unforgettable!

Nice, but inbetween 9u00 and 19u00 you can’t drive directly to the viewpoints and need to take a paid shuttle (5 euros/person). The shuttle we took (north road up) stopped 3 times, 2 times you had 3 minutes time and 1 time 10 minutes. Which is to be honest quite a rush and nog calm like it should be when watching nature!

100% worth the trip. Just make sure you check spotazores cameras before going there, it’s prone to heavy fog.

Beautiful hike with some steep but well paved inclines. Finding the parking lot is an off-roading adventure but stick through it and you’ll find a smooth parking lot. We met the sweetest kitten on the way back up. He’s so friendly and playful and enjoys gentle scratches and pets! Please bring cat food for him and post pictures in your review if you see him! It nearly broke our hearts when we had to say goodbye after playing with him for 30 minutes. He has a really unique coat pattern so it should be easy to spot little Queijo (what we named the lil fella bc he’s so perfect and everyone loves him).

We parked our car at fabrica da cidade, and then we took a 1,5 hour hike to Lago do fogo. It was a really nice hike through the valley.

An excellent and very easy hike. The waterfall is simply beautiful, even in this depleted version, when a large part of its water is taken away by the hydroelectric power plant. For those who want a little more adventure, there is the possibility of climbing to the top of the waterfall on a very steep hike.

PLEASE NOTE!! The hike to this waterfall is really long and difficult. If you are really afraid of heights DO NOT take the hike tour. We were not able to finish it as it was so challenging. Online is it marked as a hike of 7,5km, but it is 8,4km and for the most part you will be walking on the street. It was not pleasant, not easily marked and we do not recommend it. You can also drive to the waterfall, that would be more pleasant for most. The small part of the hike that takes you through the forest is nice though. P.s. the bridge on the picture is quite high and the person walking behind us was not a fan of heights and did not want to cross the bridge, so keep that in mind.

Very nice waterfall. You can park the car not that far away, then follow the path down the hill. People also swim in the water by the waterfall.

You can’t go all the way down so you need to park your car and travel by foot. Steep paved road going down & back up (which is the hardest part). But it’s doable so don’t worry too much about that. No toilets, no place to change into your swimsuit. Only a little pineapple seller was there. It was quite crowded, and there were people who were doing some adventure climbing down the waterfall which ofcourse made the nice scene a little less nice. Make sure you wear watershoes, the rocks can be slippery! Swimming is nice, you can touch the ground everywhere except for close to the waterfall. Lovely place!

"Beautiful waterfall surrounded by lush nature. The trail is scenic and a bit adventurous, but totally worth it for the views. A great spot for nature lovers!" It was an amazing experience and nature at its best 🏞️

Solid little waterfall with a swimming area available for those interested. We were lucky and got there just before a big crowd of people arrived and the area isn't the biggest so be prepared to wait to take pictures. Also, the path down is paved but it is also steep with ~450 paces going one way - just a caution in case you have limited mobility or physical restrictions.

Great little waterfall. Could be a tough walk down and up for some folks, but worth it. Just follow the roads and you are good.

What a beautiful beach. Very long beach with black sand. Waves were very big, when I visited the beach. I saw people swimming, and there were a lot of surfers there. There are restaurants and toilets at the start of the beach. Also there is a free parking lot there.

One of the best and largest beaches on the island. Perfect for windsurfing, a long walk, or just relaxing on the sand. Big waves, in some places a high sand threshold on the beach but most of the beach with a gentle slope. The scenery of green cliffs, rocks and stones covered with algae creates a really nice beach and also a restaurant/bar and a large car park (free). Just go and enjoy!

The beach is beautiful, with stunning views and a relaxed atmosphere. There’s a large free parking area conveniently located nearby, making access easy. However, the waves were quite strong during our visit, so it wasn’t suitable for swimming.

Amazing views and relaxing atmosphere! The beach has clean sand, great waves for surfing, and stunning natural beauty. Highly recommended for a peaceful escape and unforgettable moments in São Miguel.

Huge beach with lifeguards on duty. Chairs and umbrellas for rent on the beach. A snack bar and a tiki bar at the entrance to the beach near the parking lot, which is free and not full. Beautiful view out over the ocean and of other parts of the island coast. Definitely recommended if you want to experience one of the black sand beaches on the island.

Lovely soft black sand beach about a mile long with life guards at both ends and some nice looking cafes, changing rooms, showers and bathrooms. Chair rentals and surf lessons also available (although waves weren’t really big enough for that today). Plenty of parking.

This was our favorite beach on the island. We often tried to end our day here. Stop by the close by supermarket, get few bottles of wine and some local cheese and head to the beach to swim and watch the sunset. The beach is long with soft send. It's also the local surfers favorite spot and many of them are in the water trying to catch some waves. There's a bathroom and a restaurant on the cliff top.

Beautiful and well cared for.

Beautiful small town on Sao Miguel's South shore. Great restaurants, town square, and cathedral. Typical Azorean village although it's the second largest on the island.

Lovely gardens next to the main town square with many hydrangeas and other flowers, plus a number of pine trees. From the gardens you are able to view the sea, aswell as watch the river running into it.

A nice little park in the middle of the town

Nice place to take pictures in the area of Ribeira Grande.

Very clean and safe to be.

Nice place to spend some time and to relax .

One of the nicest lookouts on San Miguel we have visited so far. We were lucky with the weather, short period of sunshine during rather cloudy and rainy day.

This is such a beautiful viewpoint to hang out. There is a souvenir kiosk at the end of the path. Sunset is also stunning from here.

Must visit during day! The views are one of the most beautiful in the island. You can get there easily with the car.

Nice viewpoint where you can see the coast on both sides. Plenty of parking available, but no toilet facilities.

Amazing view, strongly recomnend visiting, if you are passing by.

Beautiful views, even in bad weather it's worth a visit.

Beautiful view on west and east side of the coast

A really nice tea factory, where you can see the process of making tea. Once you are done with the tour in the factory, you can take a walk through the tea plantation. Then you can go back inside and treat yourself to some tea or satisfy your hunger with an excellent shrimp salad. Before you head to the next location, buy a souvenir to take home to remind you of this place P.s. Even the bathroom has a wonderful view!

When we arrived, the parking lot was full and we were worried it would be super crowded. In the end, it was fine — the place is huge, with a massive plantation and a well-organized factory. You can enjoy a free tour, and I recommend leaving a tip in one of the boxes provided. The staff is extremely friendly, and you can even enjoy a free cup of tea!

It's beautiful place to visit and to try local tea and bakery. Pineapple tea was amazing ! We had a tea and dessert over here and lovely walk around the tea factory. Prices for a tea to buy quite expensive but I would say it's definitely worth it. It is very natural and fresh taste tea, that you will hardly find in the shop. My recommendation to visit here are to try pineapple tea;)

Great to see that this unique tea plantation — the only one in Europe — is so successful. Definitely worth a visit, and the gift shop is also nice to check out. You can buy the tea produced right there. Highly recommended during your visit to the island of São Miguel.

The place is easy to access and visiting for free is unexpected. First good impression Having visited some tea factories in Kenya, I however felt that several steps of the tea process are not really detailed. A video of 3 minutes explains it but it does not feel like immersing in the tea world deeply. On my opinion, it is more like a place to promote tea tourism than giving a knowledgeable idea of tea production and history in Sao Miguel. As you will see, the shop and the restaurant at the end of the visit represent the biggest part of the tour

If you are a real tea lover don’t waste your time. It is exciting to see the only European tea plantation, but trust me tea itself is average. Place is extremely crowded all day long, impossible to find parking and you are walking in a crowd all the time while inside, gets pretty claustrophobic. This place has really good souvenir shop , beautiful postcards selection, local honey, candles etc. very friendly stuff in the shop. There is a lovely hike around the tea plantation as well. This is really Not a must see place.

Great experience and definitely one of the tourist sights worth doing. The walk through the tea plantations is very pretty and enjoyable. Afterwards, you can taste different teas and buy some to take home. We stopped at the café and tried some cookies which were okay, though a bit dry. Despite being quite busy, the staff remained professional and friendly.

One of the best meals I've had on the island. The fresh seafood was juicy and bursting with flavor. I had the ceviche and grilled octopus, both of which were superb! The ceviche was bright and tangy, while the octopus was perfectly tender. The warm atmosphere and attentive service made the experience unforgettable. A must-visit for seafood lovers! Highly recommended!

AMAZING food. I ordered the octopus with rice and the rice it came with was more like risotto and the best thing ever!!! Bright lemony taste. I wasn’t planning on ordering it but take it from me…take the leap! My husband ordered the cut of the day which was a ribeye and loved it. Fries were recommended to us but just okay. Ordered the barracuda which was yummy as well! And the fourth member of the group ordered a tenderloin sandwich which he was pleased with. Carrot soup was just okay. The local cheese appetizer was pretty good as well. Light flavor, but came with a spicy side sauce to help. 100% recommend this place to anyone in the area. Pricier but worth it. The wait was about 50 minutes to be seated but also worth it. Service was top notch.

Besides the large party of drunken, noisy American middle-aged women, this place is pretty good. Service was on point, food was tasty and high quality. Wine and cocktails were very satisfactory. Outside seating overlooking the bay and the surfers catching waves. Go here.

Excellent food by the beach. Pani-puri was superb!! , the cut of the day (flank steak) was cooked perfectly. Some decent vegetarian options (mushroom soup was good and the veggie tako we tried. The risotto looked delicious but we did not try it out). It is more pricey than other typical places but totally worth it IMO View is stunning.

Great spot right on the beach with beautiful views, food and great service. When we went they weren’t taking reservations, but had a simple queuing system with a buzzer which worked well. You can grab a drink while you wait and sit on the terraces or bar area. Octopus dish was superb as was the pina colada! We didn’t get the limpets but they sure smelled delicious.

I have been here twice and both times I had a great time. The first time we were inside, it was the end of March, we took lula a dore, barriga do porco and costela de novilho. The second time, during Easter week, we were outside. During this second time I took a prego de lombo no pao and some lapas to share. The food has always been delicious and the staff is very nice and takes care of everything.

We did not make a reservation, but we could still wander near the restaurant and Santa Barbara beach with the buzzer. We really didn’t have to wait long, maybe 20min, and the rocks are great to climb around on. The restaurant itself is relatively small. The food was amazing though, every single dish. We got the softshell crab sandwich to share. It’s one of the pricier appetizers for one slider-sized sandwich, but it’s softshell crab and tasted amazing! My husband got the beef tenderloin sandwich, which looked like literally a piece of beef in between bread, but the beef was juicy and soft. The bread was crispy on the outside and fresh with a great garlic butter spread. The fries were crispy. I got the grilled octopus, and there was so much octopus considering the rice was also filled with chopped bits of octopus. The flavors balanced so nicely. We (really my husband) ordered chocolate mousse for dessert. I don’t like mouse, but I liked this mousse. Not sure my husband liked that my tastes suddenly changed 😆 The strawberry pieces added a hint of berry flavor and a great crunch, and the mouse was not light like whipped cream and not thick like pudding, almost a truffle consistency.

Nice, clean and cheap place. Delicious breaded chicken salad for only €4. Baguette da casa is also very good.

No menu anywhere ... No way to know what they are offering before being already inside and ready to order... Website also is out of order.

Great place for breakfast and lunch. And while you are there go around the center of Ribiera Grande. The buildings and the gardens are amazing.

First place we ate at when we were in Açores. Amazing coffee and nutritious soup, just what I needed after more than 12 hrs. of traveling to get there.

The staff is so friendly, the price is nice and the food is so good. The perfect place for any moment of the day, you can have breakfast, dinner or lunch… really recommendable place.

Really nice little restaurant that has nearly everything (coffee, soups, sandwiches, toasts, burgers, etc.) for a fair price. The food is good and the service is nice as well.

This place was more than what we could ask for. We were looking for a place to eat breakfast and or lunch and they exceeded expectations. So cheap too! The place was super clean and the waitress was also great too. Sorry I forgot her name. We really enjoyed this lunch and would 100% come back. Stop here! It’ll be worth it!

We found this place almost by accident after seeing a sign — decided to give it a shot, and wow, what a great surprise! It’s up in a beautiful area, close to the thermal baths. We had the clams — super fresh and full of flavor — and a cheese board that was absolutely delicious. Then came the cocido, and honestly, it was next-level. So good! Tried a couple of their homemade desserts too, and they didn’t disappoint. Everything was super tasty, the portions were generous, and the prices were more than fair. Also, the girl who served us was incredibly nice — really friendly and made us feel right at home. All in all, a great experience

You have to go inside to order. There is no table service in the patio! They’re short staffed. We had the stew. It was delicious with some bread. Also the red sangria was excellent. Perfect meal after a long hike. Also, if you intend to go to thw hot springs after, make sure they’re not full. Sometimes they have a long wait and we should’ve gotten on the wait list while we were eating.

We tried the beef and the cozido, both generous portions. The beef was quite good, cooked with cloves, the stew a nice assortment of vegetables with the meat, all tasty but not exceptional. The slow cooking left everything tender.

We had dinner there today and were very satisfied. The food was extremely tasty and the service was excellent. We will definitely come back.

This was an amazing cozido. We ordered the original and the veggie cozido. It was delicious. Cooked in a hot hole with the heat from the ground.

One of the worst experience I had in restaurant they forgot our table twice and we never had food on our table after 1h30 of waiting. We ordered local beers and had industrial one because they were too lazy to tell us they didn't have local anymore and they also forgot our kid apple juice twice. The other table seems to have good food but I can't relate unfortunately. No apologies, nothing they cared about. Not used to give bad review but that one deserve it.

Would love to give this more stars however when I made a reservation for 11am and it wasn’t clarified that the kitchen would not be open. I am very sad I wasn’t able to try this meal. Maybe this is a dumb tourist thing to say but flagging to others, the kitchen isn’t open until after noon. Beautiful area, just sad timing didn’t work out. In hindsight I would have gone to the thermal spas across the way in the morning, then leisurely walked over for a late lunch.

Great little lunch/dinner spot right on the beach. They had a variety of local dishes & solid pizza/burgers. Overall, it was a nice meal with a fantastic location.

A perfect stop with a stunning view over the beach – a true oasis of relaxation. The food was tasty, and service was fast and polite. While the menu isn't customizable, the dishes offered are good and satisfying. It was a pleasant break during our island tour. A big plus is the excellent GSM signal, thanks to an EU-funded improvement project – even the sign on-site confirms it!

Love this little beach bar/restaurant. Wander in and find a table on the lawn out front looking over the beach. Order inside from the short but well executed menu. Super busy but food arrived quickly and was tasty. One of our favourite spots on our holiday.

For me, it is the best part of the beach. It has a good environment. The bar is over see, which brings you an amazing experience while you are enjoying your drink/s. Sometime there are animals around the tables. You will not have chance to book any table; once you arrive there, you must be agile to find any free tables to sit. The staff does not attend the tables, you must go inside the bar to order what you want. It closes at 7 pm. I would say it is a little bit expensive, but it worth it.

We enjoyed everything. The space, the view, the food, the duck and the rooster. Lovely. Thank you

Awesome food! And the vibe.. oh the vibe… I really really enjoyed this terrace. Totally recommend!

Absolutely delicious! The shrimp were fresh and crispy, and the view of the ocean was just breathtaking. It felt like something out of a book — a little café at the edge of the world !