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# The Green Island and the Blue Ocean
- URL: https://tombrewer.co.uk/the-green-island-and-the-blue-ocean/
- Published: 2025-08-29T10:01:22.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-21T09:35:02.000Z
- Author: Tom Brewer
- Tags: Newsletter, #Migrated-1789982889005, #Import 2026-09-21 09:29

### Ponta da Ferraria Thermal Pools

![](https://tombrewer.co.uk/content/images/2026/09/e42b5caa-0bbf-43be-a7ff-1b01f6f5049a_9504x5346-jpeg-1.jpg)

The road westwards from Capelas took us past towns and villages that felt at once rugged and quaint, twisting roads lined with tall trees and hydrangeas in full bloom. Eventually, we reached what felt like the end of the island at Ponta da Ferraria, where the land falls away abruptly to the Atlantic.

The sea was still restless from the passing of Hurricane Erin. Huge swells rolled in, breaking against the volcanic cliffs and thundering into the cove. Bathing here is not a gentle or quiet endeavour. Gripping the thick, weathered rope stretched across the rocks, we held ourselves steady as the waves surged in, trying to avoid being lifted and scraped across the jagged black stone.

What makes this place extraordinary is the heat beneath it. Thermal water, at around 40 °C, bubbles up from fissures in the volcanic seabed, mixing with the cold Atlantic. Locals have known about its qualities for centuries; records from the 16th century describe Ferraria as a healing spa, a place where people came to ease rheumatism and other ailments. Even now, the location carries drama and excitement; a reminder of the elemental forces of fire and water that first pushed this island up from the Atlantic.

As we continued our journey along the coast we paused at the Miradouro da Vigia das Baleias das Feteiras, a quiet lookout nearly 300 metres above the southern ocean. Once a whale-spotting post, used to guide hunters below, it now offers stillness and wide views of the sea and reminds you of the vast expanse of ocean surrounding this small archipelago.

![](https://tombrewer.co.uk/content/images/2026/09/de308857-f41b-4bb4-8a0a-8d4c57d2025d_7836x4408-jpeg.jpg)

### Vila Franca do Campo

Driving east as we hit Ponta Delgada brought us into Vila Franca do Campo, São Miguel’s former capital. The narrow streets demanded a sharp intake of breath as we eased the hire car through, stone walls and doorways pressing in close. We stopped briefly for a simple beachside lunch on the dark sands of the south coast before heading out on the water.

Our whale-watching trip left from the harbour, a rigid inflatable boat powered by twin 300-horsepower engines that propelled us out into the open Atlantic at speed. Within minutes we were in waters more than a thousand metres deep. A pod of around fifty dolphins quickly found us, calves darting alongside the adults, the whole group weaving and leaping in synchronised bursts. Watching them barrel out of the water, spinning and diving with such grace, was mesmerising, a dazzling show of speed and agility.

![](https://tombrewer.co.uk/content/images/2026/09/bb0a7cd4-3f03-4a2a-881a-526ab2febf0f_5546x3120-jpeg.jpg)

The whales were less forthcoming. That, of course, is the reality of ‘wild’ life: sightings can never be guaranteed, and the anticipation is part of what makes those moments of chance encounter so exciting. On this day, the dolphins were the stars of the show.

![](https://tombrewer.co.uk/content/images/2026/09/017ba661-062b-4cea-9850-5dd0804e87c0_8728x4909-jpeg.jpg)

As we returned toward the harbour, we passed the Ilhéu de Vila Franca do Campo, a near-perfect ring of volcanic rock formed by a multi-day eruption approximately 4,000 years ago. From a distance it looks almost like a crater adrift on the water, its outer wall battered endlessly by the sea. The rock here, known as tuff stone, is soft enough to be shaped by wind and waves, and the ocean has almost broken through on its seaward side.

The islet has its own human story. Until 1983 it was privately owned and used for growing vines. Many of the plants that still cling to its slopes were introduced by settlers, including species from as far away as New Zealand. It’s a striking reminder of how much of the Azorean landscape carries the imprint of human hands: of the 200 or so native species, more than 700 have been brought here from elsewhere. Hidden within the rock, a network of natural tunnels runs through the islet’s defences, visited only by the most experienced divers, secrets of the island still kept by the sea.