Hiking Trails

In the Azores, for centuries, the easiest way to travel from one place to another within the same island was by sea; in fact there were not many paths and few were suitable for carriages or oxcarts. There were mainly footpaths, which the islanders used in their daily toil, accompanied by horses, donkeys and mules, of course. The paths were also used to take cattle to or from the pasturelands. The locals also used these paths for festivities in the vicinity, and for transporting agricultural produce, fish, charcoal and other merchandise to trade. Anything larger was transported by boat.
It is this network of footpaths that has been restored and made accessible to all so that they can enjoy the landscape of Flores. Indeed, each of these footpaths goes through exceptionally beautiful areas, linking almost all of the corners of each of the islands, both along the coastlines and in the uplands.

Experience OC - jeep tours, hiking trails, kayak tours and even trips to Corvo island - Offices in Santa Cruz

WestCanyon - Canyoning, Jeep Tours, Trekking, Corvo Discovery.

Note: Information about Flores Trails

Canyoning

What is Canyoning?

Canyoning is a sport that mixes adrenaline and natural beauty in equal measure. Trekking through gorges, waterfalls and giant rock pools, canyoning lets you get waist deep in nature and experience it in a brand new way. So if you’re looking for your next outdoor adrenaline fix what exactly is Canyoning and how do you get into it?
Canyoning (also known as gorge walking) is probably best described as white water rafting without the boat. Canyoners navigate their way down water filled gorges by swimming through rock pools, sliding down chutes and clambering over the rocks and other unique features of the canyon landscape. This pastime combines elements from different outdoor disciplines including scrambling, abseiling, cliff jumping and swimming and requires local knowledge and rope rigging skills to be done safely.
Gorge walking is usually done in remote and mountainous areas where water has cut unusual patterns and shapes through the rock. While there are some fairly technical canyoning trips around, most focus on fun and beautiful locations with plenty of big jumps and natural water slides that are accessible to all.

Where to do and to learn Canyoning in Flores Island?

If you are a Canyoning practitioner, surely Flores Island is a place you cannot miss for practicing this modality. For the diversity that this little relic has to offer you.

However, if you are a beginner, or would like to try it out for the first time, Flores Island is the right place for it.

For all cases, we recommend you contact experienced guides who know the modality and the island.

Extremocidente Boat trips, Canyoning, Photography.

WestCanyon - Canyoning, Jeep Tours, Trekking, Corvo Discovery.

Note: Information about Flores Canyons

Sea activities

Take the opportunity to see the diversity of marine life life found in Flores including dolphins, whales and seabirds.
Take one of the provided snorkels and diving masks and see the numerous protected fish species in this natural reserve.
Trips to corvo island including a visit to the caves of the northeast coast of the flores island.

Extremocidente Boat trips, Canyoning, Photography.

Longitude 31 Dive School

Jeep, Photo and Kayak Tours

Visit our volcanic craters, see the blue green lakes, the mountains, the waterfalls, natural swimming pools, museums, and much more ...

Experience OC, jeep tours, hiking trails, kayak tours and even trips to Corvo island

WestCanyon Canyoning, Jeep Tours, Trekking, Corvo Discovery.

Pictures from:
Julio Boim Esteves (flickr)
Carlos Mendes - Extremocidente (Facebook - flickr)

Movies from:
Canyoning - Flores Island - Visit Azores
Carlos M. Delgado (YouTube)

Mpora - Canyoning

"A Tropical Experience Unlike Any Other. The island is lined with hydrangeas that form walls and fences. Everything on the island is green striking against a very deep passionate blue water. People are friendly and fun, cows are happy they make you good cheese."
Juana (traveljuana) about Azores

Natural Heritage

The island of Flores has a unique and rare natural heritage that was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2009.
With a lush landscape characterised by rugged terrain marked by the presence of cliffs and deep valleys with an abundant presence of water and where streams, waterfalls and lagoons can be constantly observed, giving a strong identity to the geography of the island.

We recommend you contact experienced guides who know the island (see in what to do).

Flores offers wonderfull landscape for nature lovers

Bay of Alagoa
Made of a group of islets and reefs. The green rocks with multi-coloured stripes, are elements which give colour and relief to the landscape.

Gruta dos Enxaréus (Grotto)
Situated between Santa Cruz and Caveira, is an enormous sea side grotto, which is one of the prettiest and most attractive points on the island.

Gruta do Galo (Grotto)
With interesting volcanic formations, has an entry which reminds one main door of an imposing cathedral.
The Galo and Enxaréus grotto can only be reached by boat.

Islet of Monchique
The Islet of Monchique is the westernmost point of Europe and served as a reference point by which nautical navigation instruments could be tuned during the era of astronomical navigation.

Lagoons
The craters of extinct volcanoes gave rise to the seven Lagoons: Lagoa Negra, Branca, Rasa, Comprida, Lomba and Funda, which are sites of rare beauty.

Morro Alto
The highest point of the island (914 meters), have wonderful views over the lakes and the valleys which are cut by rivers.

Poço da Ribeira do Ferreiro (Alagoinha)
One of the most magnificent and lush Azorean landscapes, it is characterised by a set of waterfalls that flow down a high steep cliff and into a lagoon.

Poço do Bacalhau
This waterfall has a height of around 90m. The waters accumulate forming a natural pool that invites you to dive, and may thus be used for bathing.

Rocha dos Bordões
Centrepiece of the island, this is a regional natural monument (RNM) of unusual beauty characterised by a phenomenon of prismatic disjunction in the basaltic rock.

..., and much more.

Nuseums, Museological Centres and Libraries

Spread across the different civil parishes, the Museological Centres were created to preserve and disseminate the culture, the heritage and the main activities that have marked its development.

Flores Museum
With a complete museum collection, properly documented, it is installed in the Franciscan Convent of St. Boaventura.

Pimentel Mesquitas's Museum House
It is one of the oldest houses of Flores island ordered and Construct, presumably around the middle of the seventeenth century by Pimentel de Mesquita family who kept in his possession until the late nineteenth century. There the meritorious António Vicente Peixoto Pimentel was born. Currently, this is where the Municipal Library Works.

Environmental Interpretation Center of Boqueirão
It is a place involved in sharing scientific knowledge, and dedicated to promoting and spreading awareness of the most environmentally interesting places on the island.

Museu da Fábrica da Baleia do Boqueirão
Having been erected in 1941 to produce oil, the Whale Factory located in the Industrial Zone of Boqueirão worked until the end of 1981, when the whaling on the island was interrupted. Nowadays the museum is endowed with a valuable ethnographic / museological collection the that recovers the history of this plant on the island of Flores.

Festivities

As in the rest of Azorean archipelago, Flores has a strong connection to the cult of the Holy Spirit. Over seven weeks after Pentecost, dawn ceremonies are held where, across the different chapels called “Impérios”, groups revellers sing songs in honour of the Holy Spirit.
Throughout the year, but especially in summer, the popular festivals in honour of the Patron saints of the civil parishes are one of the manifestations of popular culture in different locations, where gastronomy, traditions and customs are made known to all those who visit.

Churches

All parishes have their own churches in addition to those mentioned below.

Mother Church of Nª Srª da Conceição - Santa Cruz das Flores
Dating from 19th century, this one of the most imposing churches of the archipelago. It has a large main body, divides into three naves by two series of arches. Of special interest is its frontal surrounded by two towers and the chancel which has a magnificent altar.

Church of São Boaventura - Santa Cruz das Flores
Integrated into the Franciscan Convent was built around 1641. A Baroque building, the relief work which covers its interior is of inestimable value, especially in the chancel, which is of Hispanic – Mexican influence.
The vaulted ceiling is of painted cedar wood, with plants motifs and allegorical figures. There is also an important panel depicting the annunciation of the Virgin (16th century), which is attributed to a painter from the Portuguese School.

Church of São Pedro - Ponta Delgada
Rebuilt from the old, 16th century church, this was begun in 1763.
It is a spacious church with a sumptuous chancel of gold painted relief and marble imitation, here in green tones and there in brown. This altar has two other altars at is sides. On one of them is an especially interesting statue of Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres, with a sublime expression and pitiful eyes. This church, with its notable exterior, possesses a single bell tower.

Mother Church Nª Srª do Rosário - Lajes
Founded in 1515, the original church was built next to the port of Lajes. In the mid-seventeenth century, a second church was built at the current location of the cemetery, and the present church was built in the second half of the eighteenth century. The church of Nossa Senhora do Rosário houses an image of the patron saint of the church and a Holy Candelabrum offered by Pope Pius X to thank the inhabitants of Lajes for welcoming the survivors of the passenger liner “Slavónia” which was shipwrecked off Lajedo civil parish in 1909.

Church of Nª Srª dos Remédios - Fajãzinha
A large and imposing temple, boasting three naves and a fascinating chancel. It was built between 1776 and 1783

Pictures from:
Julio Boim Esteves (flickr)
Carlos Mendes - Extremocidente (Facebook - flickr)

Movies from:
Canyoning - Flores Island - Visit Azores
Carlos M. Delgado (YouTube)

Mpora - Canyoning