São Miguel, the second oldest and the largest island in the archipelago, is on itself a reflection of the harmonious existence between human civilization and volcanic activity, very present and evident to those who visit it.

The island of São Miguel has around 500 monogenetic volcanoes, 35 lagoons of different sizes and a wide variety of mineral and thermal waters, as well as fumaroles of various types, composing the island's volcanic assemblage.

It is precisely this very evident diversity of geosites and volcanic activity found in the island of São Miguel, that we will get to learn about in the Volcanological and Geothermal Observatory of the Azores, the first point of interest on our itinerary. Here, you can observe rocks, minerals and materials resulting from volcanic activity, its incredible collection of fossils, among a range of themes that help the visitor understand these phenomena and acquire useful knowledge for visiting São Miguel, an island that can be described as a true “outdoors book of volcanology”.

We proceed to the Miradouro da Lagoa do Fogo, a collapsing caldera on top of the Fogo Volcano. This caldera, the youngest and smallest on the island, is a beautiful example of this type of structure and offers one of the most beautiful views on the entire island. With its stunning pumice stone beaches, this is one of places that were least humanized or modified by man. It is worth a visit where one should take their time to thoroughly appreciate it.

Before lunch, we make a short stop in Morro das Capelas, an ancient submarine volcano of basaltic nature, quite eroded by the action of the sea, with several cracks and caves. Its shape resembles the head of an elephant with its trunk in the sea, popularly known as the “elephant trunk”.

We proceed to the Caldera of Sete Cidades Volcano, one of the ex-libris of the island. In this great caldera, formed about 36,000 years ago, the Verde (green) Lagoon and the Azul (blue) Lagoon are located, designated as such due to the color of their waters. It is the largest surface freshwater reservoir in the Azores, being a fundamental habitat for a great diversity of fauna and flora species and classified as a protected landscape.

We end the day in Praia dos Mosteiros, a black sand beach with several natural pools by the rocky edges of the fajã, resulting from the basaltic lavas emitted by Pico de Mafra. Here we can appreciate the sunset, in a landscape truly different from those previously visited in this itinerary, with a view over the islets of Mosteiros, remnants of what was once an imposing submarine volcano.