Ponta da Fajã on Flores: the hamlet under the cliff, the 1987 landslide and the waterfall road

Ponta da Fajã is the last place you can drive to on the west coast of Flores. It sits at the north end of the fajã below Fajã Grande, a strip of walled fields between a cliff about 300 metres high and a shore of grey boulders. The church stands in the middle of the fields, and the road in from Fajã Grande passes several waterfalls. Most visitors come for that road. At the end of it is a hamlet that the regional government tried to empty after a landslide in 1987, and that people never fully left.

This guide covers what happened, what the rules say now, and how to see the place without standing where the rock comes down.

Ponta da Fajã belongs to the parish of Fajã Grande, in the municipality of Lajes das Flores. The whole parish had 220 residents at the 2021 census. From the Fajã Grande bathing area it is about 1.8 km by an asphalt road that runs north along the foot of the cliff. Beyond the hamlet the road becomes a dirt track and then the coastal path to Ponta Delgada.

If you are coming from Santa Cruz, allow about 40 minutes to Fajã Grande on winding roads, then a few more minutes to the end of the road. There is no shop or café in Ponta da Fajã that we could confirm. Eat and buy water in Fajã Grande.

The drive or walk from Fajã Grande is the reason most people go. The cliff above the road is a former sea cliff, and streams drop off its edge in long white falls after rain. The last of them before Fajã Grande, and the best known, is Poço do Bacalhau, a 90-metre waterfall with a small pool at its foot where people swim in calm summer weather. It is a short walk from the road.

On foot, the 1.8 km takes about half an hour each way. It is the easiest way to see the falls, because you can stop wherever you like and look up. By car there are few places to pull in, and you should not stop under the steepest parts of the cliff (more on that below).

Off the coast, about 1.5 km out, is the Ilhéu de Monchique, a basalt stack about 30 metres high. The Azores Geopark describes it as the westernmost point of Europe: the remnant of a volcanic cone worn down by the sea, standing on a submarine platform 40 to 50 metres deep. You see it from the road and from the shore at Ponta da Fajã on any clear day.

On 19 December 1987 part of the cliff above the hamlet collapsed. The rockfall destroyed a house, a chapel and a garage and damaged the village around them. The 50 or so people who lived in Ponta da Fajã were evacuated, against their will according to the official trail guide.

Two years later the regional parliament passed Decreto Legislativo Regional 23/89/A, of 20 November 1989. It declared the Ponta da Fajã zone a high-risk area because rainwater soaking into the slope had brought down earth and rock, and it banned any new building there as well as living in the existing houses. More landslides at Covas in 1991 led to a further resolution in 1992 recommending compensation for owners.

The ban did not empty the hamlet. Many residents came back and reoccupied some of the houses, which is why you see well-kept gardens and painted walls today. The official trails register says the number of permanent residents is now very low, and Portuguese Wikipedia puts it at about 20.

In August 2021 the regional parliament revoked the 1989 decree with Decreto Legislativo Regional 27/2021/A, of 12 August 2021, but kept the ban on building in the Ponta da Fajã zone. A companion resolution, 47/2021/A, deals with measures to reduce the risk and stabilise the slopes.

You will still read in some guides that Ponta da Fajã is an "official high-risk zone". The decree that made it one is gone; the ban on new construction stays. For a visitor the practical point is the same either way. The cliff still drops rock after heavy rain.

Rockfalls on this coast are recent too. In the storm of 28 December 2025, civil protection reported several landslides on the regional road at Fajã Grande, partly blocking it, and a stream in the village overflowed with mud and debris. A landslide in Lajedo, further south, blocked most of the road there.

• Go on a dry day. The 1989 decree blamed rainwater soaking into the slope, and rock and mud come down during and just after heavy rain.
• Do not park or picnic directly under the cliff. Stop where the road runs well away from the foot of the cliff.
• Respect the houses. People live here, and the fields are private. Look from the road.
• If the road is closed with a barrier or tape, turn back. After heavy rain you can ask your accommodation or the Lajes das Flores council (+351 292 590 800) whether it is clear.
• At the shore, the boulders are loose and the sea is open Atlantic. There is no bathing area and no lifeguard. Swim in Fajã Grande instead.

The church you see in the middle of the fields is the church of Nossa Senhora do Carmo, built in 1898. Ponta da Fajã had its own priest until 1922, and the building was improved in 1971. It is a single-nave church with a bell tower, and it is the landmark that tells you where the hamlet is from the viewpoints above. We could not confirm opening times; expect it to be locked outside services and festivals.

The PR01FLO trail from Ponta Delgada to Fajã Grande comes down the cliff into Ponta da Fajã and ends at the Fajã Grande bathing area. It is 13 km, graded hard, takes about four and a half hours, and is not recommended for anyone who suffers from vertigo.

On 18 October 2026 the official alerts page at trails.visitazores.com listed it as temporarily closed, the only Flores trail on that list. The road between Fajã Grande and Ponta da Fajã is a public road that residents use every day, but the alert does not say which section of the trail is closed, so stay on the asphalt and do not go on where it ends. Check the alerts page before you plan anything on that coast, and see our hiking guide for the routes that are open.

The UTC bus runs on weekdays only. As of the timetable linked from its site in 2026, Line 3 leaves Lajes at 11:00 and reaches Fajã Grande at 11:47, returning at 15:00, and Line 5 runs from Santa Cruz to Fajã Grande in July and August only. From the Fajã Grande stop you walk the 1.8 km. Check the times locally, because the published timetable is several years old.

Ponta da Fajã fits into a half day in Fajã Grande. Our Fajã Grande and Fajãzinha guide covers the bathing area and the village, and our waterfalls and crater lakes guide puts the west coast falls into a day with the lakes. Sunset over the open sea, with Monchique in front of you, is the best time to be on this road.

Can you visit Ponta da Fajã? Yes. The road from Fajã Grande is public and people still live in the hamlet. Go in dry weather, do not stop under the cliff, and keep off private fields.

Is Ponta da Fajã still a high-risk zone? The 1989 decree that declared it one was revoked in August 2021, but the ban on new building was kept, and rockfalls still happen after heavy rain.

How far is Poço do Bacalhau from Ponta da Fajã? It is on the 1.8 km road between Ponta da Fajã and the Fajã Grande bathing area, at the Fajã Grande end.

Can you walk from Ponta da Fajã to Ponta Delgada? Not at the moment. The PR01FLO coastal trail was listed as temporarily closed on 18 October 2026. Check trails.visitazores.com before you go.

• Trails of the Azores: PR1FLO Ponta Delgada - Fajã Grande
• Trails of the Azores: alerts
• Fajã Grande, Portuguese Wikipedia
• Decreto Legislativo Regional 27/2021/A
• Visit Azores: Poço do Bacalhau
• Azores Geopark: Ilhéu de Monchique
• Observador: storm landslides on Flores, 28 December 2025
• UTC: Flores timetable