The east end of Pico: Ribeiras, Calheta de Nesquim, Piedade and Ponta da Ilha

Most visitors to Pico turn round at Lajes. The mountain, the vineyards and the cave are all on the Madalena side, and once the whale-watching boat is back in harbour there seems little reason to keep driving east. The road does carry on, though, past three whaling and fishing villages to the lighthouse at Ponta da Ilha, the island's eastern tip. It is the quietest part of Pico, and a good half-day if you are staying in Lajes.

From Lajes do Pico to the lighthouse is about 22 kilometres, or half an hour by car without stops. From Madalena it is about 50 kilometres, close to an hour each way, so from there it makes a long day and works best combined with Lajes.

The first village east of Lajes, about ten minutes away, sits on a fajã, a low platform of lava that flowed over the old sea cliffs and built new land below them. Ribeiras was settled early: the first navigators are said to have anchored in its bay around 1460.

Santa Cruz das Ribeiras is still a fishing village, with a long tradition of tuna fishing. Its harbour also mattered in the whaling years, and the boat house by the harbour still holds the old whaleboats, now kept for recreation. The parish also built the first boats for the inter-island trade, the Andorinha in 1915 and the Ribeirense in 1916.

The harbour area is an official bathing zone in 2026, with the season running from early June to the end of September. When swell closes the north coast, the south side is often calmer.

Another fifteen minutes east, Calheta de Nesquim takes its name from a legend: a ship's dog called Nesquim is said to have barked three shipwrecked men towards this small bay, and the dog is on the parish coat of arms. The church of São Sebastião, built between 1851 and 1856 with two bell towers facing the sea, stands above the harbour.

Calheta was a whaling village, and its boat house is now a small local museum. We could not find published opening hours for it, so go in if you find it open and don't build the day around it. The writer José Dias de Melo was born here in 1925. His novel Mar Rubro (1958) and the books that followed it are about the whalers of these villages, and worth reading before you come if you read Portuguese.

The PRC11PIC trail starts and ends at the harbour in front of the church. It is a 9.1-kilometre loop, graded medium, about three hours. The route follows the shore to the small harbour of Feteira and its natural pools, climbs through the Fetais wood to views over the village and the small volcanic cones of Pedra Aguda and Cabeço do Silvado, and comes down past an old whale lookout to Poça das Mujas, a bathing spot beside the Morro do Cão windmill. Some stretches are on tarmac, so walk on the verge. Poça das Mujas is also an official bathing zone in 2026, and you can drive to it if you want the swim without the walk.

Piedade is the last parish before the tip, a few minutes on from Calheta. It was founded after 1506, and the 1755 earthquake destroyed its church, which was rebuilt from 1756. The slopes here were once covered in verdelho vines, until phylloxera wiped them out; you still pass walled plots on the way to the lighthouse.

Piedade has the only petrol station east of Lajes, a Repsol on the regional road at Altamora, open 07:00 to 22:00 every day in October 2026. If you are low, fill up here: we found no station mapped on the north coast back towards São Roque.

The lighthouse at Ponta da Ilha stands on the low shore at Manhenha. It was first proposed in 1883 but only built in the middle of the 20th century, on land several owners gave up for it, and lighthouse registers date the present tower to 1946. It is a working light, and you see it from the road and the trail rather than from the inside. A road goes on about 700 metres past it to the small Manhenha quay, which is another official bathing zone in 2026.

The PR03PIC Ponta da Ilha trail ends at the quay. It is 6.1 kilometres, linear, about three hours, and graded hard. The path stays near sea level and the grade comes from the rock underfoot. It starts by the chapel of Nossa Senhora de Cima da Rocha, dated 1854, runs for about two kilometres through vineyards and past old houses, then about a kilometre and a half over uneven basalt along the shore before stairs lead up to the houses of Engrade. From there you take the road or a path past several small bays to the lighthouse. Wear boots, avoid it after rain, and arrange a pickup, because it does not loop back. Our coastal walks guide compares it with the island's other shore trails.

From Lajes, drive east on the regional road and stop in order: Santa Cruz das Ribeiras, Calheta de Nesquim, Piedade, then Manhenha and the lighthouse. With no walking, the stops fill a morning or an afternoon. With the Calheta loop or the Ponta da Ilha trail, give it a full day.

To go back a different way, take the road along the north coast towards São Roque, about 25 kilometres and 35 minutes from Manhenha. Take some cash, since a small café or farm stall may not take cards; our practical essentials guide lists the cash machines. In summer, pack swimming things: our swimming guide has every official bathing area for 2026, and the Lajes town walk is the natural start or end to the drive.

How far is Ponta da Ilha from Lajes do Pico? About 22 kilometres, roughly half an hour by car. From Madalena it is about 50 kilometres, close to an hour.

Can you go inside the Ponta da Ilha lighthouse? It is a working lighthouse with no published visiting hours. Plan to see it from outside, from the road or the end of the PR03PIC trail.

Can you swim at the east end of Pico? Yes. Santa Cruz das Ribeiras, Poça das Mujas near Calheta de Nesquim and Manhenha are all official bathing zones in 2026, with the season from early June to the end of September.

Is there fuel at the east end of Pico? Yes, one Repsol station in Piedade, open 07:00 to 22:00 every day in October 2026. We found none mapped along the north coast between there and São Roque.

• SIARAM, Fajã das Ribeiras, Parque Natural do Pico
• Trails of the Azores, PRC11PIC Calheta do Nesquim
• Trails of the Azores, PR03PIC Ponta da Ilha
• Cais do Pico, official bathing areas 2026
• Repsol, Piedade station