The fajãs of São Jorge: which you can drive to, and the walk to Santo Cristo

If you have a day or two for the fajãs of São Jorge, the first question is practical: which of them can you reach by car, and which one is worth giving up a whole day to walk to? The short version is that Fajã do Ouvidor, Fajã dos Vimes and Fajã de São João are drives, and Fajã da Caldeira de Santo Cristo is a walk.

A fajã is a flat strip of land at the foot of a sea cliff. On São Jorge the island is a long, narrow ridge, about 53 kilometres from end to end and 8 kilometres across at most, so the coast is mostly cliff and the fajãs are where there is room to farm, fish and build.

They form in two ways. Some are debris fajãs, made of rock that came down from the cliff above in landslides and earthquakes. Others are lava fajãs, where a flow ran over the cliff edge and built a platform into the sea.

The whole island, land and surrounding sea, was classified by UNESCO in 2016 as the Fajãs de São Jorge Biosphere Reserve. Two of the fajãs, Caldeira de Santo Cristo and Cubres, hold the only coastal lagoons in the Azores, listed together as a Ramsar wetland of international importance in December 2005.

• Fajã do Ouvidor, on the north coast in the parish of Norte Grande (Velas). A lava fajã with a road down from the ridge, a small harbour, a café and a restaurant. The main reason to go is the Poça Simão Dias, the largest of the natural rock pools in the lava.
• Fajã dos Vimes, on the south coast in the municipality of Calheta. Reached by a steep road from the ridge. A family grows coffee here and serves it in their café.
• Fajã de São João, also on the south coast, in the parish of Santo Antão. Its hermitage dates from 1550, and people once grew vines, figs and oranges here. The road down is steep and winding.

Roads to the fajãs are narrow and full of bends, and in places two cars cannot pass. Drive them in daylight, and give yourself more time than the map suggests.

The Poça Simão Dias sits on the north coast and is open to the Atlantic. On a day with a big north swell it is not a place to swim. Look at the sea from the viewpoint on the way down before you walk out to it.

There is no road into Caldeira de Santo Cristo. You arrive on foot. The fajã has a few houses, a church and a lagoon cut off from the sea by a narrow strip of beach. That lagoon is the only place in the Azores where clams grow, and the channel between lagoon and sea is kept open on purpose so the clam beds survive. The regional tourist board also calls the fajã a sanctuary for surfing and bodyboarding.

If you want to eat the clams, the restaurant O Borges in the fajã serves them, and asks guests to book. Clam harvesting runs to a regulated calendar, so they are not available every week of the year. Check before you go.

The standard route is the official trail PR1SJO, Serra do Topo to Caldeira de Santo Cristo to Fajã dos Cubres. It is linear, 9.3 kilometres long, rated medium, and takes about two and a half hours walking time. It starts on the ridge at the Serra do Topo wind farm, at about 700 metres, drops through pasture and laurel forest to the lagoon, then follows the coast west past Fajã do Belo to Fajã dos Cubres.

A few things to plan for:

• It loses about 700 metres of height, which is harder on the knees than it sounds, and the ground near the Tia Júlia bridge is slippery.
• Because it is linear, you need a way back to your car. Arrange a taxi from Fajã dos Cubres back up to Serra do Topo before you set off.
• Fajã dos Cubres itself sits about 3 kilometres west of Santo Cristo and has its own lagoon and the small chapel of Nossa Senhora de Lourdes, where the trail ends.
• You can also walk in and out from the Cubres end only. That is shorter and flatter, but you miss the descent from the ridge.

The road down to Fajã dos Cubres and the coastal path between Cubres and Santo Cristo sit under unstable slopes, and they have closed repeatedly. A landslide closed the Cubres road on 10 October 2025, when around 80 people were in the three fajãs of Cubres, Belo and Santo Cristo, and it reopened conditionally in mid November. Another closed it again in January 2026. Heavy rain on 25 September 2026 caused a further slide on the Cubres road and a small one on the Caldeira trail.

What that means for a visitor:

• Before you set off, check the status of the Cubres road and the trail with the Calheta municipality or at your accommodation.
• If the Cubres end is shut, the route from Serra do Topo is the other way in, and you walk back up the same way. Treat that as a full day with a long climb at the end.
• Do not walk the coast path after heavy rain.

• One day and no appetite for a long walk: drive to Fajã do Ouvidor in the morning for the pool and the viewpoint, then cross to the south coast for Fajã dos Vimes and its coffee.
• One day and you like to walk: do PR1SJO from Serra do Topo, lunch in Santo Cristo, and finish at Cubres with a taxi booked for the return, if the Cubres road is open.
• Two days: one of each.

Can you drive to Fajã da Caldeira de Santo Cristo? No. The fajã has no road. You walk in on the trail from Serra do Topo or along the coast from Fajã dos Cubres.

How long is the walk to Caldeira de Santo Cristo? The official PR1SJO route from Serra do Topo to Fajã dos Cubres is 9.3 kilometres and takes about two and a half hours, mostly downhill. Add time for lunch at the lagoon and for the return transport.

Which fajã is easiest to visit by car? Fajã do Ouvidor on the north coast. A road runs all the way down, and the Poça Simão Dias rock pool is a short walk from where you park.

Where can you eat the clams from Santo Cristo? At O Borges, the restaurant in the fajã itself. Book ahead, and check before you go, because harvesting follows a regulated calendar.