Agualva on Terceira: the Baías da Agualva coast walk, the mills trail and the Quatro Ribeiras pools

Agualva is the parish most visitors drive through on the way from Praia da Vitória to Biscoitos without stopping. It deserves half a day. Two short official trails start here: one runs along the north-coast cliffs, the other follows a stream past old water mills and climbs into the woods. Choose by the weather and the season. On a calm, clear day take the coast walk and finish with a swim at Quatro Ribeiras. On a grey or windy one, take the mills trail inland.

Agualva is a parish of the municipality of Praia da Vitória, on the north side of Terceira. At 38.75 km² it is the largest parish on the island, and it had 1,432 residents at the 2011 census. It became a parish of its own in 1588.

Two streams, the Ribeira de Agualva and its tributary the Ribeira de Filipe, once turned 48 mills that ground the island's flour. Today the same water supplies 6 of the 11 parishes of Praia da Vitória. To the west, on the boundary with Quatro Ribeiras, rise Pico Alto (807 m) and Pico Agudo, two volcanic peaks.

This is the walk to choose when the sea is calm and you can see the horizon.

• Length and time: 3.9 km, about 2 hours. The printed leaflet says 3.8 km.
• Grade: easy.
• Shape: linear, from Agualva west to Quatro Ribeiras, so it does not bring you back to your car.
• Start: Canada da Alagoa, next to a car park.

Soon after the start, the path drops to the Alagoa da Fajãzinha, also called the Fajã da Alagoa. It was once a small bay. The stream that runs into it, the Grota da Alagoa, filled it with sediment, and a beach of rounded pebbles now closes it off from the sea. The Azores Geopark lists it, together with the Biscoito das Calmeiras next to it, as one of Terceira's geosites. The Biscoito das Calmeiras is a thick flow of trachyte lava that came down from the Pico Alto caldera and pushed out into the sea as a headland. There are viewpoints at the geosite, and the best thing to look at from them is the cliff to the west.

West of the geosite, the trail passes a string of small bays under cliffs that reach about 70 metres. Some of the rock has cooled into columns (prismatic jointing, in the geologists' term). Other cliffs are old trachyte sea cliffs, now inland of the shore. Together they record the eruptions on this part of the island over the last 23,000 years.

Most of the route is inside the Terceira Natural Park, and the coast here is also a Natura 2000 Special Area of Conservation and an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area. On the cliffs, look for the endemic plants: Azorean heather (Erica azorica), Spergularia azorica, Rumex azoricus, and the Azorean bellflower (Azorina vidalii), which the trail leaflet calls emblematic of the islands. You may see Cory's shearwaters and common terns offshore, and now and then a grey heron, sanderlings or Kentish plovers on the shore.

Because the walk is linear, you need a plan for the way back. Most people simply walk back the way they came, which makes it about 8 km and up to 4 hours. With two cars you can leave one at each end. The other way to do it is to have someone drop you at the start and meet you at the pools.

This one stays inland and mostly under trees, so it is the better choice when the coast is windy or the sea is rough.

• Length and time: 7.7 km, about 2 hours 30 minutes.
• Grade: medium.
• Shape: circular.
• Start and finish: the mill on Rua do Saco, in the village.

The trail falls into three parts. The first follows the stream bank past terraced orchards and the remains of the mills, with their waterwheels and the channels that fed them. There are small natural waterfalls along this stretch, and the Parque das Frechas, a picnic and leisure area with a garden of endemic plants.

Further upstream, the second part crosses several streams on forest tracks. Most of the trees here were introduced: Australian cheesewood (Pittosporum undulatum), tall eucalyptus, maritime pine and tree ferns. The wood still goes to Agualva's sawmills and carpentry workshops. On this section you reach the Varanda Sobre a Agualva viewpoint, which looks over the whole parish and out across the flat Ramo Grande plain towards Praia da Vitória.

The last part comes down the Atalho Alto, an old track the loggers used. Along it are old goat shelters, drainage channels from the springs of the Ribeira da Silveira, and at several points the remains of the pipe that carried water from the Fonte da Silveira to Air Base No. 4, the airfield at Lajes.

The official page warns that the ground can be slippery, so check the forecast first and wear proper shoes. After rain, the stream crossings and the logging track will be muddy.

The coast walk ends near the bathing area at Quatro Ribeiras: rock pools in the lava with a concrete deck, steps down from a small car park, and a bar. It is a smaller, quieter version of the pools at Biscoitos, about ten minutes' drive further west.

For 2026 it was an official bathing water from 15 June to 15 September, and it flew a Blue Flag, one of 13 on Terceira that year. Outside those dates, do not count on a lifeguard. The pools face the open north coast. A north swell can make them unsafe even on a sunny day, so look at the sea before you get in. The car park is small, so on a hot summer weekend arrive early. Our swimming guide compares Terceira's other bathing spots.

• Trail status. On 16 October 2026 neither trail was listed on the official alerts page, while the Serreta circuit (PRC03TER) on the west of the island was closed. Closures change, so look at trails.visitazores.com before you set out.
• Getting there. A car is much the easiest. Agualva is on the north-coast road between Praia da Vitória and Biscoitos, and both trail leaflets mark a bus stop near the start. We could not get a current EVT timetable for the north-coast route, so ask at the Terceira tourism office (+351 295 404 810) or on evt.pt before relying on the bus. Our guide to getting around Terceira covers car hire and taxis.
• Safety. Keep to the marked path on the coast walk, where it runs near cliff edges. Both trails have numbered posts: in an emergency, call 112 and give the number of the last post you passed.
• Rules. Close every gate you open, and do not pick plants in the protected areas.

From Praia da Vitória, Agualva is a short drive along the north coast. A good summer day: the coast walk in the morning, a swim and lunch at Quatro Ribeiras, then on to the pools, vineyards and wine museum at Biscoitos (see our Biscoitos guide). In winter, or when the north coast is taking the swell, do the mills trail instead and add the island's golf course, which is also in Agualva parish, or the caves in the interior. Our hiking guide sets both Agualva trails against the island's other official walks.

The parish festival, for Our Lady of Guadalupe, starts on 15 August each year. Expect the village to be busy then.

Which Agualva walk is easier? Baías da Agualva (PR02TER). It is 3.9 km, graded easy and takes about 2 hours one way. Matas da Agualva (PRC14TER) is 7.7 km, graded medium, and takes about 2 hours 30 minutes.

Is the Baías da Agualva trail circular? No. It runs one way from Canada da Alagoa to Quatro Ribeiras. Walk back the same way or arrange a lift at the end.

Can you swim at Quatro Ribeiras? Yes, in the rock pools. In 2026 the official bathing season ran from 15 June to 15 September and the site held a Blue Flag. Outside the season, do not count on a lifeguard, and a north swell can close it.

How many mills did Agualva have? Its streams once drove nearly fifty mills; the usual count is 48. You see the remains on the first part of the Matas da Agualva trail.

• Baías da Agualva (PR02TER), Azores Trails
• Baías da Agualva trail leaflet (PDF)
• Matas da Agualva (PRC14TER), Azores Trails
• Matas da Agualva trail leaflet (PDF)
• Trail alerts, Azores Trails
• Fajã da Alagoa and Biscoito das Calmeiras, Azores Geopark (PDF)
• Agualva (Praia da Vitória), Wikipedia
• Blue Flag 2026 lists by region, ABAAE (PDF)
• Portaria n.º 204-A/2026/1, bathing waters and seasons 2026 (PDF)