TripSailor.com® Sailing Blogs

Vila do Porto / Sta. Maria

Visited:
    June 2011

Approach:
    Straight forward, restricted space to manouvre inside the marina.
       
Mooring:
    When I arrived there have been a “welcome-team” on the pontoon that directed me and took the lines.
   
WiFi:
    Free Wifi in the marina

Tips:

    I arrived at the end of the day from Madeira and decided to anchor for the night off the beach at Praia Formosa. Be aware that there runs a underwater cable from there and the prohibited area is marked with a white blinking (day and night) sector light. I anchored on the east border of the sector at 10m. The bottom is sand with good holding.
   
    Its advertised as the best beach in the azores, but from my experience this goes to Porto Pim in Horta. Hands down.

    The local Club Naval is  a nice place to eat and drink.  Other places are up-town, meaning up !
   
Notes:
    There is not suitable public bus service. I took a kind of roundtrip with the bus going around the island and immediately back to get my bearings first.

    I then rented  a scooter which was perfect.

Provisioning:
    Supermarket on the main street, uptown after you passed the church.
   
Verdict:
    A must stop if you arrive from the south. Lovely, remote. Good to get used to civilisation again. If you like this kind of places.