Camping on Faial: Varadouro, Almoxarife, the free harbour sites and glamping

Faial gives you three ways to sleep outdoors legally. There are two staffed campsites that open for the summer, one at Varadouro on the west coast and one at Praia do Almoxarife on the east. There are three free camping areas by small harbours, at Ribeirinha, Salão and Castelo Branco, with toilets and barbecues but nobody on duty. And there is glamping, if you want a bed under canvas without bringing the canvas. What you cannot do is pitch anywhere else: the island's tourism site, Discover Faial, says plainly that wild camping is not allowed in the Azores.

Discover Faial says both run during the bathing season, from June to September, and that both are open 24 hours a day with staff on site and facilities. Outside those months, plan on something else.

The Varadouro campsite sits beside the Varadouro sea pools, which are cut into the lava at the foot of the Capelo peninsula, with decks, ladders and a bar above them. In 2026 Varadouro is an official bathing water with lifeguards from 1 June to 30 September. It is the furthest bathing place from Horta, about half an hour by car, and Capelinhos, the 1957 volcano with its interpretation centre, is about twenty minutes north on the same coast. If Capelinhos, the Caldeira and the western trails are why you came, this is the campsite to pick.

Contact, as listed by visitazores.com when we checked in October 2026: +351 292 945 339 and campismo.hortaludus@mail.telepac.pt. Discover Faial lists the same number under the name Capelo Campsite.

This one faces Pico across the channel, on a long beach of dark sand, about ten minutes' drive north of Horta. Almoxarife is also a lifeguarded bathing water from 1 June to 30 September 2026. The beach is open to the channel, so it gets choppy in an easterly wind. On a clear evening the mountain sits straight across from your tent, which is the reason people choose it.

Who runs this site is changing, so check before you go. Visitazores.com still gives the email of Urbhorta, the Horta municipal company: parques.campismo@urbhorta.pt. Discover Faial now lists the site in its glamping and campsites section under a new name, Bearsu Nature Almoxarife (+351 292 701 126), and Urbhorta's own website no longer lists the campsite at all. We could not confirm whether visitors can still bring their own tent, so if you are carrying one, ask before you book your flight.

Discover Faial lists three other places where you may camp legally and for free. They have basic facilities, but nobody is on duty there.

• Porto da Ribeirinha, on the north-east coast. A small site above the sea with a few trees and easy access to the water, with toilets, a covered eating area, a barbecue and a small playground.
• Porto do Salão, on the north coast. A grassed area with trees inside low walls, next to a harbour that fills with swimmers in summer. It has toilets, barbecues and a sheltered place to eat. Visitazores.com lists a phone number for it: +351 292 946 042.
• Porto de Castelo Branco, on the south coast near the airport. This one is next to the harbour and the Castelo Branco bathing area, where you swim off concrete terraces and ladders into deep water below the Morro de Castelo Branco, a pale volcanic dome. The site has a playground and a place to eat. At dusk, look up at the Morro's cliffs: Cory's shearwaters breed there and fly in as the light goes. Castelo Branco is a lifeguarded bathing water from 1 June to 30 September 2026.

With nobody on duty, these sites suit campers who bring everything and have a car. Leave nothing of value in the tent.

Azul Singular, in Feteira just south-west of Horta, calls itself the first glamping park in the Azores. The tents stand in a plantation of ornamental plants, and there are three kinds: a large tent for up to four people, a tent for couples, and a yurt for two.

Its price table, checked in October 2026, covers all twelve months. For two people per night, the couple tent and the yurt cost €170 in July and August, €150 in June and September, €110 in April, May and October and €80 from November to March. The large tent costs €185, €160, €120 and €90 for the same periods, plus €25 or €15 per extra bed. Breakfast is a basket delivered to the tent for €10 a night, and children under three stay free. The page is not dated, so confirm the rate when you book: +351 292 945 095, +351 960 069 890 or info@azulsingular.pt.

• Bring a waterproof layer and something warm. Discover Faial warns that rain is possible even in summer and that nights can get cool.
• Plan on a car. The campsites are in quiet spots with few shops or services nearby, and many are not on a bus route. Shop in Horta before you drive out.
• Pack charcoal if you want to grill. All the sites have barbecue areas, but you supply the fuel.
• None of the campsites published a price for a pitch on an official page that we could find in October 2026. Ask when you phone.
• For getting from the ferry or the airport to a campsite, see getting around Faial.

Is wild camping allowed on Faial? No. Wild camping is not allowed anywhere in the Azores. Use one of the two campsites or the three free harbour sites at Ribeirinha, Salão and Castelo Branco.

When are Faial's campsites open? Varadouro and Praia do Almoxarife open for the bathing season, June to September. The free harbour sites have no staff, and Azul Singular publishes prices for every month of the year.

Which campsite is best for Capelinhos and the Caldeira? Varadouro, on the west coast. Capelinhos is about twenty minutes north by car.

How much does camping on Faial cost? The harbour sites are free. Neither summer campsite had an official price online when we checked in October 2026, so ask by phone or email. Azul Singular's glamping tents run from €80 to €185 a night for two, depending on season and tent.