Carapacho on Graciosa: the thermal baths, the sea pools and the lighthouse at Ponta da Restinga

Carapacho is the corner of Graciosa where you can do three things within a short drive of each other: sit in warm mineral water indoors, swim in the sea from pools cut into the lava, and walk up to a lighthouse that Terceira can see on a clear night. The question is how to split your time, and whether the south coast or one of the island's other bathing places suits the day you have.

Carapacho is a hamlet on the south coast, in the parish of Luz, right at the foot of the volcano that ends in the Caldeira. It is also where the island's settlement began. The first people on Graciosa most likely landed here, then moved inland and north because the soil was poor and the shore gave no shelter from the sea. What brings people back now is underground: the hot water comes up from the aquifer under the Furna do Enxofre, the sulphur cave inside the crater above.

If you are visiting the Furna do Enxofre, Carapacho is the obvious next stop on the same day.

The thermal baths are the main draw. People have used this water for rheumatism and skin complaints since at least the 1750s. The present building was put up between 1947 and 1951 and was completely renovated in 2010, when spa services were added to the medical treatments.

What the water is:

• It comes out at around 35 to 40°C, depending on the source you read.
• It is highly mineralised, rich in magnesium, chloride and sodium, with a pH of 7.2.
• It is used for immersion baths, not for a swim. The building has 16 individual bath cabins.

What you can book, according to the regional tourism board:

• A Vichy shower with massage, where thermal water runs over you during the massage.
• Immersion in a hydromassage tub filled with thermal water.
• A simple immersion in the thermal pool.

This is a spa with appointments, not a hot spring where you turn up and get in. The traditional thermal season runs from 1 May to 30 September, but published opening times and prices disagree between sources, and none of them is a live tariff. Ring the baths on +351 295 714 068 before you plan around them, and book the treatment you want rather than hoping for a free slot.

On the sea side of the baths is the Piscina do Carapacho, a set of pools in the black rock that the tide refills, with steps and rails built in. It has a lifeguard in season, showers, toilets and a café, and it holds a Blue Flag for 2026.

The pools face south, with the Ilhéu de Baixo, a rock islet, straight out in front. That orientation matters on Graciosa. When the wind and swell come from the north, the north coast pools are the first to become unpleasant, and Carapacho is usually the place that stays swimmable.

Before you go:

• There is no sand. You get in from ladders and steps into rock pools and open water.
• The pools are refilled by the tide, so the water changes through the day. With a swell running, waves can wash over the rock; follow the lifeguard.
• Outside the lifeguard season you are on your own, and the open sea starts at the edge of the pools.

Ponta da Restinga is the southeast tip of the island, above Carapacho. The lighthouse there, known as both the Farol da Ponta do Carapacho and the Farol da Ponta da Restinga, was inaugurated on 26 May 1956. It is a small building with a 14 metre cylindrical tower and a red dome, and it stands 191 metres above the sea. Its white light flashes in pairs every 10 seconds and reaches 15 nautical miles. Because it sits so high, it is often seen on clear nights from Terceira, more than 50 miles away.

The headland and the islet below it are a protected Special Area of Conservation. Go up for the view back over Carapacho and out to the Ilhéu de Baixo; the road climbs from the hamlet to the headland. Keep to the road and paths and leave the seabirds on the islet undisturbed.

Carapacho is not the only choice, and on a calm day in summer some of the others are better. Four bathing areas on the island hold a Blue Flag for 2026: Carapacho, Barro Vermelho, Praia and the Santa Cruz sea pool.

• Praia de São Mateus, in front of Vila da Praia on the east coast, is Graciosa's only real sand beach. It has lifeguards in season, showers, toilets, a café and a ramp, and the Ilhéu da Praia, a nature reserve with a seabird colony, lies about a kilometre offshore. Go here with small children.
• Barro Vermelho, on the north coast near the airport, is a bay where a ridge of lava closes off a shallow lagoon of pebbles and red sand. At low or half tide the water inside is about waist deep and full of fish, which makes it the island's snorkelling spot. There is no café.
• The Calheta in Santa Cruz is a built seawater pool below the town with a lifeguard in season and a café, about ten minutes on foot from the main square. It is the swim that fits between other plans rather than a place for a whole day.
• The Portinho da Folga, below Luz on the south coast, is a small fishing harbour with a slipway and nothing else: no lifeguard, no café. The easy way there is the PR03GRA trail, graded easy, 2.1 kilometres and about an hour down from the Holy Spirit chapel in Luz through the vineyards.

For a day on the south of the island:

• Morning: the Furna do Enxofre in the Caldeira.
• Lunch and a swim: the Carapacho pools, a short drive downhill.
• Afternoon: your booked thermal bath, then up to the Ponta da Restinga lighthouse for the late light.

If the sea is rough on the south side too, keep the thermal bath and skip the swim. The baths do not depend on the weather, which makes them the one fixed point on a day when the sea decides the rest.

Can you swim in the Carapacho thermal water?

Not in the way you swim in the sea. The thermal water, at around 35 to 40°C, is used for immersion baths and treatments in the spa building, which you book. For swimming, use the tidal sea pools right below the baths.

When are the Termas do Carapacho open?

The traditional thermal season runs from 1 May to 30 September, but sources disagree on current hours and prices. Phone the baths on +351 295 714 068 before you go and book the treatment you want.

Is Carapacho good for children?

The sea pools have a lifeguard in season, but you enter from steps into rock pools and the sea. For small children, the sand beach at Praia de São Mateus on the east coast is the easier choice.

Can you visit the Carapacho lighthouse?

You can go up to the headland at Ponta da Restinga and see it from outside. It is a working light, 191 metres above the sea since 1956, and no source found for this guide lists public opening times for the tower.