The Costa Norte walk on Santa Maria: PR01SMA from Bananeiras to Anjos

PR01SMA Costa Norte is the official trail along Santa Maria's north coast: 8.4 km, one way, from the village of Bananeiras west to Anjos. It drops to a bay with two old watermills, crosses the red clay of the Barreiro da Faneca, passes a whale lookout and ends in Anjos, where Columbus's crew came ashore in 1493. The walking is moderate; most of the planning goes into getting to the start, because the trail is linear and no bus goes to Bananeiras.

The Azores trails site grades PR01SMA as medium and gives 8.4 km and four hours. The printed leaflet says 8.3 km. The track stays low, between about 4 m and 216 m above the sea, but it goes down to sea level at the Baía do Raposo and climbs out again, so the four hours include some steep ground. Four hours is generous for 8.4 km: it leaves time for the viewpoint detours and a stop at the bay.

The trail runs through protected areas of the Santa Maria Natural Park. Bicycles, motor vehicles and horses are not allowed on it.

Bananeiras is east of Anjos, roughly 9 km by road from the centre of Vila do Porto. Santa Maria's buses do not help. Of the five TSM routes, none serves Bananeiras, and the only line to Anjos, route 5, runs in summer only: in 2026 it ran every day from 1 July to 15 September.

The simplest plan with a hire car is to park in Anjos, where the walk ends, and take a taxi from there to Bananeiras, so the car is waiting when you finish. The two villages are about 10 km apart by road. Central de Táxis de Santa Maria is in Vila do Porto on +351 296 882 199. Book it ahead rather than counting on finding one in Anjos.

Walk it in the official direction, east to west. The trail description runs that way, and you finish at the sea, with a sea pool in summer.

From Bananeiras the path heads down to the Baía do Raposo. Fishermen use this path to reach the rocks in the bay, so expect to meet the odd one with a rod. The bay is a geosite of the Azores Geopark. At the bottom you find two azenhas, small watermills, with the channel that once fed them water, and the ruins of a wine press from the vineyards that used to grow here.

The cliffs around these northern bays are 50 to 150 m high, and whatever height you lose going down to the water you climb again on the way out.

Out of the bay the path climbs a slope where the leaflet points out native shrubs: pau-branco (Picconia azorica), faia-da-terra (Morella faya) and cabaceira (Pericallis malvifolia). Mixed in with them are plants brought from elsewhere, such as incenso (Pittosporum undulatum), giant reed and agave.

Listen for birds. The leaflet lists the Azores buzzard, blackbird, chaffinch, canary and robin, and the Santa Maria goldcrest (Regulus regulus sanctae-mariae), a subspecies found only on this island. It is tiny and moves fast in the canopy; you will probably hear it before you see it.

The trail then heads west through a stretch of dense forest.

The trees end and the ground turns bare and rust-red. This is the Barreiro da Faneca, nicknamed the red desert. The clay comes from the island's last eruptive phase: basalts from the Pliocene, some 3 to 4 million years old, were buried under debris from an explosive eruption and then weathered in a hot, humid climate into red clay. Native plants are slowly taking the bare ground back.

The Barreiro gives its name to a protected landscape created in 2008. At 8.35 km², it covers most of the north coast, from Ponta dos Frades to the cliffs below Santa Bárbara, including the bays of Raposo, Cré and Tagarete.

On this dry stretch several side paths lead to viewpoints over the north coast. The two the leaflet singles out are Ponta do Pinheiro and the Baía da Cré. Take at least one. The Baía da Cré is also a protected fossil site, listed by the University of the Azores' paleontology database under its regional protection of 2018. The finds there include sea urchins, the shells of tiny open-ocean snails, and remains of the giant extinct shark megalodon. Leave everything where it is.

There is no shade on the Barreiro. On a sunny day it is the hottest part of the walk, and after rain the clay is slippery.

At the end of the bare ground the path climbs Monte Gordo, where there is a vigia da baleia, one of the lookout posts from which whales were spotted for the shore-based whaling boats. From there it goes on to Ponta dos Frades and then follows the Ribeira dos Lemos down into Anjos.

The chapel in Anjos, the Ermida de Nossa Senhora dos Anjos, is probably the oldest Christian building in the Azores. In February 1493, on the way back from his first voyage, Columbus anchored here and sent half his crew ashore to give thanks at a chapel; the island's acting captain had them arrested. A statue of Columbus stands in the village. In summer you can swim in the sea pool beside the fishing harbour; its 2026 season ran from 12 June to 13 September, and it closes when a northerly swell comes in.

Anjos is also where the Grande Rota GR01SMA carries on towards Vila do Porto, if you want to keep going.

• Check the trail alerts the day before. On 9 October 2026 two other Santa Maria trails were listed as temporarily closed, PR05SMA Costa Sul and PR04SMA Santo Espírito - Maia. PR01SMA was open.
• Download the GPS track and leaflet from the Costa Norte trail page.
• Bring water, a hat and sun cream for the Barreiro, and shoes with grip for the bay path.
• Tell someone which trail you are walking and when you start. Close every gate you open.
• In an emergency call 112 and give the number of the last trail post you passed. The tourist office in Vila do Porto is on +351 296 883 124.

How long is the Costa Norte trail on Santa Maria?

8.4 km one way from Bananeiras to Anjos, graded medium, with four hours as the official time.

Can I reach the start by bus?

No. No TSM route serves Bananeiras, and the Anjos bus runs only in summer (1 July to 15 September in 2026). Use a taxi or a lift.

Is the walk hard?

Not very. The highest point is about 216 m, but the descent to the Baía do Raposo and the climb out are steep, and the Barreiro da Faneca has no shade.

Where is the red desert?

The Barreiro da Faneca, in the middle of the walk. PR01SMA crosses it, and side paths lead from it to viewpoints over Ponta do Pinheiro and the Baía da Cré.

• Azores Trails: Costa Norte PR01SMA and the trail leaflet
• Azores Trails: alerts
• Protected Landscape of Barreiro da Faneca
• MacPaleo, University of the Azores: Baía da Cré / Pedreira dos Frades
• Transportes de Santa Maria: routes
• Visit Azores: Central de Táxis de Santa Maria