Practical essentials on São Jorge: health centres, pharmacies, fuel and cash

São Jorge is 53 kilometres long and only 8 wide, and its services sit in its two towns: Velas in the west and Calheta on the south coast, about 24 kilometres east of Velas by road. The villages between and beyond them have, at most, a health post or a cash machine. The east end around Topo is about 50 kilometres from Velas by road, and most of the advice below comes down to that distance.

If you are staying in Velas, almost everything below is within a few minutes' walk. If you are in a rural house near Norte Grande, Santo Antão or Topo, plan errands around the trips you already make into Velas or Calheta.

In an emergency, call 112, the European emergency number. It works in the Azores as it does anywhere in the EU.

For anything less urgent, the island's public health service has a health centre in each town. The regional government's health register lists them as follows:

• Velas: Rua do Corpo Santo 1, phone +351 295 412 656.
• Calheta: at Relvinha, phone +351 295 460 120.

Both offer general practice, nursing and some specialist consultations. We could not find published opening hours, or confirm whether either runs a round-the-clock emergency service, so phone before you go if it is not an emergency.

The same register lists smaller health posts in the villages. Rosais, Santo Amaro, Manadas, Norte Grande and Santo Antão have a GP and nursing service; Norte Pequeno and Topo have nursing only; Urzelina also has a post. These are for local patients first, but in the east of the island the Santo Antão post (+351 295 415 129) is far closer than either town.

São Jorge has no hospital. The Azores has three, in Horta on Faial, Angra do Heroísmo on Terceira and Ponta Delgada on São Miguel, and a patient who needs hospital care is flown to one of them. The Air Force's helicopters and transport planes for these flights are based at Lajes on Terceira. Buy travel insurance that covers medical evacuation, and if you are an EU resident, bring your European Health Insurance Card.

The regional register lists two pharmacies and one medicines post on the island:

• Farmácia da Santa Casa da Misericórdia das Velas, in Corpo Santo, the same street as the Velas health centre, phone +351 295 412 071.
• Farmácia Tristão da Cunha, Rua 25 de Abril 4 in Calheta, phone +351 295 416 329.
• Posto de Medicamentos de Santo Antão, on Largo de Santo Antão, phone +351 295 415 070.

Painkillers, plasters and other medicines that need no prescription are also sold at Vitapharma, on Rua Nova in Calheta.

The register may be out of date, so check what is open when you arrive, and ask at either pharmacy which one is covering nights and Sundays. If you take a regular prescription, bring the full supply for the trip and a copy of the prescription. A small island pharmacy may not stock the brand you use.

Repsol lists a station in the Parque Industrial das Levadas, on the edge of Velas. In October 2026 it gave its hours as 07:00 to 20:00, every day of the week, and it sells 95 unleaded and diesel. The page also mentions a shop, a car wash and electric charging "subject to availability".

OpenStreetMap shows four more stations, without hours: a Galp on the Rosais road out of Velas, an Azoria station at Terreiros near Urzelina, one at the western end of Calheta and a Galp at Canto, in Ribeira Seca, just east of Calheta. East of Ribeira Seca, no station is mapped at all. If you are driving out to Topo or down to the fajãs on that side, fill up in Calheta first; the drive from Velas to Topo alone is about 50 kilometres each way.

If you hire an electric car, ask the rental firm where its cars are charged, and do not count on the public point being free.

Velas has five bank branches with cash machines, all within a few streets of the town garden: Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Crédito Agrícola, Banco Montepio, Caixa Económica da Misericórdia de Angra do Heroísmo and Santander. There is also a standalone Multibanco machine on Rua Manuel Jorge. The branches whose hours are mapped open on weekdays only, from 08:30 until 15:00 or 15:30.

Outside Velas, OpenStreetMap shows two cash machines in Calheta, one at Terreiros near Urzelina and one at Santo Antão. We found no others. Take out cash in Velas or Calheta before a day in the fajãs or the north-coast villages, where small cafés may not take cards.

The CTT shop in Velas is on Rua Doutor Miguel Teixeira, in the centre. Calheta has its own CTT shop on Rua 25 de Abril, and Topo has a smaller CTT counter on the main road. As mapped in 2026, the Velas shop opens on weekdays with a lunch break and the Topo counter only for a few hours a day, so treat the post as a weekday errand.

The public buses do not run on Sundays: the operator publishes weekday and Saturday timetables and nothing for Sunday. Banks and the post office are closed at weekends. The Repsol in Velas keeps its 07:00 to 20:00 hours on Sundays too, but do not count on village shops. Buy what you need for Sunday on Saturday. Our guide to getting around São Jorge has the bus times, car hire and taxis.

• Travel insurance with medical evacuation cover, and the European Health Insurance Card if you have one.
• Your full supply of any regular medicine, with the prescription.
• Cash from Velas or Calheta before heading east or north.
• A full tank in Calheta before driving to Topo.
• Food for Sunday, bought on Saturday.

Is there a hospital on São Jorge?

No. The island has health centres in Velas and Calheta, plus village health posts. Patients who need hospital care are flown to one of the Azores' three hospitals, in Horta, Angra do Heroísmo or Ponta Delgada.

Where are the pharmacies on São Jorge?

The regional register lists the Misericórdia pharmacy in Corpo Santo, Velas (+351 295 412 071), Farmácia Tristão da Cunha at Rua 25 de Abril 4 in Calheta (+351 295 416 329), and a medicines post at Santo Antão (+351 295 415 070).

Where can I get fuel on São Jorge?

In and around Velas, at Urzelina, and in Calheta and Ribeira Seca. The Repsol in Velas listed its hours as 07:00 to 20:00 every day in October 2026. There is no station mapped east of Ribeira Seca, so fill up before Topo.

What number do I call in an emergency?

112, the European emergency number. For non-urgent medical help, call the health centre in Velas (+351 295 412 656) or Calheta (+351 295 460 120).