Termas Agua de Alto

Termas Agua de Alto serves São Miguel — the 'Green Island' and largest of the Azores — whose extraordinary geological landscape includes the Sete Cidades caldera with its twin lakes of blue and green (their different colors explained in local legend as the tears of a princess and a shepherd boy of different social classes forbidden to marry), the Lagoa do Fogo inside a younger caldera whose pristine waters are protected as a nature reserve, and most spectacularly the Furnas valley where thermal calderas bubble and smoke and where locals cook cozido das Furnas — a traditional stew of meat and vegetables — in pots submerged in the volcanic earth and left to steam for six hours in natural geothermal heat. The geothermal character of São Miguel is expressed everywhere across the island's landscape, from the sulfurous springs of Caldeira Velha where iron-rich red water flows through tropical ferns to the thermal baths and swimming pools fed by the island's volcanic springs in a variety of temperatures and mineral compositions. The Agua de Alto thermal waters, set in the coastal landscape of the island's southeast, invite guests to explore the full spectrum of São Miguel's extraordinary volcanic water heritage.