Ponta da Piedade
Golden limestone arches and stacks dropping straight into turquoise water.
Duration
1 hr 30 min – 3 hrs
Difficulty
●●○○○
Best time
Early morning
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
The point is a mass of yellow limestone carved by the Atlantic into arches, pillars and caves, some twenty metres high. The rock is soft and the shapes change: arches have collapsed in recent decades.
There are two ways to see it. From above, a cliff path runs along the edge from the lighthouse, and a staircase of nearly two hundred steps drops to a small cove. From below, the Lagos fishermen's boats pass under the arches, and that is the only way into the caves.
Getting there
Three kilometres south of Lagos, twenty minutes on foot by the coastal path or five by car. The boats leave from Lagos harbour.
What to bring
- Walking shoes
- Headlamp
Rules on site
The cliff edge is unfenced and the rock crumbles: stay behind the line of vegetation — the falls are real. Boat trips are cancelled when the sea gets up, often in the afternoon.
