Santa Bárbara Eco-Beach Resort – When Was the Last Time You Did Something for the First Time?
São Miguel shows us that summer doesn’t end everywhere at the same time. And that “I’ve always wanted to try that” can quickly turn into “Why not today?”
When was the last time you did something for the first time? Nothing big. Just something you’ve always thought: I’ll try that someday. On the black-sand beach of Santa Bárbara, it only takes a few minutes. Someone is heading towards the Atlantic with a surfboard under their arm, others are coming out of the water with wet hair – and by the time we reach the beach, the question is already there: What does it actually feel like to catch a wave? At the Santa Bárbara Eco-Beach Resort, luckily, we don’t have to wonder for long. We can simply try it.
Just Watch? Not an Option.
Santa Bárbara is one of São Miguel’s best-known surf spots and has also hosted international competitions since 2010. More importantly for us, we don’t need to be professionals to get on a board ourselves. Surf lessons can be booked at the Santa Bárbara Eco-Beach Resort – which makes it increasingly difficult to come up with a good excuse not to try. The first attempt probably won’t look anything like the videos. We stand up. Or almost. Two seconds later, we’re back in the water. So we try again. And again. Until, eventually, we actually stay up for a few seconds. And when people around us start talking about the waves the next morning, we listen a little differently. Now, at least, we understand why everyone is so eager to get back into the water.
This Is Where It All Began
For João Reis, the story began long before the hotel. A passionate surfer, he had felt connected to this stretch of coastline for years. In 2015, he opened the Santa Bárbara Eco-Beach Resort here, the first eco-beach resort in the Azores. After a few days, it’s not hard to understand why he chose this exact place. All we have to do is walk down to the beach. Black sand, the Atlantic and the green landscape of São Miguel – the same combination that once captivated João Reis. The only difference is that after our first surf lesson, simply looking at it no longer feels like enough.
After One “Yes”, the Next Comes Easier
If yesterday we had no idea what it felt like to stand on a surfboard and today we’ve already tried it, one question naturally follows: What’s next? On São Miguel, there are almost too many good answers. SUP, kayaking, diving – or canyoning between waterfalls and rocks around Ribeira Grande. One morning, instead of a beach bag, a helmet and equipment are suddenly waiting for us. A few hours later, we’re making our way through water and abseiling between rocks. Somehow, saying yes feels much easier on holiday. At home, we can spend months talking about something we’d like to try someday. Here, someday has a habit of becoming today surprisingly quickly.
Out onto the Open Water.
For our next adventure, we head back out onto the Atlantic – this time without a surfboard. The waters around the Azores are renowned for whale watching, so we board a boat and set off in search of whales and dolphins. No one knows exactly what we’ll see that day. We watch the water until suddenly someone points into the distance and everyone on the boat turns in the same direction. A few days ago, we were looking at the Atlantic from the beach. Now we’re sitting in a boat right in the middle of it.
Back at Santa Bárbara, things can finally slow down a little. Massages can even take place on a wooden deck above the Atlantic, accompanied by the sound of the waves. And for those who would rather completely immerse themselves, the Wellness Retreat offers selected treatments and water therapies in the heated indoor pool.
Summer Isn’t Finished with Us Yet
After a few days, we look at Santa Bárbara differently than we did when we arrived. Not because we’ve become particularly good at surfing. Definitely not.
We haven’t become professional surfers, and canyoning probably won’t make it onto our CV under special skills either. But we do have a few stories about things we tried here for the very first time. Maybe months from now, we’ll remember those few seconds when we first managed to stay on the surfboard. The waterfall. Or that moment out on the Atlantic when everyone suddenly turned to look in the same direction.
And while the calendar back home already says September, São Miguel still feels surprisingly far from saying goodbye to summer. Maybe we don’t always need to extend summer. We just need to know where it isn’t over yet.
