Travel Guide Ribeirinha

The most striking feature of Ribeirinha is its lighthouse. A twenty-metre-high tower in ruins, defying the ocean on the tip of the cliff, it is the imposing witness to the earthquake that hit the island in 1998. You can get there by taking the PRC09 FAI hike, which starts in the village of Ribeirinha. Turn right after the church and you'll find the village's old water cistern, set beside the river in the shade of a century-old tree. For a long time, water was a rare commodity on Faial. The hike then follows ancient paths cut through the forest by the island's first settlers, leading to the ridge.