The little rain that Porto Santo receives, filters rapidly through the island's soils to emerge as a series of springs when the water meets impermeable basalt. One of these springs is Fonte de Areia, which means 'Spring of the Sand'. Many locals believe, its waters have healing powers. The spring filters through a series of troughs that were once used by local women for washing their laundry.
Not far from the spring are cliffs of compressed sand that have been eroded into bizarre forms by wind and rain. The pebble beach below these cliffs boasts several rock pools.
Fonte de Areia can be reached on foot via the road west from Camacha. The spring is on Porto Santo's northern shore, 5 km north from Vila de Porto Santo.
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