Ilha do São Tomé (São Tomé Island)

The island of São Tomé is extremely beautiful. It is mostly covered with dense vegetation and coffee and cacao plantations. Remnants of extinct volcanoes rise straight up, like pillars, some as high as 600 meters (200 feet). There are numerous white-sand beaches all around the island.

If you follow the road around the island clockwise from the capital of São Tomé, you will come to the villages of Pamtoufou and Trinidade several km inland. Between Trinidade and Santa Cruz is one of the island's best beaches, called Praia das Sete Ondas. The nearby blowhole of Boca de Inferno (Hell's Mouth) is just spectacular. South of Santa Cruz is the interesting village of Monte Mario. Traffic in the area is very scarce. Completely in the south of São Tomé Island is the town of Porto Alegre. The nearby Praia Grande is another beach. In Porto Alegre it is possible to hire a pirogue (dugout canoe) to visit Ilha das Rolas, a small islet off the southern coast of Sáo Tomé. There is nothing to see or do there though.

Going counterclockwise from the town of São Tomé you will come through some of the island's most stunning scenery. Especially northwest of são Tomé Town the views are spectacular. Going southwest along the coast you will come to the towns of Guadelupe, Rio do Ouro, Neves and Santa Catarina. After that it's only jungle. Lagoa Azul between Rio do Ouro and Neves has an excellent beach.