Haliotis Santa Maria

All nine islands from the Azores are volcanic and located between 37° e 40° North and 25° e 31° West, being the most western part of the european continent in Flores Island. 244 780 persons live there 2008 data.

It stays 1 815 km from Europe Portugal and 2 625 km from north-america Canadá.

The islands of the archipelago were divided into three geographical groups: the Eastern Group, composed of Santa Maria and São Miguel, the Central Group includes the islands of Terceira, Graciosa, São Jorge, Pico and Faial and the Western Group constituted by the islands Corvo and Flores.
The Azores has a maritime climate with mild temperatures ranging from 16 º C 60 º F in winter to 26 º C 79 º F in summer Sea temperatures are influenced by the Gulf Stream, and they too mild and between 14 º C and 22 º C in average.

Santa Maria is different from all the other islands. This difference makes the visit interesting, because the south and east from the island and his climatic condition become warmer and drier at this point, that´s reflected in the landscape, also very fertile. The built environment for the higher incidence of colonization in Alentejo which was not affected by weather also scored well relative autonomy of the other islands of the archipelago autonomy, on the other hand, you can see also incorporated in the landscape of the Azores.