If you arrive at night, do not enter the inner harbour, anchor in the bay (see Docking for more details). The harbour does not work 24/7. Keep a listening watch on VHF Ch. 12/16.
This is not an "official" port of entry, however, few yachts visit Santa Cruz (the official POE) as it offers poor shelter.
Fly the Q flag and the courtesy flag.
Yachts are permitted to stay here a few days, to rest and re-provision, before officially clearing in. However, it should be noted that you might have to wait for hours for the police to arrive and do your paperwork. The authorities may ask to see documentation.
It is accepted that formal clearance into the country is deferred until a yacht checks in to one of the official ports of entry. According to the rules all yachts leaving Flores must clear in either at Faial, São Miguel or Terceira islands. Failure to clear in and pushing on to mainland Europe directly from Lajes das Flores, may not have consequences but it's not lawful.
There are plans to start charging a fee to visiting yachts again this year, but as of March 2025 there is still no confirmation of this.
Last updated: March 2025
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It is now possible to pay at the marina with credit cards, Mastercard and Visa accepted. Multi Banco as well. And of course cash. There is a bar that overlooks the harbor, also has a small deli service. Good wifi in the bar. There are hot showers (3 for men and 3 for ladies, free for marina customers) as well as clean toilets. There is one washing machine (4 euro per load) and one drier (I forgot how much it was) both onsite.
Two supermarkets up the street. All paperwork is done in the port, look for the grey building in the sea-can area of the port, English is spoken. I really liked Flores, plenty of nice short hikes.
Update on Lajes, Flores. The last 5 meters of the inside pier has collapsed, leaning towards the entrance channel into the marina. This will have to be broken and redone, no schedule has been set for it yet.
The longest pier that usually took 3 1/2 boats of 50 feet was damaged in this past winter and was taken out.
This leaves only one space for a 50-foot boat in an almost 50-foot boat space. The only alternative 6-meter finger piers, 4 or 5 of them. Since construction, there is still no allocated bathrooms for the marina. You must share a public bathroom that is also used by fisherman, and port goers. No hot water.
Still no diesel available in port. The restaurant that served refreshments to the sailors is closing the end of May.
Now a 10-minute walk up the hill is required for lunch and supermarkets.
First thing when you arrive and check in at this marina, ask the nice gentleman at immigration for a weather report compared to the shelter this port. He knows the particulars of the shelter (or lack thereof) vis-a-vis the weather in a way that larger weather forecasts cannot assess. He will tell you if it’s safe to stay off if you should push on to a safer port.