Lajes do Pico: From Whale Hunting to Whale Watching

Few towns change their calling without losing their identity. Lajes do Pico managed exactly that: it transformed from the capital of whale hunting into the capital of whale watching, without ever looking away from the same sea.

The island’s first settlement

According to tradition, it was at Lajes that Pico’s first settlers landed, even before 1460, from a caravel anchored off Castelete. The Chapel of São Pedro, the island’s first religious building, marks this early settlement, next to the tidal area where you can still see the wooden “towers” and “little towers” characteristic of the town’s whaling houses.

A hundred years of sperm whale hunting

Whaling employed much of Lajes’ population, especially in the hundred years before the 1980s. The crews of the whaleboats, and later the tugboats that towed them, were manned by men with other jobs, many of them farmers, supplementing their income with annual whaling wages. The last whale was caught on Pico in November 1987, after the international ban decreed that same year.

The Whalemen’s Museum

Housed in a group of three 19th-century whaleboat houses, the Whalemen’s Museum is the only Portuguese museum specialising in artisanal, seasonal, coastal whaling. The collection includes whaleboats, harpoons, lances, and an art section with Scrimshaw pieces carved in whale ivory and bone — plus a documentary by Rob Fowler, filmed in the 1970s, capturing the activity firsthand.

From whale lookout to tourist lookout

It was precisely in Lajes do Pico that the Azores’ first cetacean-watching company was founded, started by former whalers who recognised the tourism potential of the same animals they once hunted. The old lookout posts, at spots like Arrife, Queimada, and Calheta de Nesquim, still play an essential role — only now they guide tourist boats, not harpooners.

Planning your visit

• What to see: the Whalemen’s Museum, the Whaling Monument by Pedro Cabrita Reis, and the Wild Bird Observation Post on the coastal platform.
• Activities: whale and dolphin watching from the Lajes pier.
• Regattas: restored or replicated whaleboats race between June and September.

Best time to visit

Spring brings higher odds of spotting baleen whales; summer adds resident species and seasonal visitors.

Nearby highlights

The lagoon system next to the bathing area is an important refuge for resident and migratory birds.

After Lajes do Pico, head into the island’s interior to see Pico Mountain, or continue along the coast to explore more of the natural pools dotting the shoreline.

Learn more about whale watching in the Azores.