Top Ponta Delgada Day Trips

My family (husband, 18 yr old son and 21 yr old daughter) all enjoyed ourselves. Instead of one 4-person UTV, we decided to get two 2-person UTVs so both my husband and I could have the opportunity to drive (and potentially the kids if they chose to, which they did not). We went on a mostly sunny day and the views were outstanding. This was our first trip to the Azores so we had no idea what was the best way to access views, and this experience allowed us to see several views we would have had to hike up to see, and gave us ideas about future excursions on our own. While we all enjoyed ourselves, this excursion may not be for everyone. The UTVs were very loud and I had to almost yell to talk to my daughter next to me, but they do provide headphones to help cut the noise of the engine down. We all drove in a line (2 person ATVs in the front, 2 person UTVs in the middle and then 4 person ATVs), so the route is very specific and there is no opportunity to deviate. We drove on paved major roads about half the time, paved back roads about 20% of the time and dirt roads about 30% of the time. I absolutely have no confidence to drive the rental car whenever we travel to Europe, but I enjoyed myself driving the UTV because for the most part we were in a line and I just followed the person in front of me. When we got to stop signs, my daughter looked right while i looked left if we were on a blind corner. My family plays a lot of Mario Kart and it felt a bit like I was driving one in real life. I am happy we chose the 2 person UTV over the 2 person ATV because we had some shade as opposed to full sun the whole time. Overall I recommend this excursion if you are new to the island and want to see 5 different views in a relatively short amount of time.