Portugal Miradouro do Ilhéu Furado, Azores Islands

The coastline around Miradouro do Ilhéu Furado is another perfect example of why Flores feels so wild. Huge green cliffs drop straight into the Atlantic, while isolated volcanic rock formations rise from the ocean just offshore. The natural arch in this sea stack makes the scenery even more dramatic, especially when waves are breaking around its base. It also looks really cool from the viewpoint, so you don't even need a drone to get good shots here!

This location is particularly impressive from the air, as a drone lets you separate the rock formation from the cliffs behind it and reveal the small arch carved through its base.

I’d recommend flying slightly offshore and shooting back towards the island rather than straight out to sea. This gives the image several layers: the waves in the foreground, the sea stack as your main subject, and the enormous green cliffs of Flores in the background.

Changing weather can actually be an advantage here. Direct sunlight hitting the green vegetation while the cliffs remain in shadow creates much more depth than evenly lit scenes.

Just be careful when flying to the opposite side of the sea stack, since I experienced some connection issues with my drone and its controller.

The Miradouro do Ilhéu Furado is located along the rugged northern coastline of Flores and can be reached by car, making it an easy stop while exploring this part of the island.

The viewpoint itself already provides beautiful coastal scenery, but the unusual shape of the offshore rocks becomes much more obvious from a drone. As with many exposed locations on Flores, check the wind before flying — conditions around the cliffs can be significantly stronger and more turbulent than they seem from the parking area.