[Music] for some it's the Hawaii of Europe for others it's like Ireland near the tropics in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean lies the azor's archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands this remote destination has remained Portugal's Hidden Gem over the past few New Years the islands have steadily grown in popularity but authorities are determined to promote sustainable tourism these tourists are heading out on a whale watching Adventure more than 27 species of aquatic mammals live just a few col off the coast of FAL Island that is traveling around but we have another one at 9:00 more a 4-Hour guided Boat Trip cost € 67 per person exciting huh to to watch and to have the help from the from the landscape and so um it's a nice nice experience this activity is strictly regulated only three of these small boats are permitted to be around the mammals at a time and they must maintain a distance of 50 m there's no way to skirt around the rules today Pedro is monitoring the movement of boats and animals from [Music] land and will signal when they get too close some boats get too close to the animals and you can see that it makes them nervous you could say there are different types of Skippers when this happens we alert the companies concerned we warn them and say that they need to improve in FAL the number of visitors has more than doubled over the last 12 years but the government has set limits to prevent over tourism no more than four flights a day are allowed to the island and in 2008 a 1900 Hotel bed quota was set since then no new hotels have been built this new camping site is one of the few accommodations that have opened recently here we have an accommodation that combines the characteristics of a tent and a bungalow the room made of wood with a suspended canvas roof cost €130 a night clients can hear the sound of the rain someone looking for a traditional Hotel won't come to stay here a type of Tourism that deters the masses but attracts nature Lovers In Search of breathtaking [Music] scenery undeterred by the heavy Mist these hikers are making their way up to the Caldera crater [Music] very convincing so this is the crater if we close our eyes we think about like a round shaped crater with 2 km diameter on a clear day the hollow of the crater can be seen its Rich ecosystem is strictly protected a maximum of 35 people can descend per day and only with a certified guide this one specifically have 70 % of the endemic species represented on the crater and sometimes we if we don't know it's a very rare species we can be stepping on it or putting our hands on top uh which means that we'll be the only I mean the last ones seeing it so that's why it's very important to have a guide here I think it's Buck e tourism and preservation and uh all that stuff yeah I prefer to to travel for to go and see those uh kind of beautiful places with its many natural Treasures the azors remain a Hidden Paradise off the beaten path of mass tourism