Santa Maria Island, Azores

Santa Maria is the southernmost and oldest island in the Azores, the only one in the archipelago with a warm, dry climate more similar to Mediterranean conditions than to the wet Atlantic typical of the other islands. Its age means significant erosion has created low rolling hills of yellow limestone and clay, rather than the steep volcanic profiles of younger islands. Praia Formosa on the southern coast is the largest natural sand beach in the Azores and benefits from the island's comparatively warm and settled summer weather.