The spray
Bursting high.
Ji-Elle — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ji-Elle — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ji-Elle — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Helena Van Eykeren from Gent, Belgium — CC BY 2.0 · Ji-Elle — CC BY-SA 4.0
Boca do Inferno, «Hell's Mouth», is a sea blowhole in black lava rock on the east coast of São Tomé Island, south of the capital. Waves rush through a narrow channel and burst upwards in high white spray with a booming sound. It is one of the best-known stops on the coastal road south. The rocks formed from volcanic lava, as the whole island is part of the volcanic Cameroon Line. Over time the sea carved channels and hollows in them, so water is forced inside and then blasts out. The show varies with the sea and is strongest when the waves run high. You see a broad shelf of flat black basalt split by a channel of rushing white water, with spray rising between the rocks. Behind the shore are green hills and many palm trees. Nearby lies a small quiet beach among the trees. It is about 14 km from São Tomé city in a straight line. The rocks are slippery and sharp, so keep back from the edge and the blowhole, above all in high waves. Watch children closely.
Bursting high.
Flat basalt.
On the hills.
East coast south of São Tomé city
When the waves are high and the bursts bigger.
Keep back from the edge, as the rocks are slippery.