This section is dedicated to take away all your "I wish someone had told me that before I went!" experiences. This way, you can spend less time settling in, and more time making new friends in your chosen hostel.
Ponta Delgada -- surrounded by the wild and deep Atlantic Ocean -- is for sure a city to see.
There are just a few Ponta Delgada hostels, but you should have no problem finding a room because this island is not very touristic. During the religious Santo Cristo festival, you should book your rooms up to three months in advance, because it's really, really full at this time in Ponta Delgada! The hostels near the Downtown are old -- usually previous castles or convents -- but are now an amazing mixture between old architecture and new furniture. Usually you can have plenty of tasty and cheap breakfasts in the hostels.
From Ponta Delgada, you can basically travel all over Sao Miguel -- there are buses reaching even the furthest point in any direction; just make sure that you start early in the morning because some journeys take a lot of time (buses stop everywhere) and you will have to return to your Ponta Delgada hostel early, because the last buses usually leave at 6 p.m., or even a little bit before!
The airport is close to the main city center, but you have to either use a taxi or rent a car to access your Ponta Delgada hostel -- there are no buses or trains/metro. Renting a car is a good choice, because you are free to drive around and go wherever you wish without being at the mercy of the bus schedule.
