Snorkeling in the Azores (Sao Miguel) was much better than expected!
For context, I love snorkeling & scuba diving, and pair that with family vacations when I have the opportunity. Before heading on a family trip to the Azores, I read a bit about the snorkeling conditions. What I'd read collectively from various places online was that Azores was "fine", and there were some decent places, but nothing particularly impressive. However, I brought my snorkeling stuff to try it out.
I didn't have a wetsuit, and did get chilled after long swim sessions. It wasn't bad to start, but certainly more bracing than swimming in Hawaii. In comparison, I could easily snorkel 2+ hours in Maui without feeling cold at all, but snorkeling in Azores usually ended in about 60 minutes, at which point I was getting cold. I'd have to dry off and warm up before going back.
I went snorkeling quite a few times over July 16th-24th, and was absolutely impressed. The visibility was usually good (I'd say up to 60+ feet, and down to ~20 feet on a bad wavy day where I cut my dive relatively short), and the volume of sea life was pretty high. I'm not a fish identification expert (by any stretch of definition), but I saw "many kinds" of silvery fish in schools in the thousands, big fish (multiple 4-5 foot long Greater Amberjack), rays, eels, tropical colored fish, and tons of blennies of many varieties.
Before I get into specific locations, I'd give a general caution that you don't want to wander off swimming in an ocean environment if you're not a very good swimmer. Certainly not solo like I did. Many of these places had waves and surge, so if I wasn't careful, I could have easily been pushed onto rocks. I'd absolutely recommend you have flippers in all locations here, because of the need to avoid rocks.
Specific locations & details
Near Bar Caloura (a great place to eat fish by the way), there's a long cement pier going into the ocean with a weird seawater filled pool at the end. I parked in the ample parking along the street before I reached Bar Caloura, and then walked down the street looking like a goofy guy with my snorkeling gear.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/T935nuc6ZNwkriEM9
I went down the pier (covered with locals sunbathing at the time), explained to the lifeguards that I was going to swim outside the swimming area, and they said that was fine as long as I had flippers (which I did).
I got into the water on the stairs there, and swam southwest along the coast outside of that bay. There was a very cool maze of rocky coves I swam through. Very neat and unique environment. This was probably my most questionable swimming, since I did swim through shallow areas where I had to time my swim between waves (or I'd belly flop onto sharp rocks). But such a neat area. Bright colored flowing plants and coral, pretty good numbers of fish, etc.
On the way back, I swam a bit further from shore to see something different, and there were what I would call miniature seamounts. Towers of rock I could swim around and look at. It was interesting, although not as cool as the shoreline. This is where I saw a few rays swimming around.
I only went to Caloura to swim once. But I'd certainly return.
----
Near the beach Praia de São Roque. Our family hung out at this beach a few times, so I got to know the water nearby well. It's a great beach for kids to play, and family to relax. We often parked in the church parking lot overlooking the beach (Igreja de São Roque). Or on the road nearby.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/FUgmgAbDTDfF8skWA
I would go into the water on the east side of the beach (looking at the ocean, that'd be the left side), and swim east along the rocky outcropping (before you reach the next large beach).
There were some very big (thousands) schools of tiny silvery silvery fish the size of my thumb. And other very big schools of fish as big as my hand. Plus tons of blennies all over the rocks nearby. There's a large area of 5-10 foot deep water you can wander along (just be careful with those waves and surge, it can absolutely drag you around), and I went deeper sometimes just to explore.
This is also where I saw a small school of 3-4 Greater Amberjack that I'd guess were 4-5 foot long. I assure you, when they fly up behind you while you're looking at some tiny blenny, they're scary as heck. Thought "SHARKS!" for one brief, scary moment when I saw them the first time probably 5 feet away.
This beach wasn't the "best" snorkeling on the island (the other two places I went were more interesting), but it's the most convenient for where we were staying. And heck, if your family wants to spend time on the beach, this works well.
I did try the west (right) side of the water once, but the visibility wasn't great, so I didn't look further.
----
Near the "natural pools" of Piscinas Naturais Caneiros. This is a place I unfortunately went to only once, but I'd put this at the top of my list to return to someday. This was one of my favorite places to dive, ever.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/EyApXLmaFWSvwR5j8
Since I only went here once, I'm fairly sure that I didn't happen to get the best place to swim at the natural pools, but I loved where I went, so I'll give those instructions. I'm suspicious that a lot of this area is great to snorkel through on a good day.
Park somewhere along that crowded road, R. dos Moínhos. Just to the south of Seaside Vibez (Seaside Vibez), there's a trail leading down to a very rocky beach. The beach isn't great if your family wants to sit on a sand beach. Because it's rocks, and not sand.
So you get your gear on, and head into the water on the right side (east) of the beach. And swim through and around the random walls of rocks everywhere, heading out to sea (but also heading towards the rocky outcroppings, which turn this whole area into a pool-ish environment).
Once I got perhaps 40 feet away from the beach, everything transformed into a beautiful garden of short green flowing plants everywhere. It was absolutely gorgeous. I was swimming through fairly large canyons of rock, protected from outside waves, while 80% of the surfaces were covered with green plants.
The fish life was relatively low in volume, but it was such a beautiful place. A big maze of rock walls where I navigated back and forth, finding new unique places. Sometimes I'd hit a dead end, a little cul-de-sac of rock and plants. Just so pretty. The sun was out this day, and the colors were absolutely magical.
At least on the day I was there, the visibility was excellent, and I had so much fun wandering around the area. I'd love to explore this area further.
----
That's all I have. I was only there about a week, but I figured the snorkeling was so much better than I expected, so I wanted to share what I learned. I hope to go back someday, and I'll absolutely be prepared to spend more time in the water.