Ferries to Pico

The two crossings that matter

Horta to Madalena. This is the crossing most visitors mean by "the Pico ferry". Atlânticoline runs it as the Linha Azul, from Horta on Faial to Madalena on Pico's west coast, and its timetable schedules the crossing at 30 minutes. It sails several times a day in each direction on every date we checked. The boat berths at the Terminal Marítimo João Quaresma, in the town itself, so you walk off the ferry into Madalena.

Faial, Pico and São Jorge. The Linha Verde joins the three central islands. It runs from Horta to Velas on São Jorge and calls at Pico on the way, but not always at the same port. On most dates in the operator's timetable it calls at Cais do Pico, the terminal at São Roque do Pico on the north coast: 70 minutes from Horta, then 50 minutes on to Velas. On other dates it calls at Madalena instead, and Madalena to Velas is scheduled at 80 minutes. Check which Pico port your sailing uses before you drive to it, because the two terminals are on different coasts.

Seasonal lines

Atlânticoline's own network lists Pico as connected to Faial, São Jorge, Terceira and Graciosa. The Terceira and Graciosa sailings are summer lines: OpenStreetMap's route data marks them as high-season only, and none appeared in the operator's timetable on any date we checked between October and December. If your plan depends on one, look up your exact date in the operator's timetable before you book anything around it.

The two Pico ports

Madalena, at the Terminal Marítimo João Quaresma (38.535° N, 28.530° W), is the busy one and the closest to Horta. Cais do Pico, at the Terminal Marítimo de São Roque (38.531° N, 28.322° W), serves the São Jorge line. Both have an Atlânticoline ticket desk, but the desks keep different hours, and the Cais do Pico desk opens on far fewer days of the week. The hours change with the season, so check them on the operator's site rather than here.

Before you sail

• Bring identification. Atlânticoline asks every passenger to show a valid ticket and an identity document at boarding.
• Arrive in time. Foot passengers must board no later than 10 minutes before departure, and vehicles no later than 20 minutes before. The operator says a late arrival can be refused.
• Check space if you have a car. The operator's timetable tool shows the seats left for passengers and how full the car deck is. A foot passenger and a driver are not in the same position on a busy sailing, and the operator's own first tip is to buy the ticket in advance.
• Rental cars are a separate question. The booking form has its own vehicle category for rental cars, but whether your contract lets you take the car to another island is for the rental firm to say. Ask before you book. See renting a car on Pico.

Weather cancels sailings

Atlânticoline publishes a notice whenever a sailing is cancelled or rerouted, and almost every recent notice gives the weather as the reason. In the last week of September 2026 it cancelled or changed sailings on several lines, the Linha Verde among them. A rerouted Linha Verde can mean your boat calls at a different Pico port from the one on your ticket. Read the operator's notices on the morning you sail, and do not put a ferry and a tight flight connection on the same day.

Today's sailings

The ferry timetable on this site shows the day's departures once a published schedule has been copied into it. Until then, the operator's own timetable search is the reference for times.

Ferry or flight

The alternative to the boat is Pico's own airport on the north coast: see flights to Pico. Arriving at Madalena puts you on the west coast, and Cais do Pico puts you on the north, so plan the drive onward from the port you actually land at. See driving on Pico, and the overview of getting to Pico for how the routes compare.

What this page does not tell you

No fares and no departure times. Fares are the operator's to state. Departure times change with the season, and a copy here would go stale without warning. The crossing times above are the operator's scheduled times for sailings between October and December 2026, as we read them on 3 October 2026. They are scheduled times, not a promise: weather and reroutes change them.