Baía do Inferno

Baía do Inferno is a bay on the southwest coast of the island of Santiago in Cape Verde inside the Atlantic Ocean. The name means the bay of fire, as it was treacherous when the nearby island of Fogo erupted some several times. The bay is exclusively in the municipality of Santa Catarina, a kilometer east is Ribeira de Santa Clara and the municipal boundary with Ribeira Grande de Santiago.

About the bay

Its length is 5 km and its with is 3 km and is located around 3 km southeast of Porto Rincão and northwest of Porto Mosquito. Coastal cliffs is 100 meters in the outer portion, 200 meters in one portion and 400 meters in one eastern portion next to an extinct volcanic crater, the sea cliffs are the highest in Cape Verde and one of the highest in the Atlantic. No roads or trails passes within the vicinity of the bay due to its steep cliffs. Several streams flowing into the bay from north to south are Angra, Banana, Tabugal and Porco, two other streams unnamed and short flows into the bay. The nearby settlement northeast is Entre Picos de Reda.

The bay was formed 73,000 years ago when the eastern portion of the island of Fogo—a volume of approximately 100 cubic kilometres (24 cu mi) of rock—collapsed into the ocean generating a 170-metre (560 ft) high megatsunami. The surge inundated the western part of Santiago, running up to heights of 270 metres (890 ft) and carrying large boulders onto a plateau at an elevation of 200 metres (660 ft). During the Ice Age 10,000 years ago, the sea level was around 130 meters lower and the cliffs were 500 meters tall, the bay was 4 km wide. As the sea level rose to around the current levels around 2000 BC, the cliff heights were shortened and its width shrank to 3 km.

The bay forms a part of an Important Bird Area known as Coastal cliffs between Porto Mosquito and Baia do Inferno which includes the surrounding areas up to the limits of Rincão, the marine boundary extends to an area of a depth of 244 meters.^[1][2]

References

Geography, features and topics of Santiago and the surrounding islets
Topics	History (Timeline) Sport List of people
Mountains	Pico da Antónia Monte Graciosa Serra da Malagueta Monte Tchota (Achada) Monte Vermelho
Streams	Ribeira das Águas Belas Ribeira das Águas Podres Ribeira da Barca Ribeira de Faveta Ribeira de Flamengos Ribeira Grande de Santiago Ribeira de Limo Ribeira Milho Ribeira do Pico Ribeira da Prata Ribeira Principal Ribeira Riba Ribeira do Salto Ribeira Seca Ribeira da Trindade Ribeirão Isabel Ribeirão Manuel
Points and promontories	Ponta das Bicudas Ponta Moreia Ponta do Porto (de Visconde) Ponta Preta (Northern Santiago) Ponta Temerosa Ponta Verde
Reservoirs	Barragem de Poilão Favela Reservoir Figueira Gordo Reservoir Salineiro Reservoir Saquinho Reservoir
Other geographic features	Baía do Inferno Baía de Tarrafal Farol de D. Maria Pia Farol da Ponta Preta Ilhéu de Santa Maria
History	Capture of Santiago (1585) Cassard expedition Battle of Porto Praya Rabelados
Cape Verde Barlavento Santiago

Municipality of Santa Catarina
Communities and settlements	Achada Lem Assomada Boa Entrada Chão de Tanque Figueira das Naus Palha Carga Ribeira da Barca Ribeirão Manuel Rincão Saltos Acima
Geographical features	Baía do Inferno Coastal cliffs between Porto Mosquito and Baia do Inferno Important Bird Area Pico da Antónia
Landmarks and points of Interests	Museu da Tabanka Serra do Pico da Antónia Important Bird Area
Culture	Os Amigos Desportivo de Assomada Grémio Nhágar
Cape Verde Barlavento Santiago Santa Catarina

Coordinates: 15°00′37″N 23°43′54″W / 15.0102°N 23.7317°W / 15.0102; -23.7317