Giving Back to the Home That Built Me

By Luís Nunes, Founder & CEO – Azores Getaways & AG Expeditions

June 11, 2025 • 6 min read

It Started With Memories, It Grew With Vision And Now AG Expeditions Begins

As the founder & CEO of Azores Getaways, I'm launching a new project linking my company, Azores Getaways with my childhood home in Rabo de Peixe.

Fourteen years ago my goal was simple: make the Azores easier to reach for travellers who, like me, couldn’t believe such raw beauty was still under the radar. I bought a domain name, and the company grew from two laptops to one of the Atlantic’s largest online travel agencies, but a question kept nagging me, a goal unfulfilled, “How can I give back to the community that shaped my life?”

The answer would come from the very coastline where I grew up. Not through fishing boats this time, but through two high-powered speed boats delivering a new experience to the north coast of my home, Rabo de Peixe, in São Miguel island. This is AG Expeditions. AG stands for Azores Getaways and captures the project’s essence: powered by the company I built, and rooted in the place that built me.

Why Rabo de Peixe?

Rabo de Peixe is more than a small town on the north coast of São Miguel, or the home for the hit Netflix TV series, “Turn of The Tide”. It’s the heartbeat of my childhood. It hosts the Azores’ largest fishing port, the only deep-water harbour on this side of the island, and yet it remains one of Portugal’s lowest-income parishes. For years I carried a quiet conviction that its story deserved a brighter headline and a broader economy.

I grew up a few steps from the quay, in a house perched on a cliff that looked straight onto the boats. Summer days were measured by the splash of local kids who dared each other to ride their bicycles off the pier, dive three metres down, haul them back up, and leap again. When visitors from the mainland came, I became their improvised interpreter, translating not just our thick accent but a culture built on courage and saltwater. I attended what everyone called the “fishermen’s school” through fourth grade, by ninth grade I was commuting to Ponta Delgada, and later Lisbon, chasing degrees and, eventually, entrepreneurship.

For two decades my return trips to Rabo de Peixe were brief, a Sunday lunch with my parents, a quick scan of the horizon, then back to the comfort of my affluent neighbourhood on the south coast. I told myself there was little I could do for the village until I had the means to make a real difference.

Azores Getaways has now given me those means and a responsibility. AG Expeditions is the result. A venture designed to funnel new visitors, new revenue and new pride into the very harbour where my story began.

Being in Rabo de Peixe almost every day again has rekindled something powerful: a sense that the circle is closing exactly where it should. This isn’t merely a business launch, it is a homecoming, a chance to translate the spirit of my community for the world while helping it flourish on its own terms.

AG Expeditions: From Rabo de Peixe to the World

The north coast of São Miguel is nothing short of spectacular, but it’s still one of the Azores’ best-kept secrets. Powerful Atlantic swells often make the ocean too rough for small boats, especially in winter and even throughout the year.

Until now, the harbor in Rabo de Peixe has served a single purpose: fishing. Built for working vessels and never intended to receive visitors, it remained off the radar for most travelers, especially with the lingering misconception that the village is somehow “closed” to outsiders, discouraging many from exploring this remarkable side of the island and AG Expeditions will change that.

What Is the AG Expeditions Experience Like?

It’s part discovery, part adrenaline, and fully unforgettable. Our journey blends local tradition with high-seas excitement, offering a new perspective on São Miguel’s wild and lesser-known north coast.

The adventure starts with a guided tour through the port, a unique experience where traditional fishing still shapes daily life. Then we board our fast, premium boats and head out along what I believe are the most stunning coastal views on São Miguel, with just the right amount of speed and excitement.

We’ve already done test trips with friends and local partners, many of whom had never seen the island from this angle. Their reactions were all the same: pure enthusiasm. It confirmed what I felt the first time I sailed the north coast last year. Honestly, if I had the time, I’d go every day. The magic never fades.

Giving Back to the Community

Bringing thousands of new visitors to Rabo de Peixe is just the beginning. By sparking local business activity and investing directly in the village’s future, AG Expeditions is committed to meaningful community impact. This year alone, we’ve contributed €25,000 to the Escola Básica Integrada de Rabo de Peixe and another €25,000 to the Rabo de Peixe Naval Club, both advanced ahead of any revenue. And this is just the start: moving forward, 10% of our profits will support the school, and 50% of all merchandise sales will be directed to the Naval Club.

This project is deeply personal to me, not just a business, but a way to reconnect with the place that gave me so much. It’s a tribute to childhood memories, to a community that taught me resilience, and to the untamed beauty that has always lived just beyond the breakwater.

If you ever find yourself in São Miguel, I invite you to see the north through our eyes, to experience the strength, the stillness, and the soul of this coastline. I promise, it will leave a mark.