MY FAVOURITE PLACE ON EARTH Blue whales, dolphins, turtles, the Azores is a remote treasure trove of unrivalled riches, says PHILIP HOARE

Nine volcanic islands, flung out in the middle of the Atlantic — nowhere else quite compares with the Azores. Head north and the first land you’d meet would be the Arctic. To the south, Antarctica. Remote, but utterly beautiful. They are enigmatic islands. it was here that the celebrated ghost ship, the Mary Celeste, was discovered, with its crew strangely vanished. Columbus called in after discovering America — and was promptly arrested by the islanders. no golden tourist beaches here — just black basalt, as if still bubbling with volcanic lava into the sea.

indeed, the central island of Pico still has an active volcano, which is the tallest peak in Portugal, to whom the islands officially belong.

The islands of the Azores give their secrets away reluctantly. But surrounded by waters so profound that they fall to a mile in depth just 100 yards from the shore, they are home to perhaps the most extraordinary and beloved animals on earth: whales and dolphins. And lots of them.

no fewer than 26 species of cetaceans are found here, from the dolphins that sport playfully off the bow of your whalewatching boat, to the Holy Grail: the blue whale, the mightiest, largest animal ever to live on earth.

To see one of these creatures — as big as an airliner — raise its majestic flukes and dive into the Atlantic is a sight that will remain imprinted in your memory for ever.

Zooming out of the harbour at Lajes do Pico, the town’s oldest settlement (there’s still a chapel, dedicated to St Peter, dating back to 1460), we set off in the estimable company of espaco Talassa, the first whalewatching operation organised in the Azores back in the eighties.

They were still hunting whales here then — those same hunters became expert whale-finders. As a result, this is the most dependable, most ‘hands-on’ set-up i’ve experienced in 17 years of whale-watching.

espaco Talassa’s low, fast Zodiacs take you out, close to the water, and close to the action. On most of my trips with them, since 2006, i’ve watched open-mouthed as massive sperm whales — the species of Moby-Dick fame — turned and tumbled right by our boat, as if blissfully aware of our presence. The ocean erupts with exotic animals: flying fish, turtles, even Portuguese man o’war jellyfish. Suddenly, in come the dolphins: bottlenose, spotted, striped, common and Risso’s, all scything through the surf in search of food or, often as not, merely playing. Only the most cold-hearted human could fail to leap when these exquisite creatures decide