Boca do Inferno is located about 2 km from the center of Cascais and is a cliff where the Atlantic crashes with a roar into a huge cavity carved into the rock. To get there from Lisbon, simply take the train from Cais do Sodré to Cascais, the line’s last stop, and then walk about 20 minutes along the seaside path. Admission is free.
In addition to the scenery, the site holds a true story that seems straight out of a detective novel: in 1930, it was here that the English occultist Aleister Crowley staged his own disappearance, with the help of Fernando Pessoa.
What You’ll Find at Boca do Inferno
An ancient cave opening onto the sea
The rock is limestone, and it’s possible that the site was once an ancient cave whose ceiling eventually collapsed, leaving a large cavity facing the sea. That’s where the waves crash in, with a roar that can be heard from the viewing areas. The name comes precisely from the shape of the cliff and the force with which the sea crashes against it.
When to go
According to Visit Cascais, the spectacle is even more impressive on stormy days, when the sea is roughest, and the spot is also one of the top choices for photographing the sunset. There are accessible viewpoints and a coastal walking path that connects Boca do Inferno to downtown Cascais, and Visit Cascais considers it a must-see for anyone visiting the town.
There are unprotected areas along the cliff. Therefore, please heed the warning signs and do not go beyond the designated viewing areas, especially when the sea is rough.
The Mystery of 1930
In September 1930, the English occultist Aleister Crowley—whom the British press once called “the most evil man in the world”—spent a few weeks in Portugal. He had begun exchanging letters with Fernando Pessoa in late 1929, after the poet—who was also an astrologer—had corrected his horoscope.
Crowley left the country by train on September 23. Two days later, journalist Augusto Ferreira Gomes, a friend of Pessoa’s, claimed to have found a farewell letter from the Englishman at Boca do Inferno, tucked under a cigarette case, which led people to believe that Crowley had died.
As *O Observador* reconstructed, based on documents from the time, everything had been arranged between the two. Pessoa helped fuel the story in the press and even claimed to have seen Crowley in Lisbon—“or his ghost”—after Crowley had already left the country. In reality, the Englishman was alive and well in Berlin. The poet also began writing a detective novel about the episode, fragments of which were published in 2019 in the book *O Mistério da Boca do Inferno*(The Mystery of the Mouth of Hell), by Tinta-da-China.
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