Location

Access to location

Known as the Green Island, this is the biggest island of the Azores. It is about 54 miles away from its nearest neighbour, the island of Santa Maria, and about two times that distance from the closest island of the central group, Terceira.

Country

Portugal

Information about the site

With the top of her stern at a depth of only 9 metres, and the bow in the deepest part at 20 metres, the Dori shipwreck is a great place for all types of dive and snorkelling trips. Considered by many as the best dive site on the island of São Miguel, this wrecked Liberty ship on the sandy seafloor was built during the Second World War in the United States. It was one of the few ships of this type that took part in Operation Overlord along the coast of Normandy, as well as taking part in a number of other wartime missions, and it eventually sank 800 metres off the coast of Ponta Delgada on 16 January 1964. Today it is an underwater archaeological park; the stern, to the north, is still quite intact and is surrounded by clouds of small fish as well as occasionally shoals of pelagic fish. Heading towards the bow, you can see some of the larger structures of the ship still intact, as well as a multitude of large pipes and stairways. The ship’s boilers are regularly surrounded by schools of Moroccan white seabreams (Diplodus sargus cadenati). Fishing is prohibited in this area, which means that throughout the dive you can spot an exceptional number of common species typical of the Azores Sea.

Conditions around the site

good conditions

Maximum depth

21

Surface conditions

Small waves,Small waves and selldom harsh conditions at surface

Number of logged dives

1