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.
Best time to visit location
São Miguel offers divers a great variety of sites and is easily accessible, with daily nonstop flights and a fascinating city base full of history and interesting monuments. Among the many coastal dive sites the ‘Dori’ shipwreck is undoubtedly the highlight. This Liberty ship from World War II rests on a sandy seafloor at an ideal depth for diving, just a few minutes away from the city of Ponta Delgada.
Between may and september
Information about the site
here are great differences in depth at this site, which means the Baixa das Castanhetas (Damselfish Reef) is an excellent option for divers with all levels of experience. Located less than 500 metres from the coast, opposite the Caloura bathing area, the site is a maze of interlinked caverns, tunnels and gorges.
The first cavern is at a depth of 12 metres. It has three wide entrances and is regularly occupied by a school of large white trevallies (Pseudocaranx dentex). From here you can explore a long narrow tunnel full of cardinal fish (Apogon imberbis) and small nudibranchs, before exiting back out onto the reef.
Along the top of the reef there clouds of Azores chromis (after which the reef is named), as well as several other smaller tunnels and caves where it is common to spot large dusky groupers (Epinephelus marginatus). The reef flank drops vertically to depths greater than 45 metres, where it is common to see schools of pelagic fish in the summer and sometimes devil rays (Mobula tarapacana).
Conditions around the site
DIVE TYPES
Coastal Reef
Cave
IDEAL PLACE FOR
Diving Technical
Underwater photography
DIVING EXPERIENCE
Open Water
Recommended diver experience level
Open water diver with experienceOpen water diver with experience,Open water diver with up to 30 dives