Diving Destinations in Portugal

Azores

The Azores sit on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge — nine volcanic islands where the seafloor drops thousands of metres almost at your fins. For divers, the hub that actually delivers megafauna is the Pico–Faial triangle: base in Madalena (Pico) or Horta (Faial) and you are within range of Princess Alice Bank, Condor Bank blue-shark Expeditions, and a shoreline of lava arches, walls, and wrecks. Summer is the story. From July through mid-October, devil rays (Mobula tarapacana) stack over the Princess Alice pinnacle roughly 45–50 nm southwest of Pico, and open-ocean blue sharks — occasionally makos — circle chummed blue-water stations off southwest Pico. Closer in, Arcos de Caneiras swim-throughs, channel drifts between the islands, Capelinhos’ young volcanic bottom, and Faial’s WWII wreck Canção do Mar keep a weather-cancelled week from feeling empty. Water runs cool (about 18–24 °C in season); pack a 5–7 mm suit, SMB, and enough days for the offshore window to open.