Entre Montes

Depth: 5-20m
Level: Beginner
Description: Gentle volcanic slope from 6-20m, with big boulders and sand.
Highlights: Small shoaling fish, barracudas, dusky and comb groupers. Parrotfish cleaning station. Nursery are for common stingrays. A very interesting night dive.

Boca das Caldeirinhas

Max. depth: 10-40m
Level: Advanced
Description: Volcanic wall with steps that starts with a plateau at 6m and goes down to +40m.
Highlights: UW crater, canyons and crevices. Prolific marine life: big dusky groupers, moray eels, barracudas, breams, damselfish and black coral. Parrotfish cleaning station.

Radares

Depth: 5-40m
Level: Advanced
Description: Drift wall/steep slope diving, moderate to strong current.
Highlights: Pelagic action of mackerel and barracudas; dusky groups, eagle rays.

Furnas

Depth: 5-40m
Level: Advanced
Description: Steep wall dive with the exploration of 2 volcanic caverns with access to the surface.
Highlights: Dramatic landscape, beautiful light effect when exiting the cavern. Aggregation of eagle rays; dusky groupers and pelagic fish.

Gruta dos Camarões

Depth: 5-40m
Level: Advanced; overhead environment.br> Description: Wall dive with cave penetration at 25-30m.br> Highlights: Shrimp aggregation, conger eel, greater forkbeard, leopard-spotted goby.

Gruta dos Camarões

Depth: 5-40m

Level: Advanced; overhead environment.

Description: Wall dive with cave penetration at 25-30m.

Highlights: Shrimp aggregation, conger eel, greater forkbeard, leopard-spotted goby.

Parede do Almeida

Steep wall to depths of more than 40 m.

Fauna: barracudas, jacks, dusky groupers.

Gruta da Pedra

Depth: 5-25m
Level: Advanced
Description: Wall dive with exploration of a cavern.
Highlights: Volcanic landscape, nudibranchs, dusky groupers, big shoals of mackerel and cow breams in shallow water.

Gruta do Ilhéu Negro

Depth: 5-20m
Level: Beginner
Description: Cavern with easy access to the surface; this site combines wall diving with a sandy bottom and normally ends in Ilhéu Negro.
Highlights: UW scenario, damselfish, small shoaling fish, stingrays, nudibranchs, morays.

Ilhéu Negro

Depth: 5-20m
Level: Beginner
Description: Volcanic islet that rises from a sandy bottom to the surface.
Highlights: Parrotfish, damselfish, octopus, moray eels, nudibranchs and tube worms. Nursery are for common stingrays.

Arcos do Calhau

Depth: 10-20m
Level: Advanced
Description: Rocky plateau at 10m with 2 large perfect lava arches that go down to 20m.
Highlights: Volcanic formation, yellow anemones, moray eels, turkish wrasse, damselfish, stingrays

Baixa do Sul

Depth: 8-40m
Level: Advanced
Description: Pinnacle in the channel Faial-Pico, with shallowest peak at 8m.
Possibility of strong current.
Highlights: Geological formations; shallow plateau covered with peacock’s tail algae and populated by dense shoals of ornate and turkish wrasses. Barracudas, jacks, dusky groupers, stingrays and anthias are common sightings. Manta rays are occasionally sighted in August-September.

Baixa do Norte

Depth: 18m-40m
Level: Advanced
Description: Pinnacle in the channel Faial-Pico, with shallowest peak at 18m. Current is often very strong.
Highlights: Small shoaling fish, barracudas, jacks, Atlantic bonitos, dusky and comb groupers.

Ilhéus da Madalena

Depth: 5-18m
Level: Beginner/Advanced
Description: Two volcanic islets outside Madalena village in Pico. Possibility of different dive profiles whether diving in the South or between the islets.
Highlights: UW scenario, small shoaling fish, damselfish, triggerfish, moray eels, stingrays, nudibranchs, jewel and yellow anemones.

Arcos da Formosinha

Depth: 10-18m
Level: Advanced
Description: Beautiful volcanic landscape of various lava arches.
Highlights: Volcanic formation, guelly jacks, breams, stingrays, moray eels and nudibranchs.

Baixa da Barca

Depth: 17m-40m
Level: Advanced
Description: Pinnacle in the channel Faial-Pico, with a big plateau starting at 17m. Possibility of strong current.
Highlights: Big shoals of guelly jacks and barracudas; dusky groupers.

Pontão 16

Depth: 19-26m
Level: Advanced
Description: Working platform sank in 2003 (40m long x 17m wide); sandy bottom.
Highlights: Wreck dive, shoaling breams, triggerfish, mullets, nudibranchs, stingrays.

Viana

Max Depth: 50m
Level: Advanced

Baixa da Feteira

Depth: 12-35m
Level: Advanced
Description: Coastal pinnacle that rises from a sandy bottom to a plateau at 12m. Possibility of moderate to strong current.
Highlights: Small shoaling fish, barracudas, groupers and black coral.

Morro de Castelo Branco

Depth: 5-35m
Level: Advanced
Description: Classified as a natural reserve, this dive site can offer a good drift along a steep wall. Current can be strong.
Highlights: Barracudas, hogfish, scorpion fish, morays and small shoaling fish.

Princess Alice Bank

Depth: 5-40m
Level: Advanced
Description: Seamount that rises from the ocean bottom to a peak at 32m. Moderate to strong current.
Highlights: Impressive dive in open ocean. Aggregation of mobula rays (Mobula tarapacana) from July to September; big shoal of greater amberjacks, triggerfish, Atlantic bonitos, skipjack tunas, wahoos, stingrays. Occasionally, whale sharks may be sighted.

Condor Bank

Depth: 6-10m
Level: Advanced; suitable for free divers
Description: Oceanic dive with no bottom reference for shark encounters.
Highlights: Blue shark dive, occasionally shortfin mako sharks and bait balls.

Vulcão Capelinhos

Depth: 5-20m
Level: Advanced
Description: On the West coast of Faial, Vulcão dos Capelinhos is a result of the most recent volcanic eruption in the Azores (1957/58). Possibility of strong currents and limited visibility.
Highlights: Dramatic landscape of volcanic sand, boulders, caves and lava arches. Small shoaling fish, breams, morays, stingrays and pelagic fish such as Atlantic bonitos.

Baixa dos Cedros

Depth: 15m-40m
Level: Advanced
Description: Pinnacle in the North coast of Faial starting at 18m. Moderate to strong current.
Highlights: Pelagic fish encounters; occasional sightings of hammerhead sharks.

Shark Point

Depth: 6-10m
Level: Advanced; suitable for free divers
Description: Oceanic dive with no bottom reference for shark encounters.
Highlights: Blue shark dive, occasionally shortfin mako sharks.

Baixa dos Rosais

Depth: 15-40m
Level: Advanced
Description: Pinnacle 3 mile west of S. Jorge Island. Currents can be strong.
Highlights: Small shoaling fish and big pelagics, such as barracudas and jacks.