Azores – Central & West
The central and western Azores are open-ocean diving on volcanic islands, with no coral reefs. Faial and Pico face each other across a 6 km channel and are usually dived together: sheltered coastal sites at Monte da Guia (crater wall, caverns, a cannon site and a barge wreck) and Pico's arches and tunnels, plus exposed reefs in the channel. The headline dives are offshore: the Condor Bank blue shark drift dive and the Princess Alice Bank, where groups of sicklefin devil rays gather in summer, both mainly from July to October. Terceira has the Underwater Archaeological Park of the Bay of Angra (the Lidador wreck and the Cemetery of Anchors) and the Sheep Islet cave with stingrays; Graciosa has a wreck and a cave, São Jorge a coral cave and the open-sea reef Baixa dos Rosais, and Flores a cathedral-like reef. The official dive portal lists no dive centre of its own for Corvo and none with its own website for São Jorge or Flores.
Dive sites
- Arcadas de São Roque
- Arcadas do Judeu
- Baixa da Barca
- Baixa da Feteira
- Baixa da Senhora da Guia
- Baixa do Norte
- Baixa dos Rosais
- Boca das Caldeirinhas
- Cachorro
- Canhões de Entre Montes (Cannons)
- Catedral
- Cemetery of Anchors (Cemitério das Âncoras)
- Condor Bank (blue shark dive)
- Espalamaca Norte
- Fradinhos
- Furnas do Monte da Guia
- Gruta do Carapacho
- Gruta do Ilhéu das Cabras (Sheep Islet cave)
- Gruta dos Camarões (Shrimp Cave)
- Gruta dos Corais (Coral Cave)
- Gruta e Ilhéu Negro
- Ilhéu da Mina
- Lidador Wreck
- Pontão 16 (barge wreck)
- Princess Alice Bank (mobula dive)
- Terceirense Wreck