Azores – East (São Miguel, Santa Maria, Formigas)
The eastern Azores combine easy, sheltered volcanic reefs with some of the best open-ocean diving in the Atlantic. On São Miguel the Liberty ship Dori lies in 9–21 m off Ponta Delgada, while around the Vila Franca do Campo islet and Caloura there are caves, arches, anchors and black-coral reefs. Santa Maria, the island with the clearest water, has marine-reserve reefs such as Pedrinha and Baixa da Maia, lava caves, and the offshore Baixa do Ambrósio, known for devil rays. About 20 nautical miles to the north-east the Formigas islets and the Dollabarat reef form a protected nature reserve with strong currents, big pelagics and the 1921 Olympia wreck, reached by boat from Santa Maria or São Miguel. This is cold-temperate, non-coral volcanic diving at 16–24 °C.
Dive sites
- Arcos da Caloura
- Baixa da Maia (marine reserve)
- Baixa da Penedia
- Baixa das Castanhetas (Damselfish Reef)
- Baixa do Ambrósio (marine reserve)
- Baixa do Espelho (Mirror Reef)
- Baixa do Frade
- Baixa dos Badejos
- Banco João Lopes
- Cabeços do Ilhéu
- Dollabarat Reef (nature reserve)
- Dori Wreck
- Formigas Islets (nature reserve)
- Gruta Azul
- Gruta dos Enxaréus
- Gruta Funda
- Ilhéu da Vila (natural park)
- Ilhéu das Lagoínhas
- Lourenços
- Olympia Wreck (Formigas, nature reserve)
- Panela
- Pedrinha (marine reserve)
- Vila Franca Islet (protected area)
- Âncoras do Ilhéu (anchors)