Diving the Azores: Blue Sharks, Devil Rays and Mid-Atlantic Seamounts

The Azores are nine volcanic islands roughly 1,400 km west of mainland Portugal, sitting on top of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. There is no continental shelf here. The islands drop away steeply into thousands of metres of ocean, and the diving reflects that: instead of coral reefs, the attractions are underwater volcanic structures close to shore and, further out, seamounts that rise from abyssal depths to within 30 or 40 m of the surface and act as magnets for open-ocean animals.

Three islands carry most of the diving. Faial and Pico face each other across a narrow channel in the central group, with Horta on Faial as the main harbour and the departure point for the offshore banks. Santa Maria, the southernmost and warmest island, has the best coastal diving and the closest access to the Formigas Islets. Sao Miguel, the largest island and the main airport, has its own sites including the Dori wreck, and is often used as a stopover.

A short and weather-dependent season

The Azorean dive season runs from June to October, with July to September as the reliable core. Outside those months the Atlantic swell and the winter storms shut down the offshore trips and most dive centres either close or run a much-reduced coastal programme. Even in summer, the offshore banks are cancelled regularly: Princess Alice is a three to four hour crossing each way in open ocean and needs a genuinely calm forecast.

That is the single most important planning fact about the Azores. Divers who come for one specific dive and allow two days for it usually leave disappointed. A week on the islands, with a flexible programme and coastal dives to fall back on, is the realistic way to get a shot at the banks.

The Azores are one of the few places in Europe where you can dive with large pelagic animals in clear blue water, and the diving is unlike anything on the Mediterranean or Atlantic coasts.

• Blue sharks and shortfin makos: baited blue-water dives off Condor Bank and the Faial and Pico coast, hanging in open ocean with sharks that circle within arm reach, from June to October.
• Devil rays at Princess Alice: sicklefin devil rays, often in large aggregations, over a seamount 45 nautical miles offshore that tops out at around 35 m.
• Baixa do Ambrosio, Santa Maria: a shallow reef where devil rays school through the summer, one of the most photographed sites in the Atlantic.
• Formigas and Dollabarat: a remote reserve of pinnacles between Santa Maria and Sao Miguel, with big fish, sharks and 40 m visibility, permit and calm weather required.
• Volcanic underwater terrain: arches, chimneys, caves and lava tongues around the Ilheus da Madalena and Monte da Guia, dived from shore or on a short boat ride.
• Whales and dolphins on the surface: the same boats run whale watching, and sperm whales, blue whales in spring and several dolphin species are routinely seen on the way out.

Sites split cleanly into two groups. Coastal dives around Faial, Pico and Santa Maria are volcanic rock, arches and fish life in 10 to 30 m, and they run whenever the wind allows. The offshore banks are long boat trips into open ocean, they are what most divers come for, and they run only in settled weather.

Princess Alice Bank

A seamount about 45 nautical miles southwest of Faial and Pico, rising from deep ocean to roughly 35 m. The dive is a descent down a shotline into blue water over the summit, with sicklefin devil rays gathering in the current through July to September, plus large jacks, barracuda and the occasional whale shark in warm years. It is a three to four hour crossing each way and a full-day commitment.

Condor Bank

A seamount around 10 nautical miles southwest of Faial, and the main location for baited blue-water shark dives. Divers hang on a line in open water at 5 to 15 m over hundreds of metres of ocean while blue sharks, and less often shortfin makos, come in to investigate. Sessions run through the season, most reliably from July to September.

Baixa do Ambrosio (Santa Maria)

A shallow rocky bank a short boat ride from Vila do Porto, and the most famous devil ray site in the archipelago. In summer, mobulas circle at 10 to 20 m in numbers that make it feel like a cleaning station, alongside amberjack and large schools of barracuda. Depths are modest, so bottom time is generous.

Formigas Islets

A cluster of rocks 40 km northeast of Santa Maria, protected as a nature reserve. Steep walls and pinnacles hold dusky grouper, big jacks, barracuda and passing sharks in some of the clearest water in the Azores. Access requires an authorised operator and permit, and the trip only runs in flat conditions.

Dollabarat Bank

A submerged reef just south of Formigas, topping out around 6 m and dropping steeply. It is the wilder of the two, exposed to swell and current, with heavy fish life, big pelagics and the best visibility most divers will see in the Atlantic. Usually combined with Formigas on the same day trip or liveaboard leg.

Baixa do Sul

A pinnacle in the Faial and Pico channel rising to around 12 m from much deeper water. Current draws in schooling barracuda, amberjack and bonito, and the rock itself is covered in black coral and anemones. It is the best of the central-group sites that does not need a full-day crossing.

Ilheus da Madalena (Pico)

Two volcanic islets, Deitado and Em Pe, off Madalena harbour on Pico. Boulder fields, arches and lava tongues from 5 to 30 m, with octopus, moray eels, dusky grouper and clouds of small reef fish. Easy, sheltered and a good first dive of a trip while you adjust to the temperature.

Caneiro dos Meros and Monte da Guia (Faial)

On the flooded volcanic crater at the southern end of Horta, Caneiro dos Meros is known for resident dusky grouper that have been protected long enough to be indifferent to divers. Monte da Guia nearby offers walls, caves and swim-throughs in 10 to 25 m, all within minutes of the harbour.

The Azores sit in open Atlantic water with no continental shelf, so the fauna is temperate and pelagic rather than tropical. There is very little coral and no reef in the tropical sense; what the islands offer is big animals passing through, and a resident rocky-reef community that has been protected long enough to be tame.

Pelagic

• Blue sharks on the baited offshore dives from June to October, often several at a time.
• Shortfin mako sharks, less frequent than blues but a regular visitor to the same sites in mid-summer.
• Sicklefin devil rays, the Chilean devil ray, schooling at Princess Alice Bank and Baixa do Ambrosio in July to September.
• Whale sharks, occasional and unpredictable, in warm-water years from August to October over the offshore banks.
• Loggerhead turtles crossing the open ocean, often encountered on the crossings and during blue-water dives.
• Atlantic bonito, almaco jack, amberjack and large barracuda schools over the pinnacles.

Rocky reef

• Dusky grouper, protected and approachable, notably at Caneiro dos Meros on Faial.
• Ornate wrasse, parrotfish, damselfish and shoals of Atlantic salema in the shallows.
• Moray eels, octopus and slipper lobster in the lava crevices.
• Black coral and anemones on the deeper pinnacle walls.
• Nudibranchs and colourful sponges for divers who slow down on the coastal sites.

From the boat

• Sperm whales year round, and blue and fin whales on migration in April and May.
• Common, bottlenose, spotted and Rissos dolphins, seen on almost every offshore crossing.
• Cory shearwaters and other seabirds working bait balls, often the first sign of fish below.

This is cold-water diving. Water is 17 to 18C in June, climbs to 23 or 24C in August and September, and falls back through October. Winter drops to about 16C. A 7 mm semi-dry with hood and gloves is the standard rig, and many divers use a drysuit in June and October or for the long offshore days. Surface intervals in wind on an open boat are colder than the dives.

Visibility is excellent by Atlantic standards: 20 to 40 m in summer, sometimes more over the offshore banks, and dropping to 10 to 20 m in winter and after storms. There is very little runoff or sediment, so what limits visibility is swell rather than particulate.

Conditions are demanding in a specific way. Coastal sites are straightforward, 10 to 30 m with mild current, but the offshore dives are open-ocean blue-water work: a descent on a shotline with no bottom in sight at Condor, or 35 m over a seamount in current at Princess Alice, three to four hours from land. Operators expect Advanced Open Water or equivalent and around 20 logged dives for the banks, plus comfort with negative-entry descents, blue-water buoyancy and deploying a surface marker buoy. Nitrox is widely available. There is a recompression chamber on Sao Miguel, and evacuation insurance is expected.

The Azores are a summer destination and the window is genuinely narrow. From November to April the North Atlantic swell shuts down the offshore programme, most dive centres run limited or no operations, and the water sits at 16 to 18C. Everything worth planning a trip around happens between June and October.

• June: the season opens. Water is still cool at 19 to 21C and visibility is building. Blue sharks start to appear offshore, but calm windows for Princess Alice are less frequent than later in the summer.
• July to September: the core season. Warmest water at 21 to 24C, best visibility, and the reliable months for both blue sharks at Condor and devil rays at Princess Alice and Baixa do Ambrosio. September is often the best single month, with warm water and thinner crowds.
• October: water is still 21 to 23C and the diving can be excellent, but the first Atlantic depressions arrive and offshore trips are cancelled more often. Prices drop and centres start closing towards the end of the month.
• November to May: effectively off-season for diving. Some coastal diving continues on sheltered days for those who live there, and April and May are the months for blue and fin whales on the surface, but the banks are closed by weather.

Most travellers arrive through Joao Paulo II Airport at Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel (PDL), which has direct flights from Lisbon and Porto, several European cities in summer, and Boston and Toronto seasonally. Terceira (TER) also handles some international traffic. From there, inter-island flights connect to Horta on Faial (HOR), Pico (PIX) and Santa Maria (SMA), each around 30 to 45 minutes.

For Faial and Pico, fly to Horta or Pico and take the ferry across the channel, which runs several times a day in summer and takes about 30 minutes. Many divers stay on one island and dive from the other, since the Horta operators serve both coasts and the offshore banks. For Santa Maria, fly to SMA and base yourself in Vila do Porto, where the dive centres and the Ambrosio boats are.

Inter-island flights and ferries are affected by fog and wind, particularly around Pico and Horta, so leave a buffer day before an international departure. Baggage allowance on the small inter-island aircraft is tighter than on the Lisbon leg.

The Azores are part of Portugal and the Schengen area. Most European, British, American, Canadian and Australian visitors enter without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180.

Park fees: there is no general marine park fee. The Formigas Islets and Dollabarat Bank form a nature reserve where diving requires an authorised operator and a permit arranged in advance, and daily visitor numbers are capped. Several coastal marine protected areas limit group sizes; your dive centre handles the paperwork.

Exposure protection: plan for 7 mm semi-dry with hood and gloves as a minimum from June to October. Rental suits are available but sizing is limited at the smaller centres, so bring your own if you can.

Weather buffer: offshore trips to Princess Alice, Condor, Formigas and Dollabarat are cancelled routinely for sea state. Book a week rather than a long weekend, and expect the schedule to be decided the evening before.

Money and language: the euro, with cards accepted everywhere. Portuguese is the language and English is spoken in all the dive centres.

Practicalities: 230 V with type C and F sockets. Time is UTC-1 in winter and UTC in summer, an hour behind mainland Portugal. The recompression chamber is on Sao Miguel, so evacuation cover is important when you are diving from Faial, Pico or Santa Maria.

• Allow a full week: the offshore banks need calm weather and you may get one or two chances in seven days. A short trip built around Princess Alice is a gamble.
• Bring your own exposure suit: 7 mm semi-dry, hood and gloves. Fit matters more when the water is 19C and the surface interval is windy.
• Book blue shark and Princess Alice trips before you arrive: good-weather days fill immediately once the forecast firms up.
• Take seasickness medication: three to four hours each way across open Atlantic on a rigid inflatable is not a gentle crossing.
• Combine islands carefully: Faial and Pico are a 30-minute ferry apart, but Santa Maria needs a separate flight, so treat it as its own trip or a second week.
• Pack for wind, not sun: a windproof layer and a warm hat make the surface intervals bearable even in August.
• Leave a buffer day before flying home: inter-island flights and ferries are cancelled for fog and wind more often than you would expect in summer.