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Dive the Azores, Santa Maria Island

10 Nights/11 Days

Destination:

• The Azores Archipelago, Portugal
• Santa Maria
• Santa Maria airport (SMA)

Length of stay:

• Eleven days / ten nights

Summary:

The Island of Santa Maria is in the Eastern Group of the Azores archipelago, along with São Miguel, 81km away. The green fields, traditional culture, the chimneys of the whitewashed houses, the dark ochre of the earth, the golden beaches and the turquoise waters make Santa Maria different from the archipelago's other islands.

Because it is the southerly and easterly Island in the Azores, Santa Maria's climate is warmer and drier, contributing to greater aridity on the land and dry vegetation with a yellowish tint reason it is also known as the Sunshine Island.

The Island has two areas with distinctive reliefs and features: one area to the west is flatter and low-lying where the airport can be found, and the houses of Vila do Porto, the largest town on the Island, and the parishes of São Pedro and Almagreira; and another more rugged area in the East of the Island, with lush vegetation, which includes the Pico Alto mountain, the highest point on the Island at 590 metres above sea level, from which you have a fantastic panoramic view.

Details of program

Santa Maria Island will be your base camp for the next 11 days. The idea is to dive into this incredible crystal-clear water 14 times.

These are some of the dive spots you will dive into.

As soon as we start to see a small lighthouse in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by tiny islets (translated from the Portuguese "Ants Islets") with only 11mts of height and 165mts of length, it means that we are arriving at the marine reserve of the Islet of the Ants, where we will dive the Ilhéu das Formigas spot.

Before launching the anchor, we can already see some schools of fish that abound in these crystal clear waters, such as Bermuda sea chub, grey Triggerfish and Amberjacks.

This location offers a wide variety of dive sites ranging from the "Olympia" wreck located on the south-western slope of the islands (between 30 and 50 meters deep), a small bay only 8 meters deep and about 50 meters south of the Lighthouse, or dips along the wall of the Ilheús (being the East side the most visited) and still several casualties to the North of the Ilheús.

All these places have in common the possibility of encounters with large migratory pelagics such as the beautiful Skipjack Tuna, Bigeye Tuna, Barracuda, Atlantic Bonito, yellow Barracuda, and the Rust.

Sometimes this scenario is even more complete with sharks, such as the mythical Hammerhead shark and the Blue shark, or several Manta rays and even the gigantic Manta (Manta birostris).

In addition to the large "blue" shoals, there is abundant wildlife in this area, big fish such as Wrasses, Groupers that follow you like dogs, and Whiting, among the slopes and crevices.

The Dollabarat Bank is recommended only for experienced divers because it is located far from the harbour and is subject to strong currents.

The long journey of one of the islands is a great adventure, allowing divers to witness the richness and diversity of species we can see, such as cetaceans, turtles and seabirds.

As soon as we anchor the boat, the calmer sea days, we can see the shallower part of this depression, only 5 meters deep and the shadows of marine life that fly over this depression.

We start the dive in the shallow part at 5 meters, and if we explore the surroundings, we see areas 8 to 10 meters deep but falling quickly to 20 to 30 meters.

Excellent place to observe the abundant pelagic bottom life "in the blue".

There are many other dive spots for all levels and certifications. The right thing to do is fine-tune the planning on the first day at the diving centre.

Visiting Santa Maria

After the diving or any day not diving to visit the Island is mandatory. Its beauty demands it, and there are other things worth doing besides exploring underwater.

You can walk around with no destination in mind, go for a programmed guided visit, or follow one of the many trails the Santa Maria island offers.

One of our favourites is the one on the south coast that connects the Vila do Porto village to Praia Formosa.

Download detailed itinerary

COST: pricing on request

For more information
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Dive Discovery
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1 800 886-7321
(415) 444-5100
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