Diving in Brazil: advice needed for Arraial do Cabo

[cnmoga]

In the very preliminary stages of planning a trip to Rio in 2014 or 2015. Although I will be spending most of my time in Rio proper, I hope to split the vacation in half by escaping to Arraial do Cabo for 3 days or so to do some diving. Questions:

*What is the best time of year to go? I realize we have Carnival, the World Cup, and Olympics to work around but is there any seasonal preference?

*Does anyone know of a good dive shop there? I am a solo-traveler and speak no Portuguese.

*Any other advice on transit, hotels, etc. is appreciated in advance.

Thanks!

 

[miketsp]

Definitely avoid the major events. Flights and hotel costs during the Olympics and the World Cup have exploded already.

If you Google the phrase: arraial do cabo mergulho
this will bring up all the sites of the operators in Arraial.

When we travel as a group from São Paulo we generally book with Arraial Sub. Their site is fairly complete and describes the dive sites.
As for not speaking Portuguese, I've never tested them but I'm pretty sure that all the operators in Arraial must be accustomed to this situation.
I would send an e-mail in English to some of them explaining your needs and see what response you get.

When we stay in Arraial we generally use the pousada Capitão n'Areia.
::: Capitão N´Areia Pousada :::

Very conveniently located just a few minutes walking distance from the port, the beach and quite a few restaurants.

Rio to Arraial almost certainly will mean a bus trip.
See
Auto Viação 1001 - English

Finally, just FYI, the dives inside the bay will generally be fairly warm 20-24C but if you do any of the sites outside (not usual unless booked by request) expect colder water, I've logged quite a few at 15C.