Diving with sharks from Sao Miguel (Azores)?

[Clemens van Andel]

Hi everyone,

Me and my girlfriend are thinking about going to the Azores in July or August this summer. Being absolutely crazy about sharks, and knowing there are possibilities to go dive with blue- and occasionally mako- sharks during this period at some places in the Azores, it would be awesome to combine a week of holiday with one day of shark diving.

Flights from our home country go to directly to the island Sao Miguel, where we're probably going to stay. However, I have only seen shark diving tours online from Faial & Pico island. Unfortunately, my girlfriend is not a diver and she is also not keen on the idea of going island hopping since we are probably only able to go for a week.

Does anyone know if there are possibilities to go shark diving from Sao Miguel? All help is very much appreciated!

Kind regards,
Clemens

 

[David Novo]

As far as I know, this is only done in the Azores Central Island group (mainly Faial and Pico). São Miguel is on the Eastern group.

I was in Faial and Pico last year and due to Covid, just one dive center in Faial (none in Pico) was going to the sharks (named Norberto). There were snorkelers too.

In Faial / Pico another top dive is Princesa Alice seamount 3/4 hours by boat. You can consistently see chilean devilfish (mobulas), often in large numbers. Last year, I saw a whale shark there.

In Santa Maria, the island closest to São Miguel, there is also a spot for these mobulas (45 min from port) and last year whale sharks were often there in the Summer. As far as I know, some dive centers in São Miguel were going there too, but the trip is longer.

There are two other top offshore dives between Santa Maria and São Miguel: Dollabarat and Formigas. They are close to each other.

Close to São Miguel, the most famous dive is the Dori wreck. I have never been there.

 

[JMBL]

Click here, it should help, it's the official Azores website

I was in Santa Maria and Faial some years ago.

From Faial, try diving the Princess Alice bank (long trip though) and Norberto is the right guy to meet.

From Santa Maria, there's Ambrosia, to meet the mobulas (it was awesome) and Formigas (long trip again). I dove with those guys here. Jorge the boss is a terrific guy, and it seems they have expanded the facility to provide for tek divers now.

I want to get back in Azores, hopefully next year.

 

[Nik in Spain]

As far as I know, this is only done in the Azores Central Island group (mainly Faial and Pico). São Miguel is on the Eastern group.

I was in Faial and Pico last year and due to Covid, just one dive center in Faial (none in Pico) was going to the sharks (named Norberto). There were snorkelers too.

In Faial / Pico another top dive is Princesa Alice seamount 3/4 hours by boat. You can consistently see chilean devilfish (mobulas), often in large numbers. Last year, I saw a whale shark there.

In Santa Maria, the island closest to São Miguel, there is also a spot for these mobulas (45 min from port) and last year whale sharks were often there in the Summer. As far as I know, some dive centers in São Miguel were going there too, but the trip is longer.

There are two other top offshore dives between Santa Maria and São Miguel: Dollabarat and Formigas. They are close to each other.

Close to São Miguel, the most famous dive is the Dori wreck. I have never been there.

Hi David, I know this thread is from a while ago, but there are a couple of things that interest me :

1) you're from Porto
we are there at the end of august, really only to do the U1277. Have you done that recently ? Is it good for a double dive or even two days of diving ?

2) we are going to the Azores on the same trip, I have heard from some people that diving in the blue is very much hit or miss. You MAY see sharks and Manta..or you may not. Shore dives and Dori are different, you know what you can expect..but I am worried about the dives in the ocean , because they are quite expensive (I have to pay for myself and two kids) and if it isn't common to see anything, I can't really justify spending that kind of money.. as we are staying on Sao Miguel, I thought of hitting Santa Maria to do Ambrosia.

 

[David Novo]

Hi David, I know this thread is from a while ago, but there are a couple of things that interest me :

1) you're from Porto
we are there at the end of august, really only to do the U1277. Have you done that recently ? Is it good for a double dive or even two days of diving ?

2) we are going to the Azores on the same trip, I have heard from some people that diving in the blue is very much hit or miss. You MAY see sharks and Manta..or you may not. Shore dives and Dori are different, you know what you can expect..but I am worried about the dives in the ocean , because they are quite expensive (I have to pay for myself and two kids) and if it isn't common to see anything, I can't really justify spending that kind of money.. as we are staying on Sao Miguel, I thought of hitting Santa Maria to do Ambrosia.

Hi Nil,

1) I dived the U-1277 twice this year plus a couple last year. I doubt that you may find dive boats going twice there on the same day. Eventually you may find one that goes on a Saturday and a different boat that goes on Sunday. Whether it is worth 2 dives, depends on your consumption. I think if you are using Nitrox and your consumption at 30m allows you to stay safely 30 min there, you may be able to check everything. YMMV

2) I replied to you about Ambrósio on a different thread. I was never in São Miguel, just Santa Maria, Faial and Pico as my goal was to dive. In the end of August, I would say blue sharks near Faial / Pico and mobulas (chilean devilray) in Ambrósio (close to Santa Maria) and Princess Alice Bank (couple of hours from Pico / Faial) are almost guaranteed. Whale sharks have been showing up often at that time in Ambrósio and less often in Princess Alice.

 

[Nik in Spain]

Hi Nil,

1) I dived the U-1277 twice this year plus a couple last year. I doubt that you may find dive boats going twice there on the same day. Eventually you may find one that goes on a Saturday and a different boat that goes on Sunday. Whether it is worth 2 dives, depends on your consumption. I think if you are using Nitrox and your consumption at 30m allows you to stay safely 30 min there, you may be able to check everything. YMMV

2) I replied to you about Ambrósio on a different thread. I was never in São Miguel, just Santa Maria, Faial and Pico as my goal was to dive. In the end of August, I would say blue sharks near Faial / Pico and mobulas (chilean devilray) in Ambrósio (close to Santa Maria) and Princess Alice Bank (couple of hours from Pico / Faial) are almost guaranteed. Whale sharks have been showing up often at that time in Ambrósio and less often in Princess Alice.

Thank you again David, very helpfull. Do centers not offer double dives, i.e. - two dives together ? Nothing against Porto ;-) but I am really only going there to do the submarine (..come on, convince me that I need to see the steps of the library, the clerical tower, the Luiz I bridge, Gaia, etc...my wife and my daughter have just come back..they liked it..but I prefer places below water..). Is there anything else close to Porto that is interesting ? No more shipwrecks, I suppose ;-)

 

[David Novo]

Thank you again David, very helpfull. Do centers not offer double dives, i.e. - two dives together ? Nothing against Porto ;-) but I am really only going there to do the submarine (..come on, convince me that I need to see the steps of the library, the clerical tower, the Luiz I bridge, Gaia, etc...my wife and my daughter have just come back..they liked it..but I prefer places below water..). Is there anything else close to Porto that is interesting ? No more shipwrecks, I suppose ;-)

I would indeed spend a day exploring the city. It is worth it!

Well, there are other dive spots including (the majority are wrecks) but I would not travel no dive them. You can search them below:

Werde ein SSI Taucher und entdecke die Unterwasserwelt

Seit 50 Jahren bietet SSI qualitativ hochwertige Ausbildungen in den Bereichen Scuba Diving, Extended Range, Rebreather Diving, Freediving, Schwimmen und Lifeguard an.

www.divessi.com

Centers offer double dives but they usually change the spot between dives.

 

[Nik in Spain]

I would indeed spend a day exploring the city. It is worth it!

Well, there are other dive spots including (the majority are wrecks) but I would not travel no dive them. You can search them below:

Werde ein SSI Taucher und entdecke die Unterwasserwelt

Seit 50 Jahren bietet SSI qualitativ hochwertige Ausbildungen in den Bereichen Scuba Diving, Extended Range, Rebreather Diving, Freediving, Schwimmen und Lifeguard an.

www.divessi.com

Centers offer double dives but they usually change the spot between dives.

Thank you very much, David. I will spend the day I can't dive exploring Porto (24 hr airplane thing), but if I could fit some more diving in, that would be better. I love shipwrecks. Not for the fish (bonus), but for exploring. Going inside a shipwreck is the best part of diving for me...so I will search the list and see if there is anything up to 40m depth...Thanks again.

 

[David Novo]

Thank you very much, David. I will spend the day I can't dive exploring Porto (24 hr airplane thing), but if I could fit some more diving in, that would be better. I love shipwrecks. Not for the fish (bonus), but for exploring. Going inside a shipwreck is the best part of diving for me...so I will search the list and see if there is anything up to 40m depth...Thanks again.

There are no shipwrecks that you can enter as far as I am aware.
You have Batelão, Navio do Norte, Silver Valley, Brenha, Varna and Draga da Madalena (maybe there are more but these are the ones that come to mind).
From these, my favorite is Brenha but as it is the hardest to get there, boats don't go there often.