Hello from Portugal

[jcarv66]

Hi all,
my two major hobbies are diving and UW photography.

Check out my website. You'll find some of my pictures in Brazil, Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Red Sea and several spots in Portugal.

 

[pgcosta]

Welcome to ScubaBoard!! Greetings from an ex-colony resident... I've been travelling in Portugal last year, but it was in november and quite cold / rainy. I spent a morning at the marina in Cascais chatting with some guys at the LDS. Seems you have some nice dive spots! Where did you dive here in Brazil? Do you have plans to come again?

 

[pgcosta]

Hi again! Been visiting your website... congratulations, you're a Pro!!! Beautiful pictures! I was amazed at the photo with the fish, the 2 morays and the shrimps!! How much was their jeton to pose for it ??

 

[covediver]

Welcome to scubaboard. Always wondered what the diving was like in Portugal and Brazil because of distant family connections in both places. Looks very interesting.

 

[pgcosta]

Hi, Covediver!!

I´ve been always curious to know how it is to dive up there with all that ice and snow!!!

In Brazil we have 3 distinct scenarios:

a) South and Southeast, with colder water (from 14 to 23 degrees celsius) and visibility almost all times below 40 feet. Sea conditions depend on winds. There are some good points, like Bombinhas (Santa Catarina state), Laje de Santos (Sao Paulo state), Ilha Grande bay (South of Rio de Janeiro state) and the so called blue coast - Cabo Frio, Arraial do Cabo and Buzios (North of Rio de Janeiro). Some nice spots, although distant from shore (~1:30 hours) are found at Guarapari (Espirito Santo state).

b) Northeast, with warm waters (26~29 degrees celsius), vis usually over 60 feet, very nice spots and good infrastructure in the states of Bahia (especially Abrolhos islands) and Pernambuco, with some incredible shipwrecks and a rich coral reef in Pernambuco. Off the northeastern coast, 60 minutes by plane from Recife (Pernambuco's capital), there is Fernando de Noronha Island, by far the best diving place in Brazil, with challenging spots and dives to satisfy every level of certification, from beginners to experts. There are also Natal (Rio Grande do Norte state) and Fortaleza (Ceara state) with nice dive spots, but less infrastructure.

c) The western region, with fantastic rivers, lakes and incredible cave diving, especially in Bonito (Mato Grosso do Sul state).

There are many websites with interesting and useful information about diving in Brazil, but most of them are in portuguese only. If you are interested in trying out, I'd recommend :: Brasil Mergulho :: +4.000 páginas sobre mergulho no Brasil ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (all about diving in Brazil, from entry level to technical and cave diving) and Naufrágio (everything related to shipwrecks in Brazil, including a database with more than 2.300 entries and lots of historical information).

Hope this helps!!!

 

[Calle Roo]

Welcome to SB ! :wavey:

 

[floridanewbe]

welcome aboard

 

[jcarv66]

Hi all,
here's the thing:

Dive in Portugal: - you have the "continent" and the islands, of course very different.
In the continent the best places, in my humble opinion, are Sesimbra - the mecca for Portuguese divers, it's south of Lisbon with a lot of nice spots to dive, and where a lot of dive centers are. We also have there a very big and interesting wreck, the River Gurara.
It is very usual to see dolphins racing with the boat, after the dive.

Also in the south, near Sesimbra, there's a place called Fonte da Telha. The dive center is located on a gorgeous beach. And you go dive when you want, there are not tight schedules. If you don't feel like diving, you can stay at the panoramic bar, with s spectacular view over the beach.

In live in Cascais, a very beautiful and cosmopolitan place, some 20km north of Lisbon. The water here is not so good...more "green" than blue. "My" dive center here is Extremedive, located on the marina.

Then, up north, there's these island called Berlenga. A must in this area. Since they are located a few nautical miles from the continent, what you normally to here is 2 or 3 dives during the day. To rest or to lunch, we normally go to a fort located on the island. Gooooorgeous place.

The islands: I think the Azores are like a world class place for diving. Never been there...
Madeira: never been there also, but i have some friends there this weekend. Lot's of barracuda and a special note for the giant groupers. Some are very used to divers, and make it an unforgettable experience. I'll try to go there in 2009...

Porto Santo: beautiful island near Madeira. I've been there Fabulous place to dive. The water is so incredibly blue + they have a wreck there called "Madeirense", which rivals in beauty and interest to most of the wrecks i've seen in the red sea.

Dive in Brasil:
- I've been in the northeast part of the country - Natal.
You don't dive near the coast, but in the open sea. People are very friendly and professional. I was there mainly to rest but I had the idea to experiment diving there, just one or two...I did 8 dives! at lot of photos at ze.fotopic.net

The boats used are quite different. In most cases they are adapted boats, and slow. The ocean can be rough some times, so you see the problem...;-)

I loved it, anyway.

 

[covediver]

Cold water diving in Alaska is different, requires a drysuit year round, but winter diving is the best where I usually dive because the rivers are frozen so there is little runoff and there is little plankton bloom (which turns the water green, hence the term, the Emerald Sea) due to five hours of sunlight so the visibility is fantastic. Thanks very much for the response to my questions about diving. It looks very interesting.

 

[pgcosta]

Cold water diving in Alaska is different, requires a drysuit year round, but winter diving is the best where I usually dive because the rivers are frozen so there is little runoff and there is little plankton bloom (which turns the water green, hence the term, the Emerald Sea) due to five hours of sunlight so the visibility is fantastic. Thanks very much for the response to my questions about diving. It looks very interesting.

Hey, Covediver, I've always been really curious about Alaska and this info about the Emerald Sea just put me still more on the track for a dry suit - I'm more concerned with low visibility than with cold water, so I guess I would enjoy this fantastic visibility you told us about!

BTW, I've been posting on a thread in another Scubaboard's forum, and it is all about diving in cold water, around 0 degrees celsius, which is almost unthinkable for us, since air temps in Rio never go under 17 celsius and water temps average 21 celsius, the whole year. The people over there are telling incredible storys about ice diving and this info you brought made it even more interesting.

I'd also like to thank you and JCarv for the info you both posted. The sites in Portugal and the islands seem to be cool and I'm sad I didn't have time for diving when I went there last year... I could spend only one morning in Cascais, on my way to Coimbra to visit my daugther that was studying there (she visited the Berlenga Islands and sent some beautiful pictures!! A shame she doesn't dive... yet!!). But now she's back in Brazil and I don't know when I'll be able to go to Portugal again. Hope it's soon, though...