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A diver swims alongside a blue shark in open blue water in the Fayal-Pico channel, Azores

Azores · Portugal · Pelagic & blue water · Seamount

Condor Seamount

Baited blue-water dives with blue sharks and makos

Area photo: Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0

Condor is a submarine mountain 17 kilometres west-southwest of Faial and the established blue-water shark dive of the Azores. Small boats carry six to eight divers, chum draws blue sharks and shortfin makos in without feeding them, and the diving is done shallow under the boat. The seamount itself stays out of reach: its summit is 185 metres down.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Condor Seamount: typical dive to 10 m (to 33 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit10 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

38.5170° N, 29.0580° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.

The dive

The run out is short by Azorean standards, 17 kilometres west-southwest of Faial, and the boats are small, taking six to eight divers at a time. None of the dive involves the mountain itself: the summit is 185 metres down, far below the group, and the seamount falls away from there to 2,003 metres. What you dive is the water above it, with the boat and the bait line as the only fixed references.

Depth is not the point. These dives are run at 5 to 10 metres, on a single tank, with the maximum duration set at 75 minutes, so the whole thing plays out just under the surface over water kilometres deep. Chumming keeps the amount of food, blood and oil in the water to a minimum; the sharks are drawn in but are never given food, and touching or feeding them is forbidden.

The two species the trips are run for are the blue shark and the shortfin mako, and they arrive on their own terms, so the pace of the dive is set by how many turn up. With no bottom in sight and nothing to work along, depth is managed on your computer, the group stays tight around the guide and the line, and the dive ends where it started, in open water under the boat.

Background

Shark diving began experimentally around the Condor in 2009 and 2010 and has since gained considerable importance in the region. The seamount is also one of the best-studied in the Azores: surveys have recorded dense coral gardens on its top down to 300 metres, large sponge aggregations between 700 and 900 metres, and around 900 identified animal species. Demersal fishing has been prohibited on the bank since June 2010.

Marine life and season

  • Blue & mako sharks
Month-by-month season rating for Condor Seamount
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Off-seasonOff-seasonOff-seasonFairGoodPrimePrimePrimePrimeGoodFairOff-season

Season follows Azores: Jun–Sep brings warm water, calmer Atlantic swell, and peak mobula and shark activity at the seamounts; winter storms shut down offshore boat trips.

Know before you go

  • Sharks circle close for the whole dive: stay inside the group, keep hands in, and leave the bait line alone rather than following an animal away from the formation.
  • The expedition runs five to six hours in open ocean for a single dive at the end of it, so seasickness and dehydration cost more people their dive than the sharks do.

Dive videos

BLUE SHARKS - AZORES · jonnasuw on YouTube

Questions divers ask

How deep is the Condor shark dive?+

It is a blue-water dive, not a descent to the seamount: divers stay at 5 to 10 metres under the boat, on one tank, for up to 75 minutes. The summit of Condor itself is 185 metres down and is never reached.

What sharks can you see at Condor Seamount?+

The dives are run for the blue shark (Prionace glauca) and the shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus). Both are brought in with chum, though the sharks are not given food and touching them is forbidden.

How far is Condor Seamount from Faial?+

The seamount lies 17 kilometres (11 miles) west-southwest of Faial Island, so it is a short boat run rather than a long offshore crossing, though the whole trip still takes five to six hours.

Sources

  1. Condor seamount — Wikipedia
  2. Shark diving in the Azores — CW Azores

In The Logbook

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