Princess Alice Bank

The dive starts with the crossing. The bank lies 45 nautical miles (83 km) southwest of Faial and 50 nautical miles (93 km) southwest of Pico, so the boat runs for hours before anyone gears up, and the trip is built as a full-day, two-tank outing. Over the summit the water is clear enough that the ocean floor can be made out from the surface, which is the cue that the boat is sitting over the western high point rather than the deeper ground around it.

Everything recreational happens on that high point. The shallowest western ground is published at 29, at 32 and at 35 metres depending on the source, and the platform beyond it drops to 190 metres, so the dive is usually run from the safety of a descent line rather than swum free across open water. That line is also what you come back up, because there is nothing else to hold on to.

What turns up is pelagic. Mobulas gather here in large groups, and shoals of barracuda, jacks and tuna work the same water, with wahoo and blue marlin further out; dolphins and sea turtles are also reported over the bank. Nothing is guaranteed and the encounter sets its own pace, so the group stays over the rock and near the line rather than chasing an animal off the summit into open water.