Berlengas & Peniche, the area around Baía do Cerro do Cão

Berlengas & Peniche · Portugal · Reef · Wall

Baía do Cerro do Cão

Canyons and underwater arches beside a dog-shaped rock

Area photo: Alexkom000 · CC BY 4.0

Baía do Cerro do Cão is a bay in the northern part of the Berlengas, beside a rock with the silhouette of a lying dog. The diving runs through canyons that parallel the rock formation and passages that include underwater arches, down to 25 metres. Abundant fish and pelagic schools work the water over the cuts.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Baía do Cerro do Cão: typical dive to 25 m (to 82 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit25 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

39.4250° N, 9.5110° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.

The dive

The bay is in the northern part of the Berlengas, next to a rock that carries the silhouette of a lying dog, which is what the site is named for. Below the surface the granite is cut into canyons that parallel the rock formation, so the route reads straight off the topography: pick a cut, follow it, and use the walls either side to hold your line.

The passages are the other half of it. Several of them run as underwater arches, and they are what turns a set of parallel cuts into a route rather than a single trench. Twenty-five metres is as deep as the site goes, so there is no depth pressure on the plan, and abundant fish and pelagic schools stack over the cuts, which makes the shallower half of the dive worth saving gas for.

Marine life and season

  • Reef fish swarms
Month-by-month season rating for Baía do Cerro do Cão
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Off-seasonOff-seasonOff-seasonFairGoodPrimePrimePrimeGoodFairOff-seasonOff-season

Season follows Berlengas & Peniche: Jun–Sep is the practical season; Atlantic swell and 14°C water shut the crossing for most of the rest of the year.

Sources

  1. Diving in Berlenga — Centre of Portugal
  2. Sun7Dive 17h outing, Peniche — Haliotis Dive Center

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