Berlengas & Peniche · Portugal · Wall
Parede Rinchoa
Gorgonian wall from 13 m to 35, conger in the cracks
Area photo: Tiago Thedim · CC BY-SA 4.0
Parede Rinchoa is the wall beside the Rinchão reef: a reef head that starts at 13 metres with a face running down to 35. Typical red gorgonia grows on it and small caves in the wall house large conger. Great sea-bass inhabit the deeper areas and amberjacks frequent the shallower sections, which sets the shape of the dive on the way back up.
Where it is and how deep
39.4300° N, 9.5030° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
This wall is close to the Rinchão, so it usually comes off the same trip, and it begins where that reef's ground stops being shallow. It consists of a reef head that starts at 13 metres with a wall running down to 35, which is deeper than most of what the archipelago offers and deep enough that the dive is planned as one descent along the face with a fixed turn depth.
Typical red gorgonia grows on the wall, and small caves cut into it house large conger, worth looking into rather than entering. Great sea-bass inhabit the deeper areas and amberjacks frequent the shallower sections, so the climb back up the face is not a dead leg: it is where most of the fish are, and it doubles as a slow, controlled return to the reef head at 13 metres.
Marine life and season
- Trevally & jacks
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Off-season |
Season follows Berlengas & Peniche: June to October is the high season; from December to February the Atlantic swell allows diving only on occasional calm days.
Know before you go
- The wall runs to 35 m with no shallow ledge until the reef head at 13 m, so fix a maximum depth before the descent and watch gas against the length of the ascent.
Sources
- Diving in Berlenga — Centre of Portugal
More dive sites in Berlengas & Peniche
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Reef
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Cave & cavern
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Cave & cavern
Two caves and a wall, with fresh water on the ceiling
Wall of blue and purple gorgonians to 32 m on the outer islets
Reef
Sand, a small cavern and a broken wreck, all inside 15 m
Wreck
Boilers of a 1931 French steamer at 22 m
Wreck
The 1930 Nelson Line liner lost on Farilhão Grande
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