
Cascais & Cabo Raso · Portugal · Reef
Praia da Poça - House Reef
Beach entry onto a reef split by cracks running out from the shore
Photo: Vitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGAL · CC BY-SA 2.0
The house reef at Praia da Poça in Estoril is a shore dive straight off the beach. A small sand bank faces south, ringed by reef cut with north–south cracks, between 1.5 and 8 m. Octopus, cuttlefish, sea bass and conger live on the reef.
Also known as Praia da Poça, Praia da Poca.
Where it is and how deep
38.7017° N, 9.3915° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
From the beach exit, facing south, divers reach a small sand bank surrounded by reef that extends east, south and west. The reef sits between 1.5 and 8 m and is cut by cracks running north to south, perpendicular to the coast. Various species of fish live here, along with octopus, cuttlefish, sea bass and conger.
Marine life and season
- Octopus & cuttlefish
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good |
Season follows Cascais & Cabo Raso: Boats run all year; the sea is coolest around March and warmest around September.
Dive videos
Polvo · Joaojcorreia on YouTube
Sources
- Praia da Poça - House Reef – ScubaGo dive site — ScubaGo
- OpenStreetMap — OpenStreetMap
Photo credits
- Flat rock ledges and a small sandy beach below a sea wall and pale cliff, with waves breaking on the left under a clear sky. by Vitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGAL, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Cascais & Cabo Raso
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Small passages through the reef top on the swim back to the sand
Countless nudibranchs below the rocky recess that names the site
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Large gorges that look like the Sintra hills on a clear day
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Sheltered bay where an undulate ray turns up on lucky days
Small-spotted catsharks on a rock-and-sand bottom at 24 m
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Try-dive reef where nudibranchs, octopus and cuttlefish share 8 m of water
Similar dives elsewhere
Shore-entry reef at 7-8 m, the local beginner and refresher dive
Anchors, masts and a sunken buoy on an 8 m harbour bottom
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El Pinque Mushrooms
Tenerife · Spain
Two shallow terraces ending at a pair of mushroom-shaped rock heads
Wreckage and coal at 12 m under a reef that crests at 1.5 m


