Porto Santo

Both confirmed centres sit on the south coast, one at the Penedo end of the island and one on the Cabeço da Ponta hotel strip, with a second base at the Clube Naval in Porto do Porto Santo, and the diving is organised around short runs from that harbour. Cipreia works its Porto Santo boat dives from a 7.5 m RIB carrying fourteen, which is the shape of the day for the wrecks and the outer-islet sites. Some of the diving is done off the frontage instead: the house reef is entered from the beach and reaches 6 m, and High Stones starts at 2 m in front of the centre. Porto Santo Sub runs a transfer from the hotels to its base.

The ground is rock and sand rather than coral. The Madeirense, a cargo ship put down in October 2000, tops out near 24 m and its bottom reaches about 35 m, which makes it the deepest thing sold here. The corvette General Pereira D'Eça, sunk in July 2016 as an artificial reef, lies shallower at 15 m to 30 m and is sheltered from current and wind. The natural ground is a set of baixas: Baixa do J starts at 13 m among large rocks and runs to 20 m, and Baixa do Cotrim shelves from 8 m on the reef to 22 m on sand inside the nature reserve, with a small cave off Ilhéu de Cima at 15 m to 25 m.

It suits divers who want two ships and a compact reef list in mild water, and divers travelling with people who are not diving. The pool is small, about a dozen named sites and two confirmed operators, so a fortnight of three dives a day will run through it. Baixa do Max, a wall between 15 m and 33 m subject to current that is sometimes strong and to swell, is not run every day and is gated to experienced divers. Anyone wanting a longer site list on the same trip is better served by Madeira itself, two and a half hours away by ferry.