Porto Santo · Portugal · Wreck · Artificial reef
Cordeca (Corveta General Pereira D'Eça)
A Navy corvette sunk in 2016, top at 15 m, bottom at 30 m
Area photo: Portuguese_eyes · CC BY-SA 2.0
A Portuguese Navy corvette, decommissioned in 2014 and put down off Porto Santo in July 2016 to make an artificial reef. The top of the ship is at about 15 m and the bottom at 30 m, in a spot usually sheltered from both current and wind, with visibility always greater than 25 m. Bogues and horse mackerel school over her, with groupers, barracuda, rays and jacks around the steel.
Also known as Cordeca (Wreck), Corveta General Pereira D'Eça.
Where it is and how deep
33.0512° N, 16.3055° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The corvette gives a wider working range than the island's other ship: her top is at about 15 m and her bottom at 30 m, so the dive can be run in two levels rather than one short visit. The position is usually sheltered from the current and the wind, and visibility is always greater than 25 m — on these two wrecks it often goes past 40 m — which means the shape of the hull is readable from above before you drop onto it.
She was sunk to become an artificial reef and that is how she now reads. Schools of bogues and horse mackerel hold over the steel, groupers and several species of bream sit on it, and parrotfish, blacktail comber, striped mullet and triggerfish work in around the structure, with rays, barracuda and jacks passing. The shallower top is where the end of the dive goes, after the time spent at the deeper level.
The wreck
- Vessel
- General Pereira D'Eça (F477)
- Type
- João Coutinho-class corvette
- Sunk
- 2016
- Cause
- Scuttled on 13 July 2016 to create an artificial reef
- Lies
- Top of the ship at about 15 m, bottom at 30 m
She was a João Coutinho-class corvette of the Portuguese Navy, in service from 1970 and built by Blohm + Voss in Hamburg. In October 2014 it was announced that the decommissioned General Pereira d'Eça would be used as an artificial reef, and she was sunk on 13 July 2016 in Porto Santo bay, in about 29 m of water. She also appears on the published list of ships deliberately sunk to make wreck-diving sites, entered there as General Pereira D'Eça F477, Porto Santo, Madeira, Portugal, 2016.
Marine life and season
- Groupers
- Barracuda
- Trevally & jacks
- Stingrays
- Reef fish swarms
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair |
Season follows Porto Santo: Diving runs all year. July to October holds the warmest water, logged at 22–23°C, February logs the lowest visibility, and the island's rain falls in winter.
Know before you go
- The bottom is at 30 m and the top at 15 m, so run the deep part first and watch no-stop time before moving up onto the shallower structure.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Cordeca?+
The top of the ship is at about 15 m and the bottom at 30 m, so it is dived as a deep dive with a shallower level on the upper structure for the end.
What ship is the Cordeca?+
She is the General Pereira D'Eça, a João Coutinho-class corvette of the Portuguese Navy, decommissioned in 2014 and sunk in 2016 as an artificial reef.
Sources
- Cordeca (Wreck) — Scubago
- João Coutinho-class corvette — Wikipedia
- NRP General Pereira d'Eça — Wikipédia (pt)
- Sinking ships for wreck diving sites — Wikipedia
- Madeira destination page — Scubago
More dive sites in Porto Santo
Reef
Easy reef from 8 m on the rock to 22 m on the sand
Reef
Big sheltering rocks between 13 m and 20 m
Wall
A 15 m to 33 m wall, run only when the current allows
Reef
Reef platform at 8 m dropping to sand at 22 m
Reef
Rock from 7 m to stone walls at 30 m, near Ilhéu da Cal
Reef
Three cannons and ammunition on the seabed at about 20 m
Reef
Lesson ground in 2 to 7 m, straight off the dive centre
Cave & cavern
A small cave off the islet, from 15 m down to 25 m
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