Santa Maria, the southeasternmost island of the Azores, pairs volcanic coastal reserves with offshore seamounts. Boats from Vila do Porto reach Pedrinha in ten minutes, Baixa do Ambrósio for its summer mobula rays, and the Formigas islets and Dollabarat bank in the open Atlantic for big pelagic animals.
About diving in Azores — Santa Maria
Most diving is by boat from the marina at Vila do Porto. Coastal reserves such as Pedrinha are a short hop from the harbour, while Ambrósio and the Formigas trips are longer offshore runs that depend on the weather and on enough divers signing up. The offshore sites sit in open ocean where the water gets choppy, so the ride can be rough. When the boats cannot go out, shore dives serve as the fallback and as the gentler option for less experienced divers.
The island's coast is volcanic: drop-offs, boulders, lava formations, overhangs, arches and a run of caves and caverns. Dusky grouper, colourful wrasse, sponges, nudibranchs, crustaceans and schools of amberjack fill the reefs. Offshore the attraction changes to big animals. Mobula rays gather over the Ambrósio seamount, a marine protected area with a code of conduct and a cap on time at the site. At Formigas, a nature reserve since 1988, black coral grows on walls at depth, and the islets take strong currents and frequent large swells.
The island suits divers who want coastal reserves close to port and a few committed open-ocean days in summer. At Ambrósio the ray action typically happens between 5 and 15 m, within reach of less experienced divers, but the deeper parts of the mount reach 46 m with moderate to strong currents and are for experienced divers only; Formigas and Dollabarat are also trips for more experienced divers. There is no decompression chamber on Santa Maria, which argues for conservative profiles on the deeper offshore dives.
Best time to dive Azores — Santa Maria
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Off-season | Off-season |
The island's dive centres are open from May to October and boat dives run in the same months, so winter has no boat diving. From June the trips to Ambrósio, Formigas and Dollabarat run regularly, weather and minimum numbers permitting, and the mobula season opens. July through September is the peak window at Baixa do Ambrósio, and the water reaches up to 25°C in summer. October still has the boats and the rays before the centres shut for the winter, when the water drops to a minimum of 17°C.
Dive types & marine life
Sicklefin devil rays gather in groups of up to hundreds between June and October, peaking at Ambrósio from July to September. Whale sharks are not present all year; ones of 4 to 12 m were documented in the 2023 season. Mola mola can be seen at Pedrinha, and dusky grouper and schools of amberjack live on the coastal reefs.
- Seamount
- Pelagic & blue water
- Reef
- Cave & cavern
- Mobula rays
- Whale sharks
- Groupers
- Mola mola
- Trevally & jacks
- Nudibranchs
Best dive sites in Azores — Santa Maria
- 1
Baixa do Ambrósio
Offshore seamount topping out at 42 m, where mobula rays gather each summer
- 2
Ilhéus das Formigas
Rocky islets 20 nm off São Lourenço in the open sea, visited for big pelagic sightings
- 3
Banco Dollabarat
Seamount 3 nm from Formigas that rises from deep water to 4 m below the surface
- 4
Pedrinha
Marine reserve ten minutes by boat from Vila do Porto marina, where Mola mola can be seen
- 5
Baixa da Maia
East-coast marine reserve off Maia village, with big schools of barracuda and amberjack
- 6
Maia Cave
Underwater cave with several entrances, small stalactites, stingrays and lobsters
Site guides
Reef
Prismatic rock columns broken up by patches of sand
Reef
A rock face completely covered in yellow anemones
Pelagic & blue water
Hundreds of sicklefin devil rays spiralling up a buoy line
Seamount
An open-ocean seamount where hammerheads and mantas pass
A wall of vertical rock prisms like an underwater causeway
Cave & cavern
Three exits that turn a stone cave into a circuit
Cave & cavern
Hundreds of shrimp packed into a narrow cavern
Slipper lobsters tucked into small caves around a reserve islet
Bare rocks in mid-Atlantic with seemingly tame groupers
Wreck
A 1921 Greek cargo wreck on remote mid-Atlantic islets
Pinnacle
Two easy swim-through galleries in a cluster of lava pinnacles
How to get to Azores — Santa Maria
Santa Maria Airport lies close to Vila do Porto and has direct flights to Lisbon. Most dive centres are based at the port of Vila do Porto and head out to the sites from there.
Photos from Azores — Santa Maria
Ruben JC Furtado · CC BY-SA 3.0
Questions divers ask
Can newer divers join the Ambrósio mobula dive?+
Yes, with caveats. The ray action typically happens between 5 and 15 m, but the deeper sections of the seamount reach 46 m with moderate to strong currents and are for experienced divers only.
How far out are Formigas and Dollabarat?+
Formigas lies 20 nm off the shore of São Lourenço in open sea, and Dollabarat is 3 nm from Formigas. Trips run regularly from June to October, subject to weather and minimum numbers, and the crossing can be choppy.
Is there a decompression chamber on Santa Maria?+
No. Some other Azores islands have chambers, but Santa Maria does not, so deep offshore dives call for conservative planning.
Sources
- Mantamaria Dive Center — Mantamaria
- Diving area - Wahoo Diving — Wahoo Diving
- Dive Center - Wahoo Diving — Wahoo Diving
- Organization - Wahoo Diving — Wahoo Diving
- Santa Maria Island — Wikipedia
- Formigas Islets — Wikipedia
- Azores: Adventure in the Atlantic — X-Ray Magazine
- Dive Santa Maria — Dive Worldwide
- Mantamaria Dive Center — cursosdebuceo.com
- Our Experiences - Mantamaria — Mantamaria
Photo credits
- A rocky breakwater shelters a small marina with moored boats below a green headland, seen from a scrubby hillside by Ruben JC Furtado, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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