Azores · Portugal · Reef · Wall
Prison Break
Two parallel walls sheltering a reef from 5 to 18 m
A natural reef running from 5 to 18 metres and built of two parallel walls along the coast. The walls give the ground between them protection, which is what lets the site take beginners and more experienced divers on the same day, and the sand and rock hold eagle rays, stingrays, seahorses and lizardfish.
Where it is and how deep
37.7402° N, 25.6545° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
The structure is two walls running parallel to the coast, and the dive follows from that: they create protection for the ground between them, and the range they cover, 5 to 18 metres, is why the site is run for beginners and advanced divers alike. The whole site sits inside the 18 m Open Water limit, so depth is not what shapes the plan here.
Along the walls and on the sand between them the list is a mixed one. Eagle rays, stingrays and round stingrays pass over the open ground, seahorses and lizardfish sit on the bottom, and forkbeard, cleaver wrasse, red mullet and grey mullet work the rock and the sand edge. It is a site for covering ground slowly and checking the sand as carefully as the walls.
Marine life and season
- Eagle rays
- Stingrays
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Azores: June to September is the settled season and August into October the clearest water; diving carries on through winter in a 7-10mm or dry suit when swell allows.
Sources
- Prison Break — Scubago
More dive sites in Azores
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Four rock arches at 16 metres in a sheltered bay
Reef
A volcanic arch to swim through on a reef topping out at 7 m
Wreck
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A shore-divable reef of arches and sand from 4 to 20 m
A sheltered sand bottom five minutes from the marina
Passages in the wall of a protected volcanic islet
Pinnacle
A pinnacle topping out at 26 metres with walls to 45
A north-coast volcanic wall running to 35 metres
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