Sarah and her son learn to Dive in the Azores
in 2018, Sarah and her son did their PADI Open Water Dive course on Sao Miguel in the Azores. Here’s Sarah’s story about their experience…
Registering for our pre trip online theory course.
Before we left, Theo a I registered with PADI and Azores Sub for the online theory which cost around £150 each and involved watching lots of online slide presentations and videos with short quizzes, and then 5 longer tests. Our dive partners in the Azores could see how we were getting on and we could ask them questions if we had any problems. It took around 12 hours in total to do but we found we could only manage around 90 minutes at a time before nodding off!
Starting our PADI Course – Day 1
We met at 0900 at the dive base, Henrique checked our theory results and then showed us the equipment we would be using, how to put it together and how to check it. He then drove us with it to the pool and we practised filling our mask with water under water and clearing it, retrieving your regulator, sharing your buddy’s air supply and practising buoyancy by swimming underwater round the pool for a few minutes.
In the afternoon we met at 1430 and went out on the dive boat to the west side of Ilheu da Vila Franca and had a 40 minute dive at 12m. The rock formations and crevices, small canyons were really impressive and the visibility was excellent. We saw loads of fish. We were back by 1630/1700.
Day 2 -Pool Practice and Vila Franca Lagoon
We met at 0900 at the dive base and took the equipment to the pool again. This morning we practised taking off the weight belt and BCD and putting them back on underwater, taking off your mask and putting it back on, and neutral buoyancy using breathing to control your movement. Back to Vila Franca for lunch and we met again at 1430 and went out on the boat again to the north side of the island and began our dive at the mouth of the lagoon. We dived to 11.5m for 35 minutes. It wasn’t as impressive as the first dive as the rock formations weren’t so impressive and there weren’t as many fish. We were back by 1630/1700.
Day 3 – A wreck dive and Caloura Rock Arches
This morning we met at 0830 for a double dive. We went first to the Dori shipwreck just off Ponta Delgada about a 30 minute boat trip from Vila Franca. The Dori was a second world war US cargo ship used to help GB during WWII. It was laden with iron and when the sea was rough, the boat rocked so much the iron load punched a hole in the side of the hull and it sank (in 1968?). It’s 120m long but we just explored the bow part which was full of marine life and we even saw a ray.
We dived to 19.8m for 30 minutes. The sea temperature was 22 degrees and this was our favourite dive. We saw such a lot – at one point we were surround by hundreds of curious trigger fish.
Then we headed to Caloura and explored the Arcos da Caloura which are impressive rock arches. We dived beneath the arch and saw a conger eel hidden inside and lots of fish. Although not a cave, it’s still a bit claustrophobic and there was a strong current and it was colder (20 degrees). We dived here to 15m for 30 minutes.
We returned around 1330 and then spent half an hour with Henrique completing paperwork. It was all very efficient and well organised and we’d recommend it to anyone!
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