Baixa das Castanhetas

Baixa das Castanhetas is located in São Miguel, less than 500 metres from shore, facing the Caloura bathing area. You can reach it by boat, approximately 15 minutes from Vila Franca do Campo marina or 30 minutes from Ponta Delgada marina. The highly contrasting depths, with an average of 16 metres and a maximum of around 44, make this a site that welcomes divers of different levels, from Open Water level onwards. The current is usually moderate and the seabed forms an authentic labyrinth of caves, tunnels and canyons all interconnected.

Around 12 metres deep, a spacious cave opens up with three wide entrances, where it is common to encounter a school of large jacks (Pseudocaranx dentex). From there, a long and narrow tunnel departs, inhabited by dozens of cardinalfish (Apogon imberbis) and small nudibranchs, which leads out to the outer wall of the reef.

At the upper part, true clouds of golden trevally form—the fish that gives the site its name—and other small tunnels and caves follow where it is not uncommon to encounter large groupers (Epinephelus marginatus). The relief then drops steeply into a vertical wall that descends beyond 45 metres. Schools of pelagic fish pass through here and, in summer, devil rays (Mobula tarapacana) sometimes appear, cruising the reef calmly. Between the topography and marine life, it is a dive that appeals both to those seeking technical diving and to those who enjoy underwater photography.