Princess Alice Bank (Banco Princesa Alice)
Offshore seamount 3 hours from Pico/Faial, rising to about 35 m, known for devil rays and visibility up to 40 m.
- Experienced
- Pinnacle
- Mobula rays
Advanced≤30 m
Ambrósio
Dive site in Azores, Portugal
- Usual dive
- 15 m
- Deepest point
- 50 m
- Level
- Advanced
- Best months
- Jul–Oct
- Entry
- By boat
- Current
- Strong
The dive
A pelagic and pinnacle dive from a boat. Known for whale sharks, manta rays and mobula rays.
Who it's for
Advanced≤30 mSource: bluewaterdivetravel.com
Recommended minimum: Advanced (PADI Advanced Open Water, N2).
- CurrentCurrent can be strong; you need good air management and buoyancy.
- DepthThe usual dive goes deeper than lower certifications allow.
- Strong current: dive with a local guide and carry a surface marker buoy.
- The site goes deeper than 30 m: Advanced divers stay above 30 m.
Conditions
- Dive type
- Pelagic, Pinnacle
- Environment
- Open water
- Water
- Sea water
What you might see
- Whale sharks
- Manta rays
- Mobula rays
- Schooling pelagics
- Barracuda
Best time to dive
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
- Best
- Good
- Possible
- Closed
- Not documented yet
Best months: Jul–Oct.
Where is the Azores?
The point shows the Azores area, not the exact dive site.
More dives in Azores
Dollabarat
- Experienced
- Drift
- Manta rays
Pinnacle
down to 60 m
Banco D. João de Castro
Dive the caldera of a submarine volcano whose 13 m summit briefly formed an island in 1720, with fumarole bubbles rising from the rock.
- Experienced
- Turtles
Wreck
down to 21 m
Dori Wreck
WWII Liberty ship lying at 9-21 m just off Ponta Delgada, now a protected archaeological park with clouds of fish around the intact stern.
- Advanced
- Barracuda
Rock formations
down to 60 m
Formigas East
Offshore marine reserve reef with 25 m+ visibility, schools of jacks, tunas and barracudas, and big groupers that come close.
- Experienced
- Mobula rays
Pelagic
down to 60 m
Formigas North
Remote reefs north of the Formigas Islets, a marine reserve where large migratory pelagics such as tunas, wahoos and barracudas pass.
- Experienced
- Mobula rays
About this page
Values marked “Estimated” come from our original catalogue and are being checked against published sources one by one. Sourced values link to where they come from. Conditions change with the season, the weather and the tide: confirm with a local dive centre before you dive.
Photo credits
- Divers on the Princess Alice Bank, Azores, Waielbi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- The Formigas islets above the Dollabarat reef, Azores, Formigas_Islets.jpg: Fernando Tempera derivative work: JotaCartas (talk), CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
