PADI Advanced Open Water Diver

Haliotis Dive Center operates around Faial Island in the Azores. 

The Faial island is part of the central group of islands and it is the western vortice of the so called “Islands of the Triangle”, together with São Jorge and Pico islands beeing arround 3 nautical miles appart.Faial island is the farmost ocidental island of the central group of islands in the Azores, separated from Pico island by a strait with the lenght of aproximately 4,5 nautical miles know as Faial channel. It is in the sea that lies the greatest wealth of the Azores with the abundance of hundreds of species of molluscs and fish and large mammals such as whale and dolphin.

In Faial the diving season is only from June to October, due to adverse weather conditions in winter, fall and early spring. The dive offers very easy dives with lots of life, small caves and some shipwrecks, with the highlights being the dive on the Princess Alice bank, where the sighting of mantas is regular, and the shark dives where the blue shark can be seen.The water temperature varies between 18ºC and 23ºC and the visibility between 10 and 20 meters. On more remote dives, such as Princess Alice, visibility reaches up to 40 meters and the water temperature can reach 24ºC. A 5mm or 7mm suit is recommended.

The dive in the Atlantic Ocean is very dynamic and the conditions vary from day to day, it is recommended to take seasickness pills, especially for those more susceptible to weather conditions..