Portugal
Mainland Portugal is a relatively unknown destination for British divers although more will be familiar with Madeira and the Azores.
Portugal is a superb holiday choice for a sunny family holiday that includes diving. The beaches of the Algarve and the Atlantic coast around Cascais are justly famous and there are many activities to keep the tourist amused. Golf and tennis are very popular here and you will find a large variety of clubs offering both sports. Sightseeing is very interesting and you can take a wide range of excursions. Portugal has an proud seafaring tradition and you will find fascinating museums dedicated to the sea and exploration here. The tradition still lives on with the fishing fleets.
Everyone raves about the Portugese cuisine. There can be few nicer ways to end a day than sitting in a small waterside cafe, watching the sun set and eating fresh seafood and drinking chilled local wine. It's incredibly cheap too. And did we mention the Port...
With a long coastline on the Atlantic coast, diving takes place at many resorts including Porto, Aveiro, Peniche, Lisbon, Sines, Sagres, Lagos and Faro. It is probably fair to say that you wouldn't come to Portugal for its diving alone, but as part of an overall holiday, it can be very pleasant. Besides the many ancient wrecks that lie buried below an interesting site is the British steamboat "Tiber", sunk in 1847 off the coast near Porto. Another is the "U 1277", a German VII C Class combat submarine that was sunk in June of 1945. It is worth checking with dive operators in advance as conditions can be difficult with tricky currents.
Visibility can range up to 15 m but more typically will be in the range 3 - 8 m. Water temperatures increase towards the south of the country varying between 16°C in the winter to 21°C in the summer. Divers normally wear 5 - 7 mm wet or semi dry suits.
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Atlantic Aqua Sports, Azores
Baleia Diving Centre, Madeira
MADEIRA main page
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