After a long break from scuba diving and traveling, I finally pick up my Splashpacker bag again for a diving holiday. This time I travel to Madeira Island to go scuba diving on Porto Santo, the neighbouring island. In this post, I’ll share my experience of doing a double tank scuba diving day in Porto Santo Island. First, I take you scuba diving the spectacular Cordeca wreck, before falling in love with a grouper at the dive site ‘Pedra do Ginja’ during my second dive. Such a tame grouper was really my highlight of scuba diving in Porto Santo Island! After writing about my personal experience of these scuba dive sites with a local dive center in Porto Santo Island, I include more practical information for your scuba diving vacation to Porto Santo.
Table of Contents for This Travel Post of Scuba Diving Porto Santo Island
Video of Scuba Diving Porto Santo Island in the Madeira Archipelago
See the video of the second dive here; it was a very special experience to see such a tame dusky grouper! In this video, I share my love story with Ginja, which you can also read more about in this dive travel post. By the way, don’t forget to subscribe to the Splashpacker YouTube channel if you like more travel and scuba dive videos. I’ll also include a short video of scuba diving the Cordeca wreck in Porto Santo towards the end of this blog post.
Splashpacking again: Scuba Diving Porto Santo Island (Madeira)
Most people might not know about Porto Santo Island, but it´s located about 70 km, or 44 miles, from Madeira Island. And roughly 500 km, or 310 miles, from the coast of mainland Portugal, to which both islands belong. For me, living in the Canary Islands, Madeira is only a 1,5-hour flight away. I can´t believe it took me so long to discover this place! Because Porto Santo Island offers the best wreck dives in the Madeira archipelago. This little island is a hidden gem for scuba divers looking for a diving holiday in Europe. And before I even go scuba diving, I already fall in love with Porto Santo Island the minute I put my feet on dry land. I took the ferry to Porto Santo Island, but you can also fly to Porto Santo from Madeira Island (ad)
VIP Diving in the Low Season of Porto Santo
It’s still low season at the beginning of March in Porto Santo Island. And I am the only diver for the day! Lucky me, I feel like a VIP diver! One captain and one dive instructor only for me; they even let me choose the dive sites for the day. My decision-making problem comes up when I have the choice of diving two different wreck dive sites in Porto Santo Island. Eventually, I decide on the Cordeca wreck. After a very detailed safety briefing for both dive sites for the day, we put our diving equipment on board the dive boat. A little zodiac boat will bring us to the dive sites of Porto Santo Island.
The First Dive Site of Scuba Diving Porto Santo Island: Cordeca Wreck or General Pereira D’Eça Corvette
After a short boat ride of about 15 minutes, we arrive at the first Porto Santo dive spot of the day. So we are diving the Cordeca wreck, sometimes also referred to as ‘General Pereira D’Eça Corvette’. Because the Cordeca wreck sank only a decade ago, in 2016, the wreck is almost completely intact. Big schools of fish hang around the wreck. And a curious barracuda is looking at us from a distance when we descend. We first dive to about 15 metres, or 50 feet, to reach the top of the wreck. We penetrate the wreck to explore different rooms such as the captain´s cabin, the engine room, and central corridors. And even the toilet is still intact in the bathroom of the shipwreck!
Full Penetration of the Cordeca Wreck Dive Site in Porto Santo
I am really impressed whilst scuba diving this wreck on Porto Santo Island. The Cordeca wreck can almost be fully penetrated! Soft corals have started to grow on the wreck over the last few years. And the corals have attracted a lot of fish life. We are able to look through the window frames, so we also keep an eye on any interesting fish that might be passing by on the outside of the wreck. Once we come out of the wreck, we do some diving around and on top of the wreck. Let’s see what marine life the Atlantic Ocean has in store for us!
Marine Life whilst Wreck Diving the Cordeca wreck on Porto Santo
The Madeira Rockfish, a species of scorpionfish, is staring at me from a little hole. We also see a stingray waking up from sleeping in the sand before it swims away in the distance. I have a moment playing with my camera to take a photo of a jellyfish. We spot some other marine life as well, such as moray eels, schools of jacks, triggerfish, and parrotfish. The maximum depth of this dive site is about 30 metres, or 100 feet. I’m positively surprised by the clear visibility of the waters at this dive site too! Scuba diving on Porto Santo Island is so far so good!
Local Dive Instructors on Porto Island: Good for You & for Sustainable Tourism
During our surface interval, I chat with the diving instructor and boat captain. I learn that both of them are born and raised on Porto Santo Island. They work for the diving center year-round. So whenever you plan to go scuba diving on Porto Santo Island, you can expect a local scuba diving instructor. Local dive guides always have the best knowledge of the fish life and where to spot the nice stuff during your dives. And supporting local businesses or businesses that provide employment for local people is a way to contribute to sustainable tourism. From experience, and as a former diving instructor myself, I know that local dive guides are usually the best ones! Also, I always prefer to support local people during diving and travelling.
The Second Dive Site on Porto Santo Island: ‘Pedra do Ginja’
There are several small islets located close to the coast of Porto Santo Island, that you can also visit by a day tour or boat excursion (ad). For our second dive, we went scuba diving at the islet called ‘Ilhéu de Cima’. It’s located less than 400 metres, or 0,25 miles, from Porto Santo Island. The landscape of the dive site consists mainly of volcanic rocks. And the maximum depth is about 20 metres, or about 65 feet. The dive spot is named after a dusky grouper living in these waters of Porto Santo: Ginja!
Scuba Diving in Porto Santo at ‘Ilhéu de Cima’ is Named After the Dusky Grouper Ginja
I am really surprised by what happens after we jump for our second scuba dive in Porto Santo! We are in the water for about five minutes when a dusky grouper, out of nowhere, comes directly swimming towards us. She instantly finds his way to the scuba diving instructor. The grouper almost bumps into him, and it looks like she wants to be cuddled, as he does!! I know we should not touch fish normally, but this is really an exception because she clearly asked for it! If you missed the little video at the beginning of this post, you can see the video with the tame dusky grouper Ginja during diving Porto Santo Island here.
Ginja Means ‘Sweet Cherry’ in Portuguese, the Local Language of Porto Santo Island
Seeing Ginja swimming towards us looks a bit like a dog becoming happy after the owner gets home. She follows us during the complete scuba dive. And several times during the dive, she surprisingly happy swims straight to the instructor or me. What a special experience during this scuba dive at Porto Santo Island in the Madeira archipelago!
Falling in Love With a Dusky Grouper: My Highlight of Scuba Diving Porto Santo Island
At some point, Ginja is right under my belly, staring at me with something that seriously looks like a smile! You can see that she is enjoying our company. As a former dive instructor with diving experience all around the globe, I have never seen something like this. And it is really amazing! We spot a nudibranch, sea breams, trumpet fish, a lobster, and a bunch of curious sand eels that come up from the sand to look at us. But I am so amazed by Ginja that I spend most of my dive just playing with her. Falling in love with one dusky grouper makes me almost forget to look out for other fish!
My Impression of Scuba Diving on Porto Santo, the Neighbour Island of Madeira
Scuba diving on Porto Santo Island felt a bit similar to scuba diving in the Canary Islands. However, the wreck is very impressive, and I have never in my life in the Canary Islands seen a tame grouper like that. Therefore, I enjoy it actually even more than scuba diving in the Canary Islands. The unspoiltness combined with the crystal-clear visibility reminds me of diving on El Hierro island, which offers the most untouched scuba diving of the Canary Islands. As in most places in the European part of the Atlantic Ocean, there are no colourful corals as you can find scuba diving in Egypt, Asia or the Caribbean. However, for a diving holiday in Europe, I absolutely recommend adding Porto Santo to your bucket list! Compared to the Azores, the water is also much warmer in Madeira and Porto Santo Island.
An Introduction to The Dive Site at Porto Santo Island
There are about 20 scuba dive sites located around Porto Santo Island in the Madeira archipelago. Most of them are between 20 and 30 metres, or 65 and 100 feet, deep. Porto Santo Island is, like the island of Madeira, of volcanic origin. So the underwater landscape you can expect includes volcanic rocks, walls, some swim-throughs and overhangs. Many of these dive spots are to be found at the little islets located off the coast of Porto Santo Island (ad). The dive sites to be found here are suitable for different scuba certification levels. The islets include Ilhéu de Baixo (and Ilhéu de Ferro), Ilhéu de Fora and Ilhéu de Cima. At the latter, you can find dive spots such as Gruta, where you can slightly enter a cavern, and Âncoras, known for fishermen’s anchors. For advanced open water divers, there is also the dive site called Bicudas.
Scuba diving in Porto Santo Marine Protected Areas Network
The islets named above are all located within the protected marine reserve of the Porto Santo Marine Protected Areas Network. And this protected area is home to some interesting marine species! Think of the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus), one of the rarest seals in the world, and the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta). UNESCO itself states on its website: “Biosphere reserves fulfil the core functions of conservation, sustainable development, education, and research and monitoring. This is how the Porto Santo biosphere reserve translates these functions into local action.” So it sounds like a very interesting, and especially promising project! And it absolutely contributes to sustainable tourism.
Wreck Diving of Porto Santo Island
Scuba diving on Porto Santo Island offers two spectacular wreck dive sites! And they are both located within two km, or just over a mile, from the coast. Besides the warship Cordeca wreck, which I described above as the first dive of the day, there is another one too! This is the famous wreck dive called ‘Madeirense’, and it’s listed amongst the top wrecks of the world. The cargo ship sank in 2000 and is located at a depth of about 33 metres, or almost 110 feet. Personally, I did not dive this wreck in Porto Santo (yet). But I’ve heard that penetration is far more restricted than the Cordeca wreck, or General Pereira D’Eça Corvette. If you have dived this Madeirense wreck dive site in Porto Santo Island, feel free to share your experience in the comments below!
Marine Life to Be Seen Whilst Scuba Diving Porto Santo Island
The waters around Porto Santo Island gives home to the usual Atlantic reef fish like different species of rays, octopus, barracuda, tuna, moray eels, big groupers, pelagic fish and trumpetfish, amongst much more. Located in the Atlantic Ocean makes it quite possible for bigger marine creatures to pass by. You need to be lucky though, but it is possible to spot bigger fish as whales, dolphins, turtles and the Blue Marlin during scuba diving in this part of the Atlantic Ocean.
Practical information for scuba diving with Rhea Dive Centre on Porto Santo Island in Madeira
Porto Santo island is great scuba dive location for doing your Nitrox course or Advanced Open Water Course, especially if you plan to do your advanced with a wreck dive adventure dive.
It´s recommended to dive on Nitrox if you are certified for it, or you can do the course during your diving holiday to Porto Santo Island. The water temperature varies from 18°C to 19°C (64°F–66°F) in winter, to 23°C to 25°C (73°F–77°F) in summer. You can expect currents at times, so drift diving is no exception here.
Rhea Dive Center offers scuba diving on Porto Santo Island in the Madeira archipelago since 2007. The dive centre offers comfortable diving excursions for experienced divers, and beginners can learn to dive by doing courses within the SSI system. Porto Santo Island in Madeira is a good place to do your Advanced Open Water diving course. Next to the zodiac boat, they also have a big catamaran for diving- and snorkelling tours.
The dive centre welcomes couples or families with non-scuba diver members as well since they can go snorkelling, freediving, join a boat tour and even do some whale- or dolphin watching. High-quality scuba dive gear from Aqualung is available for rent. I saw a pretty new Bauer compressor and Nitrox is available as well. The nearest decompression chamber is on Madeira Island. Click here for a link to the dive centre for more information and updated prices.
Information for your scuba diving holiday to Porto Santo Island near Madeira
Porto Santo Island is a great destination for either single travellers, couples and families. The island is very quiet during the low season but can get a bit crowded in the high season which is from June till October. Porto Santo is only 11 km long and half of this in width offering almost 9 km of a Caribean style beach, viewpoints, spa & wellness and very relaxed people.
Almost everybody speaks English on the island since this is common in Portugal. You can go hiking, cycling, do other watersports or visit one of the museums, like the one about Cristopher Columbus. The sand of Porto Santo has medicinal properties and there are some spa & wellness centres offering special treatments with this sand. You can also do a little island tour by bus which takes a little 2 hours and costs €8,- (price in 2020)
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Diving in Porto Santo and travelling to Madeira Island is safe during COVID-19 coronavirus
Porto Santo and Madeira Island are safe destinations to travel and dive during the coronavirus. Everyone is tested for free on Corona upon arrival at Madeira airport, you can read more about this in this blog post.
How to get to Porto Santo Island: by ferry or flight from Madeira Island
You can reach Porto Santo Island by ferry from Madeira island with ´Porto Santo Line´. The boat trip takes about 2,5 hours and I paid just over €30,-. Porto Santo Line operates daily, with exception of Wednesdays, from Madeira to Porto Santo in the early morning and returns in the late afternoon back to Madeira. The ferry is a very comfortable big boat, where you can have breakfast or dinner and there´s even a cinema on board where you can watch a movie free of charge. Click here for a link to Porto Santo Line for more information.
If you prefer to fly from Madeira to Porto Santo Island, I recommend using 12.go to find the best flight deal. Please be aware of your ‘no flight time’ after your diving, when you fly back from Porto Santo Island to Madeira. I earn a small commission on your purchase via the link above.
Flying to Porto Santo Island from Madeira or mainland Europe
Porto Santo Island does have a little airport. The Portuguese airline ´TAP´ offers direct flights from mainland Portugal to Porto Santo and the airline ´Binter Canarias´ operates a twice-daily flight between Madeira and Porto Santo. However, if you have the time I recommend taking the ferry since it much better environmental wise and cheaper too.
It´s also a great idea to combine your holiday to Porto Santo with a visit to Madeira Island. Click here for more information about Madeira Island. For booking your transport or international flight to Madeira Island I recommend checking on 12go.co scanning all available flights for you. I earn a small commission on your purchase through this link or the search table below.
Where to stay during your scuba diving holiday on Porto Santo Island?
Because I was only on the island for a few days, I did not have time to check out any accommodations. However, I had a fantastic stay at ´Porto Santo Hotel & Spa´. (I earn a small commission on your purchase through this link from Booking, and also if you prefer to use this link to book an accommodation in Porto Santo on Agoda).
The Porto Santo Hotel & Spa was the first hotel on Porto Santo Island! The location is great because you are in a quiet area right at the beach but still able to walk to the village centre in about 15 minutes. The staff was so friendly and they offered me an early check-in and a late check-out, both free of charge. There is a spa, swimming pool, mini-golf, beach bar and they offer a buffet-style delicious breakfast. For dinner, next to their international main menu, the restaurant also offers a complete ´a la carte´ vegetarian menu which I highly enjoyed.
Conclusion about diving and travelling to Porto Santo Island near Madeira
The only thing on my mind when I was on that ferry leaving this amazing island, was: I wish I could stay longer! There really is something about this island. The people were oh so friendly everywhere, I did not meet ANY person which was in a bad mood. The amazing scuba diving with crystal clear waters, the wreck and Ginja made me reconsider my current job and wondering if I should not work as a scuba diving instructor again!
The diving around the waters of Porto Santo Island in the Madeira Archipelago, in combination with wellness, white beaches, friendly people and quietness made me experience this as one of the most relaxing scuba diving holidays ever. Maybe I should not write about this place because right now it really is a little secret gem, a paradise in Europe, where not many people know off. I absolutely like to go back one day!
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Happy bubbles & safe travels!
