“From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to the earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free. Buoyed by water, we can fly in any direction–up, down, sideways–by merely flipping his hand. Underwater, man becomes an archangel.”
Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Sal is a diver’s paradise, with an abundance of wrecks, caves, ledges & tropical fish with dives to suit all levels. Sharks, turtles and dolphins are to be seen in the crystal clear waters in several spots around the island:
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3 Tres Grotes (Three Caves)
With a maximum depth of 18m, three easily accessible caves teeming with marine life and the possibility of seeing both ordinary and slipper lobsters, turtles and more Tres Grotes is one of the most popular dive sites.
Journey time to site 15min by boat
Buracona and Regona
Regona consists of a labyrinth of caverns of various dimensions, connectioned by horseshoe shape tunnels that eventually emerge into open sea. The tunnels and caverns are populated by big fish and crustaceans.
Buracona is a unique volcanic cove and the most well known on the island. It is a naturally occurring siphon and a roof collapse allows sunlight to shine through creating a tranquil underwater setting with incredible lighting displays and sunbeams.
Journey to site: 40 minutes by car
Dois olhos and lahgosta verde
These caves have recently been discovered by our divers and are exclusive to Cabo Verde diving centre.
These are some of the most demanding dives and are for experienced divers only.. The caves are rich in life, particularly crustaceans with various species of crab, green and red lobsters, gigantic slipper lobsters, nudibranchs that can be seen only in these caves and in addition there are also stingray and jack fish.
Journey to site: 40 minutes by car.
Cavala
Cavala is suitable for experienced divers only. It is a wonderful wall dive, starting at 28m going down to 65m. Here you may see some of the larger pelagics, such as tiger sharks or raggies as they are known locally, and hammerheads.
Journey to site: 15 minutes by boat
Choclassa- Choclassa profonda
Located approximately 4km off Sal the diving starts at 14m and continues on down beyond 300m!. There are many amazing dives to do here depending on experience and qualifications. It is possible to see moray, tuna fish, marlin, turtles, lobsters, stingray, various mantas and sharks and whale sharks too.
Journey to site 25 minutes by boat
Relitto KWARCIT-Boris
An interesting 28 metre wreck dive .
Kwarcit a Russian fishing trawler started life in the late 70s, but when it made its appearance off the coast of Cape Verde it was transporting illegal workers from Senegal.
The Kwarcit was sunk in January 2006. It is upright with the hull intact, and is starting to become an artificial reef where you can see lot, of different species including: stingray, schools of jack fish, nurse sharks, different crustaceans, endemic nudibranchs and frog fish.
Parts of the wreck are easily penetrable including the holds and the bridge…
Journey to site: 15 minutes by boat
Ancora
Ancora is suitable for all divers. It’s a small wall starting at 16m but full of life. It has all the tropical fish found around Sal as well as stingray and nurse shark that rest in quite places near the wall.
Journey to site 15 minutes by boat A small wall at 16mt depth full of wonders. It is also possible to meet all the typical tropical fishes as well as stingray and nurse shark that rest in quite place near the wall. This dive is suitable for all the different levels of experience.
Navigation time: 15 minutes
Farol
Farol offers multi-level diving with three distinct levels. It comprises cracks and gorges that invite exploration. It is full of assorted crustaceans and a wide variety of moray eels and is the perfect dive to encounter Frog fish
Journey to site 15 minutes by boat
Caldaia
The dive starts on the remains of a steamship that sunk, on the south-west corner of Sal, at the beginning of the 20th century. It is well broken up and the only significant reminder is the big boiler that is the starting point of this dive. The dive goes on through a gorge with a depth of 19m and is home to a huge variety of local sea life.
Journey to site 15minutes by boat
Pontinha e Pontinha profonda
Pontinha is a wall that starts at 14 m going down to 30 m maximum.
The dive can be divided in two parts, a deep one around 30m and a shallower one, around 20 m.
The wall is full of nooks and crannies that become lairs for many lobster, moray and stingray.
The slope at the bottom of this wall carries on into the deep blue depths, It is possible to observe the big oceanic stingray or hammerhead sharks coming up from the deep blue depths.
Journey to site: 20 minutes by boat.
Dunas
Dunas is a shallow wall 12m deep.. From June to December it is possible to meet turtles coming from the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Verde to reproduce and lay their eggs on the shoreline in front of the dive site.
Journey to site: 25 minutes by boat
Champignon
Champignon is another wall, 14m deep and located a short distance from Dumas. This is another location for turtles and on occasions can have a visibility of up to 70m. Stingray and Nurse sharks may also be encountered at this site.
Journey to site: 25 minutes by boat
Ponta Preta funda
Ponta Preta Funda is a sand bank with a maximum depth of 31m, located on the west of the island. Between January and April it is here that the song of the humpbacked whale may be heard whilst underwater and the whales themselves seen as you relax on the boat. From June to November it is common to have encounters with the local turtles or see Tiger sharks (Raggies)
Journey to site: 35 minutes by boat
Peridão
Peridão is a wall rich in schools of fish. It is a wall that ends with the sandy seabed at 22m. It is also home to “hugo” a big male turtle, who lives here throughout the year. It is possible to see him close up much to the delight of photographers.
Journey time: 35 minutes by boat
Morro das Pedra
Morro das Pedras is like a cathedral in the desert of a sandy volcanic sea bed. It is 32m max depth and attracts a great variety of sea life with shark sightings possible throughout the year
Journey to site: 45 minutes by boat
Punta alvacova
Located off the north coast of Sal, Punta Alvacova is a wall with a maximum depth of 30m. Along the wall is a small cave reminiscent of the caves at Buracona. This provides fabulous ambient lighting so appreciated by photographers.
Journey to site: 40 minutes by car
Bera d’coral
At 18 to 20m deep Bera d’coral is a small bank found off the east coast of Sal. It is here where one is almost guaranteed meetings with the big atlantic Nurse sharks.
Journey to site: 35 minutes by boat
Many thanks to Cabo Verde Diving for the info on the dive sites.
Have we left out any dive sites? We’re pretty sure we have! If you have dived in Sal & would like to review a dive site we haven’t mentioned, then contact us!
If you have dived any of the above sites, then let us know by commenting below!
