Anthia Diving Center
SSI Instructor Training Center at Sesimbra harbour, running boat dives to Batelão and the River Gurara wreck since 2004, with technical diving to Trimix.
Last updated September 2026
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About
Anthia Diving Center has run boat dives from Sesimbra's harbour, Porto de Abrigo, since 2004. It holds SSI's top dealer level, Instructor Training Center, which means the school trains other instructors as well as recreational divers, a step beyond the standard course ladder most harbour operators offer. Three boats work the fleet: a 12.5 m boat holding 20 divers with an onboard toilet, a 9.1 m boat for 18, and a 9 m boat for 12, with groups split by certification level.
The course catalogue runs the full SSI ladder from Open Water Diver through professional and instructor levels, and continues into technical diving few Sesimbra operators offer: Extended Range, Gas Blender Nitrox, and Gas Blender Nitrox and Trimix courses, backed by gas fills that include Trimix and Argon alongside air, nitrox and oxygen. A diver training toward Divemaster or planning a technical dive on the River Gurara can course and fill tanks at the same shop.
Boat trips run to sites the centre groups into Natural Park, Wreck and Cave categories, including the Batelão wreck and the deeper River Gurara, where one buddy pair has been let off from the guided group to set their own ascent time. Equipment rental covers BCDs, drysuits, neoprene suits, regulators and cylinders, and the same operation runs Try Dive sessions, snorkelling and kayak rental for non-divers travelling with a diving group.
What divers say
One instructor comes up by name across separate, unconnected reviews: Paulo Santos, credited for calm, safety-focused briefings and for running a full Portuguese-language course for a diver not confident in English. A returning customer describes training with him over several years, most recently for Nitrox and Deep Diving. A diver's account of a River Gurara boat dive adds a technical detail: buddy-paired off from the main group with an agreed ascent time, and doubles filled with nitrox on the spot.
One thing worth reading past: the centre's public rating is shared with a second, non-diving tourism brand run by the same business (jeep safaris, wine tours, dolphin watching), so the headline score blends dive trips with unrelated day tours, not diving on its own. Reviews that can be pinned specifically to a dive product are uniformly positive, with no complaint pattern in that narrower set.
Dive Sites (2)
Facilities
Pricing
We do our best to show current pricing, but rates may change without notice. Last verified September 2026. Always confirm the latest prices on Anthia Diving Center's official website before booking.
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Courses
Guided Dives
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Anthia Diving Center run its own boats?▾
Yes. Three boats work the fleet: a 12.5 m boat that takes 20 divers and has an onboard toilet, a 9.1 m boat for 18, and a smaller 9 m boat for 12, launching from Porto de Abrigo, Sesimbra's harbour.
What does SSI Instructor Training Center status actually mean for me?▾
It is SSI's highest dealer level: the centre is certified to train other instructors, not only recreational divers. For someone working through the standard course ladder it does not change the day-to-day experience much, but it matters if you are heading toward Divemaster, Assistant Instructor or instructor training yourself.
Can I dive Trimix or train technically here?▾
Yes. The centre fills Trimix and Argon alongside air, nitrox and oxygen, and its course catalogue includes Extended Range, Gas Blender Nitrox, and Gas Blender Nitrox and Trimix. A 2025 diver's account describes renting doubles with nitrox for a technical boat dive on the River Gurara wreck.
Does the centre offer shore diving, or only boat dives?▾
Every dive product described on the centre's own site is boat-based from Sesimbra harbour, and no boat-based operator in Sesimbra town is known to sell a shore-dive product. One directory listing does include shore dives among the centre's offer types, which most likely reflects a checkbox for pool or confined-water training rather than an open-water shore dive; confirm directly if shore diving is what you are after.
Is the centre's overall online rating a fair guide to the diving specifically?▾
Not entirely. The public rating aggregates a second, non-diving tourism brand the same business runs (jeep tours, wine tastings, dolphin watching) alongside the diving, so the headline number describes the whole operation, not the dive centre on its own. Reviews that identify a diving product specifically read positively, with no complaint pattern found.
What language will my briefing and course be in?▾
English and Portuguese. The centre's own site switches between the two, and several reviewers independently describe getting a full course and briefing in Portuguese for a diver not confident in English, worth flagging if Portuguese is your stronger language.
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