DiveAzores

Joana and Tiago, both marine biologists and dive instructors, run DiveAzores from Horta Marina on Faial. Tiago trained in marine biology at the University of Algarve and returned to Faial, his birthplace, and together the pair built the operation around a stated philosophy of combining tourism with research, involving guests and volunteers in what the centre calls sustainable, research-supportive eco-tourism. That shows up in specific habits it lists: reusable cups, recycling, compostable bags, local sourcing, biodegradable cleaning products and underwater cleanups.

The centre names 25 dive sites around Faial and Pico. Four are independently confirmed: Condor Bank, Princess Alice Bank, Boca das Caldeirinhas and Ilheus da Madalena. They range from beginner volcanic slopes at 5-20 metres, such as Entre Montes and Ilheu Negro, to advanced walls, caverns and pinnacles reaching 40 metres and beyond, among them Boca das Caldeirinhas, Radares, Furnas, Gruta dos Camaroes and Parede do Almeida.

Two offshore trips sit above that house reef program: blue-shark diving, snorkeling and freediving about an hour offshore, and a two-hour crossing to the Princess Alice Bank seamount. DiveAzores is one of seven operators the Faial municipal tourism board names as running certified shark-diving trips. Scuba divers need 30 logged dives and Advanced Open Water for either trip, freedivers need an advanced freediving qualification, and a check-out dive is mandatory either way. Both run July to September, weather permitting. Blue-shark trips run EUR 200 for one scuba dive, EUR 360 for two, EUR 180 to snorkel and EUR 200 to freedive; Princess Alice Bank runs EUR 300 for scuba divers and freedivers and EUR 250 to snorkel.

DiveAzores teaches freediving through four agencies, Molchanovs, Apnea Academy, AIDA and SSI, a combination it describes as unique in Portugal. Non-certified guests can try-dive or join a snorkeling tour, and instruction runs in English, Portuguese, Spanish and French. Booking goes through the centre's own online system.

Several reviewers book DiveAzores for the whale-watching side alone, citing sperm whales, false killer whales and dolphins on trips that run separately from the diving program. On the diving side, the mobula rays, blue sharks and cetaceans spotted on the run out to Princess Alice Bank are the marine-life payoff most often mentioned. Staff also draw consistent, individual praise: Tiago, Joana and dive masters including Heitor, Vanessa, Jose and Leonel are named across separate accounts spanning several years. The one recurring caveat is weather-driven rescheduling on the offshore trips; reviewers describe it as understandable, not a service failure. A single older account describes a smaller, more informal operation with one boat shared between whale watching and diving; the site list and named staff roster are both larger in the newer material.