Haliotis Faial
PADI Dive Center at Marina da Horta, Faial, part of the 6-location Haliotis chain, running blue-shark, Princess Alice Bank and five named coastal dives.
Last updated September 2026
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About
Haliotis Faial is the Faial base of a six-location Haliotis chain that also runs from Peniche and Sesimbra on the Portuguese mainland, Madeira, Santa Maria in the Azores and São Vicente in Cabo Verde. The Faial operation sits at Marina da Horta and holds its own maritime-tourism operator licence, Nº03/2013 from the Azores Direção Regional de Políticas Marítimas, separate from the licence covering the chain's Madeira base.
Base Leader Luis Ferreira, a PADI Divemaster and local skipper, runs the team alongside Ana Peixoto, a PADI IDC Staff Instructor with an academic background in marine biology. The blue shark, adopted as the base's mascot, is one half of its two area-shared offshore trips, blue-shark diving and Princess Alice Bank, run from the 12 metre semi-rigid Lioti.
Closer to the harbour, the base names five sites of its own: Boca das Caldeirinhas, a wall with a possible view of a volcanic crater; the underwater mountains Baixa da Feteira and Baixa do Mário; Entre Montes, a sheltered bay used for try-dives and night dives; and the scuttled barge Pontoon 16. Diving runs June through October only, closed the rest of the year for weather.
The base is a PADI Dive Center running the recreational ladder through Divemaster, plus Nitrox and a TecRec technical-diving program.
What divers say
The staff reviewers credit are not the two named on the centre's own team page. Barbara and Patricia, thanked in 2026, and João and Inês, named in an earlier season, appear across independent reviews years apart, distinct from Base Leader Luis Ferreira and Sales lead Ana Peixoto. Equipment and boats come up repeatedly as well maintained. The strongest single account is a shark day: one reviewer counted four to five blue sharks and a mako on a combined offshore trip, calling it close to the best dive of a lifetime. The one below-Excellent review describes a delayed, weather-shortened snorkelling trip combined with a diving-baptism group; the same reviewer still called the individual guide charming and professional, and the complaint sits with that snorkelling product rather than the guided dives the rest of the reviews describe.
Dive Sites (1)
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 Haliotis Faial's official website before booking.
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Courses
Guided Dives
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does 'PADI AOWD level' mean a dive actually reaches the stated maximum depth?▾
Not necessarily. The base labels its three deepest coastal sites, Baixa da Feteira, Baixa do Mário and Boca das Caldeirinhas, as PADI Advanced Open Water level, with maximum depths running from about 35 metres up to 60 metres at Boca das Caldeirinhas. PADI's Advanced Open Water limit is 30 metres, and 40 metres is already the ceiling for the Deep Diver specialty, so a 60 metre maximum sits well past what the certification itself allows; the deeper figures more likely describe the site's full range than a floor every guided group is taken to. Baixa do Mário's own depth is reported inconsistently too, anywhere from about 20 metres to more than 40. Ask the guide what depth a specific trip plans to reach before committing to it.
Are the opening hours the same every day during the season?▾
Not according to every source. Some listings show the base open daily from 9am to 6pm through the June-October season; others show it open only Monday, Tuesday and Sunday, split into a morning and an afternoon block, with the rest of the week closed. Call or message ahead of a midweek visit to confirm the day works.
Is this base a full PADI training centre or a smaller operation?▾
The Faial base's own listing carries the standard PADI Dive Center affiliation. A broader 'PADI Career Development Center' claim appears on the wider Haliotis chain's main site, but it is not specific to, or confirmed for, this particular base.
Does Haliotis Faial run technical diving as well as recreational courses?▾
Yes. Alongside the standard recreational ladder through Divemaster, the base offers a PADI TecRec technical-diving program and fills Nitrox on site, on top of its PADI Dive Center affiliation.
Is there a dive here for someone who has never been diving before?▾
Yes. Discover Scuba try-dives run at Entre Montes, a sheltered bay about five minutes by boat from Horta port running from roughly 6 to 20-22 metres, also used for snorkelling and night dives.
What is the wreck near the harbour that the base dives?▾
Pontoon 16, a 40 by 17 metre barge deliberately sunk in 2003 and now sitting at around 21 to 26 metres, with sargos, groupers, rays, lizardfish and plaice reported on it.
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