Arco do Cavaco

Arco do Cavaco is a volcanic arch-and-wall dive about 15 minutes by boat from Ponta Delgada marina, on Sao Miguel's Ponta Delgada coastal cluster. The route follows a drift through arches and rock fingers along the coastline: divers work the changing shape of the terrain, not a fixed mooring stop, threading the arches before a safety stop over the shallow reef top. Depth on the route is unsettled: figures range from about 3 to 20 metres, sometimes given as 5 to 20, while a wider reading puts the whole site as shallow overall, running to about 25 metres with no minimum stated. Along the walls, Azores chromis and canary damsel hold over the rock, redlip and black-faced blennies sit tucked into the crevices, and a Madeira rockfish or slipper lobster waits in the shaded ledges beneath the arches.

Arco do Cavaco's defining shape is the arch-and-finger relief itself: volcanic rock carved into arches and finger-shaped walls along the coastline. The site is said to take its name from a nearby shoreside chocolate factory, not from any diver, landmark or event, a small and distinctive detail. Being close to Ponta Delgada makes it an easy addition to a boat day out of the same port.

Boats leave from Ponta Delgada marina. Water runs coolest through winter, into the mid-teens Celsius, and warmest from June through October, into the low-to-mid twenties; a 5mm wetsuit covers the warm months and a 7mm with hood and gloves suits the rest of the year. One account describes the dive as a drift with moderate to strong current at times: hold your position relative to the arches and stay close to your buddy while threading the fingers.