Condor Bank

The boat runs roughly an hour out from Horta, into open water with no reef, no wall and no bottom in sight. Divers and snorkellers drop to a shallow hold at 5 to 10 metres, either clipped to a line or staying close to the hull, while the crew works to bring the sharks in close. Blue sharks come first, circling at a distance before curiosity brings them in close enough to inspect a diver or the boat, moving slowly the whole time. A mako, when one turns up, changes the mood fast, arriving quickly from below and scattering the blue sharks that were there a moment earlier. The seamount itself sits far under the group: its summit is at 185 metres and its base near 2,003 metres, so nothing below the surface layer gives a visual reference, and the current, reported at 1 to 2 knots and occasionally stronger, is felt more than seen. Trips are booked on short notice; some operators confirm only the evening before or the morning of, because conditions and shark presence change from one day to the next.

Faial and Pico have two headline offshore banks, and divers book them for different animals. Princess Alice, two to three hours out, is where divers go for a mobula ray aggregation over an open-water pinnacle; Condor Bank, about an hour from Horta, is the blue and mako shark trip. The seabed itself has also been closed to bottom fishing since June 2010, supporting a marine-research programme running since 2008 with its own underwater observatory. The bank also lies inside a fully protected marine reserve, so diving or snorkelling here needs the park authority's permit and nothing may be taken. Condor Bank is a large feature, not a single fixed point, so the exact mooring spot can vary a little between operators.

Certification requirements split sharply by activity. Go Shark's surface package, snorkelling or free-diving the encounter without a tank, needs no certification or experience at all. Scuba divers are advised to hold Advanced Open Water, and CW Azores requires it outright, plus 50 logged dives, a minimum age of 18 and a check dive before the trip. Most boats leave from Horta on Faial, but at least one Pico-based operator also runs the trip, so confirm the departure island when you book. Book with some slack in the schedule: trips depend on weather and are sometimes confirmed only a day or less ahead.