Paredes do Porto de Mós

Reported depths vary by operator: one Lagos operator gives 12-20 m, a second a single 18 m figure, and a Lagos booking catalogue an average of 10 m with a 16 m maximum. Expect somewhere in the 10-20 m band; no single published number settles it, so confirm the day's plan with your boat crew.

Open Water certification covers the shallower end of the range that one catalogue reports (10-16 m). The deeper sections some operators describe (18-20 m) sit past the standard Open Water limit, so AOW is a sensible target for the full depth range, though no operator publishes this as a fixed requirement for the site.

No marine reserve, protected-area status, permit or fee names this site, matching the finding across the wider Algarve's dive sites. Portugal's national diving law (Lei n.º 24/2013) still applies generally, licensing dive schools and recognising the major certification agencies.

No. Mosh Wall is a separate spot roughly 1.2 km away with its own, less favourable profile: lower visibility and some coral damage noted by a community dive-spot catalogue. Neither Lagos operator that runs Porto de Mos Reef lists a site by that name.

A community catalogue puts it at 15 m, but that figure sits above the Algarve's own first-hand diver reports, which run more conservative: typically 3-8 m, with 20 m only on a good day. Plan for the lower end and treat anything better as a bonus.

March through May and September through November bring the Algarve's clearest, calmest water area-wide; one site-level catalogue reports a wider April-October window for this reef, but August is repeatedly flagged area-wide as the weakest month for clarity. The reef's signature residents are conger eels and morays, sheltering in the porous rock's crevices, alongside large, multicoloured sea fan corals on the exposed wall faces. Dolphins are occasionally reported in the area, though only by one source.