Pedra da Mula

A single rock, shaped like a mule when read from the boat, rises from a bed of sand and scattered stone a short ride out of Sesimbra's Porto de Abrigo. It reportedly works as a wall dropping from about 3 metres near the top to 10 metres at its base, with cavities and overhangs along its eastern stretch, octopus, bream, nudibranchs and salema working the rock's folds, and no current. Though its name invites confusion with Pedra do Meio, a shallow stone near the harbour's exit, the two are established as separate dives: Pedra da Mula sits further out, next to Ribeira do Cavalo beach.

Pedra da Mula's whole identity rides on its silhouette: a rock read from the water as a mule, close enough to shore that the boat crossing from Sesimbra takes well under ten minutes. The wall itself is not one clean drop: sand and loose rock alternate along its base, and on the eastern side that mix reportedly opens into the overhangs and cavities that give the dive its one added layer, a fold-by-fold stretch to work beyond the open rock face the rest of the dive is spent on.

The overhangs and cavities along the eastern side of the wall are this dive's distinctive hazard: keep buoyancy off the rock and hover over them instead of settling in.