Princess Alice Bank

The descent is the part people remember first: a shot or anchor line dropping through open Atlantic blue, light shifting around it, until the top of the seamount takes shape below at somewhere between 29 and 35 metres. Most of the dive happens on or near that line. Divers hang at the pinnacle top or above it and watch the water column, because the devil rays can pass at any depth, sometimes close to the surface. Currents run moderate to strong and change from day to day, so the line is the reference for the whole hour; held on it, the dive itself can be calm, and the effort lies in the crossing and the current. Below the top the bank keeps falling past a thousand metres, and the ascent brings the colours back as the light returns.

Sicklefin devil rays (Mobula tarapacana), sold locally as giant mobulas, gather over this pinnacle in groups of 20 to 40, with wingspans reaching about four metres. On a good day they cruise around the line in loose formation while almaco jacks and schools of barracuda work the same water. That encounter is why many divers come to Faial and Pico at all: the bank is the trip the rest of the itinerary is built around, booked as a day of its own between coastal dives on the other days. In late August and September a whale shark occasionally turns up as well, though less often than at Ambrosio off Santa Maria.

Treat this as a full day at sea in open ocean that can be rough, and expect the weather to move or cancel the departure. Every operator runs a check dive with you before the trip, so plan a day with them ahead of the bank day. The bank is a total-protection marine reserve: diving needs the park authority's permit and nothing may be taken. Practise holding position on a line in moving water before you go, because the whole dive is spent hanging in the current, in open water all the way down.