Diving and snorkelling on Terceira: the Lidador wreck, the Cemetery of Anchors and the Ilhéus das Cabras

Most diving on Terceira starts in Angra do Heroísmo, because the bay in front of the old town is an underwater archaeological park. A beginner or a snorkeller can reach the shallow wreck of the Lidador from the shore, and the Cemetery of Anchors is a three-minute boat ride out. Away from Angra there are lava arches, a cave you can snorkel into, and offshore pinnacles that need experience. Plan around one fact: the official list of decompression chambers has none on Terceira.

For more than four centuries Angra was one of the main ports of the Azores, and the anchorage was dangerous whenever the wind came from the south or south-east. The regional decree that created the park records at least 74 shipwrecks in the bay between 1552 and 1996 and 13 known archaeological sites. Two of them were opened to visitors as the Parque Arqueológico Subaquático da Baía de Angra, created by Regional Regulatory Decree 20/2005/A in October 2005: the Lidador and the Cemetery of Anchors.

The decree sets out three rules that matter to a visitor:

• Access is free to any properly certified diver. You do not have to go with a dive centre, although for the anchors you will want a boat.
• The buoys marking each site are also the moorings for visiting boats, and they may not be used for anything else.
• Nothing found inside the park counts as a chance find. Look, photograph, and leave every fragment where it lies.

Fishing is forbidden on the Lidador site.

The Lidador was a 78-metre steamer bound for Brazil that sank in the bay in 1878. She lies about 50 metres off the coast, at an average depth of 8 metres and 11 metres at the deepest, under two yellow buoys. You can walk in from the Cais da Figueirinha, the Naval Club quay opposite the São Sebastião fort, or take a two-minute boat ride from the harbour.

You cannot go inside the hull, but you can pick out pieces of the ship, especially around the bow, which is well preserved. Visit Azores lists octopus, nudibranchs, Madeira rockfish and ornate wrasse among the wreckage, with schools of salema and young red porgy above it. The site is also used for try dives and night dives.

This is still a harbour. Stay inside the buoyed area, tow a surface marker buoy if you swim out without a boat, and do not snorkel here when the sea is coming in from the south.

The old anchorage lies between the São Benedito fort and Ponta do Farol, below Monte Brasil, three minutes by boat from the harbour. More than 40 anchors left behind between the 16th and 20th centuries lie on the bottom. From the northern of the two buoys you descend to 16 metres and a large anchor resting on a rock, then follow more anchors south-west towards a wall that drops to sand. At 35 metres, the deepest point, a huge anchor lies upside down.

Visit Azores gives an average depth of 18 metres and rates the site for Open Water divers. The shallower anchors can be seen by snorkellers on a clear day, but the deeper ones are for experienced divers only. Groupers, morays, amberjacks and common stingrays turn up here. Because the site sits in the port's approach, go with a dive centre's boat rather than on your own.

Visit Azores lists eleven dive sites on Terceira. Beyond the two in the park, these are the ones a visitor is most likely to be offered:

• Gruta do Ilhéu das Cabras is a cavern on the north side of the Cabras islet, half a nautical mile off the south coast and ten minutes by boat from Angra. The entrance is at 15 metres, but the cave is big enough for a boat to enter, so snorkellers can see it too. In summer up to a dozen rays are often seen inside. Maximum depth 24 metres, all levels.
• Arcadas do Judeu is a sheltered, shallow site near the fishing port of Porto Judeu, facing the Cabras islets: a seven-metre-wide arch, a corridor between two walls, and basalt columns that rise like a staircase to the surface. Average 10 metres, maximum 16, fine for snorkelling.
• Cinco Ribeiras is a shore dive that starts inside the tide pool at the Cinco Ribeiras bathing area, 15 minutes by car west of Angra. Large stingrays and schools of salema are common along the wall, and further on lies a series of linked caves that are for experienced divers only. The first part, at around 12 metres, suits beginners and snorkellers.
• Calheta do Lagador is a four-metre-deep cove on the north coast, entered from the Biscoitos swimming area. It is a nursery for young groupers, parrotfish and seabream, and a good shore snorkel when the north coast is calm.
• Fradinhos, Baixa da Vila Nova and Pedra Perdida are offshore pinnacles and reefs with moderate to strong currents, rated Advanced Open Water. Fradinhos, five nautical miles south-east of the island, drops past 60 metres, with black coral from 30 metres and sometimes devil rays.

Praia da Vitória has its own beginner site, Santa Catarina, five minutes by boat from the harbour, between 12 and 18 metres.

Visit Azores lists three dive centres on Terceira (checked in October 2026):

• Deep Blue Azores, at Porto das Pipas in Angra, the harbour nearest the park.
• Octopus Diving Center, at the Clube Naval in Praia da Vitória. It also sells boat snorkelling tours and try dives.
• Qmann Diving, in Altares on the north-west coast, which runs shore dives.

Qmann was the only one of the three with prices on its website when we checked in October 2026: two shore dives at €95 with your own gear or €110 with full equipment, and a try dive in confined water for €99. Ask the others for their current prices, and when you book, check whether the price includes the boat, tanks, weights and insurance.

Visit Azores puts the best diving between June and September. Visibility is at its best from August to September or October, often more than 30 metres, while in spring the nutrients in the water turn it slightly green and visibility drops to 10 to 15 metres. Sea temperatures across the Azores average between 16 °C and 22 °C, with peaks of 24 to 25 °C.

Suits recommended by Visit Azores:

• June to October: wetsuit or semi-dry, 5 or 7 mm.
• November to May: wetsuit, semi-dry or drysuit, 7 or 10 mm.

Snorkellers feel the cold sooner than divers, so take at least a shorty, even in August.

Visit Azores lists three hyperbaric chambers in the archipelago: at the hospital in Ponta Delgada on São Miguel, at the health centre in Santa Cruz das Flores, and at the hospital in Horta on Faial, which serves the central group. None is on Terceira, so the nearest is the one in Horta, about 70 nautical miles away, by sea or air evacuation. That is a good reason to dive conservatively here: stay well inside your limits on the deep sites, do not do several deep dives a day, and respect your training agency's no-fly interval before the flight home. The emergency number is 112.

Can I snorkel the Lidador wreck without a tour?

Yes. The wreck lies about 50 metres off the Cais da Figueirinha in Angra at around 8 metres. Go on a calm day, stay inside the buoys and tow a marker buoy, because boats use the bay.

Do I need a dive centre to dive in the underwater park?

No. The decree opens the park to any properly certified diver. For the Cemetery of Anchors, though, you need a boat, and the dive centres know the moorings and the port traffic.

What does diving on Terceira cost?

In October 2026 Qmann Diving listed two shore dives at €95 with your own gear or €110 with equipment, and a try dive at €99. Boat dives and the other centres' prices are on request.

When is the best month to dive Terceira?

August and September, when the water is warmest and visibility is often over 30 metres. June and July are good too. From November to May you need a thick suit or a drysuit.