Princess Alice, whose name come from an expedition in 1896 aboard the «Princess Alice», commanded by the Prince of Monaco, is located between the islands of Pico and Faial and certainly could be described as the most spectacular diving spot in the Atlantic Ocean and one of the greatest attractions of diving in Azores. Princess Alice is a seamount with a minimum depth of 40 meters but which gets lost in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean exceeding depths of over 500 meters.
The Princess Alice is accessed is via a boat after about three hours sailing. This is another incentive as the trip provides extraordinary views of Faial and Pico. Also, not surprisingly, you will see whales, dolphins and sea turtles during the trip.
Once there, down the buoy, you will be greeted by curious mobulas that swirl around the divers. Besides the Mobulas, in Princess Alice you can dive with blue sharks, Galapagos sharks and large schools of Carangidae, tuna, barracudas, giant mantas and even black marlin appear from time to time.
You do not need to be an expert diver or go under 40 meters deep to enjoy an unforgettable immersion in Princess Alice. You can hang in the blue at 5, 10 or 15 meters to see how mobulas wander a few meters from the surface. Still, you must keep in mind that this dive is in the open sea with strong currents and you need to have some diving experience to join this extraordinary gift of the ocean.Diving Princess Alice, Azores
Those who can dive beyond 30 and 40 meters will see an abundance of typical colorful marine life of Azores … but surely with an eye always on the amazing pelagic groups congregate here.
