Caloura Arches

Saturday 1st August 2015

Early start for Gatwick to be there before lunchtime. Flight is early afternoon and arrives 17:20 local time. Not diving Sunday so will have time to get aclimatised and explore the hotel and immediate location.

Arrived at the hotel around 18:15, just in time to get in the room, freshen up and go for a quick drink before dinner. Happy hour 6 to till 8 in the hotel bar so we thought we'd investigate. Turned out that what it meant was that drinks were 20% off. Considering drinks were normally 120% higher in the hotel than in the local bars and restaurants I don't think it will be a regular stopping place.

Buffet style meal was OK but nothing special, there was an a-la-carte option but that was not included in the HB we'd paid for, or, apparently, was water with the meal. We caught the last day of the White Festival and as we walked around the streets, which were packed with local people dressed in white, we noticed the Potugese-Man-Of-War decorations which were festooned from everywhere they could be hung. Went for a night cap in what proported to be an Irish Bar (they did sell draught Guiness), Santo Graal, and then returned to the hotel and bed. It had been a long day.

Sunday 2nd August 2015

Not diving today, decided to use it for settling in and exploring what there is to do here. It is Sunday, so nothing much happening and it would probably have been a better idea to go diving! Tried to get a whale watching tour for this afternoon, we missed the morning trip due to getting up late, but nothing doing as the weather is forcast to deteriorate and the tour operators have cancelled. Hope it doesn't affect the diving tomorrow.

Outside the hotel and across the main road is an open air swimming pool. Decided to go swimming there or perhaps snorkeling in the bay next door this afternoon.
As it turned out the snorkeling wasn't up to much in the bay - nothing much to see, fished out, perhaps? Swimming pool was ok though, salt water but quite warm. Looking forward to diving tomorrow.

Wide-Eyed Flounder (Bothus Podas)

One of the seven Anchors

Monday 3rd August 2015

Picked up from the hotel at 08:00 for the 25 kilometer drive to the dive centre. Good facilities for changing, showering and washing kit afterwards. Asked about the possibility of going to Formigas to try and see some large pelagics, a number of the divers wanted to go, but Pedro said it wasn't possible as 'they were too busy'. Quite disappointed and not happy about that really, after all, it was the whole point of coming to the Azores.

First dive was 'Anchors', seven in all discarded on the seabed and of varying sizes, trapped in the hugh rocks and gullies. Parrot Fish, Wrasse, Mullet and a small Scorpion Fish were seen.

Second dive at Baixa Das Cacas, was just at the base of the high cliffs of a small volcanic caldera island, where, apparently, they also do the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series. It was a challenging dive with strong currents and surge. Used quite a bit of air even before we descended just getting to, and hanging onto, the shot line whilst we all assembled. Flounder, Parrot Fish and Grouper were seen, as well as a lot of visual distortion caused by many thermoclines. Battery died in my camera at the end of the first dive so no pictures for this one unfortunately.

Tuesday 4th August 2015

Dive #3 was one of my favourite kinds of dives - a wreck dive. The MV Dori was a Liberty Ship in the second world war and was one of the few ships of its kind that took part in Operation Overlord in Normandy. As we arrived at the dive site we were met by a school of Dolphins which gave us fleeting, tantalising glimpses of themselves as they went about their business. We could hear them during the dive but sadly they didn't come near. The Dori was a good wreck to dive with lots of recognisable features such as the boilers and winches but time is telling and the sea merciless. We were not allowed to penetrate the hull for safety reasons - she's an old ship. Lost the rib's anchor as it got stuck on the wreck, and my dive buddy dropped his torch as we ascended but didn't realise until we were back on the rib.

Second dive of the day was a wall dive at H2 Caloura. This was similar to the second dive on Monday - lots of current to drain your air from strenuous finning, although we still managed a 44 minute dive with average depth of 12.3 mtrs. So, a hard swim down one side of the wall then over the top and a drift back on the other side. Moray, Grouper, Parrot, Wrasse, Damsel and Starfish kept us company. A nice dive with a challenging start and an easy finish. Felt a little seasick in the rib afterwards 'cos of the swell but didn't disgrace myself.

MV Dori

Moray

Wednesday 5th August 2015

Word had gone out to other dive centres nearby and both the anchor and torch had been found and retrieved so that was a good start for the third day. Bad news was that the first two dive sites we went to were un-diveable because of the strong current, so it was back to the volcanic caldera island IILHEU de VILA FRANCA and a site called Kitchen. A nice easy dive (dive #5) with no current took us to see small Stingrays, Moray, Octopus, Damsel and the ever present Parrot.

A little further around the island the second dive was through a short tunnel into the flooded caldera itself were we found the usual suspects - Octopus, Moray, Wrasse, Damsel, Flounder and Stingray. Before the dive I noticed my camera had fogged up inside the waterproof housing due to humidity when I changed the battery at the hotel and the rising heat of the day. Couldn't get any pictures this dive. Finished off this dive with a nice drift once we'd exited the caldera. Two very nice, gentle dives with lots to look at. Last day diving tomorrow.

Thursday 6th August 2015

Today the sea was flat calm and we went for our first dive (dive #7) to Caloura Arches. Three arches formed by volcanic activity and in close proximity to each other. Nice swim throughs and very little current present made it a pleasant dive, although visibility was only around 5 - 10 mtrs. Moray, Octopus, Guelly Jack (Enchareu - good to eat), and Nudibranch in the arches.

Next, at Baixa Do Pisao, we did a wall dive. We were told to look out for seahorses but I didn't see any, although some of the other divers claimed they did. There was a slight current to swim against as we followed the wall at around 17 mtrs and then it was behind us as we came back along the top, but again, visibility was only 5 - 10 mtrs. We came across a very large crab in a crevice which turned out to be very camera shy, a large Moray and several smaller ones and, of course, the ubiquitous Octopus.

Sadly, that's the end of the diving and unfortunately, when I packed up my dive gear, I forgot to pack my boots! Had to email Pedro and ask hopefully that he could get them dropped off at my hotel. Tomorrow is Mrs C's birthday and we are going on a tour around the island. It is a full day with picnic and takes in some of the interesting geological features, including a walk into some lava tubes at the end.

Guelly Jack (Enchareu)