Madeira Island Magazine - January/February 2021

Atividades de mar | Sea Activities
Diving Features
from the vessel:
Location: 32º 41 ‘15 “N 17º
07’ 38” W
Depth: 17-34 metres
Degree of Difficulty:
medium
Ship’s Conservation
Status: Good
Species:
- Dreamfish (Sarpa salpa)
- Grunt (Pomadasys
incisus)
- Common two-banded
seabream (Diplodus
vulgaris)
-Yellow barracuda
(Sphyraena viridensis)
- White trevally
(Pseudocaranx dentex)
- Amberjack (Seriola spp)
the rarest seal in the world.
In addition to diving in Caniço,
Garajau, Machico, Caniçal and Santa
Cruz, we recommend you go to
Madalena do Mar where you will find,
between 21 and 30 metres deep, 800
metres from the coast, the “Bowbelle”,
a ship that sank there a few years ago
and is now an artificial reef.
The Bom-Rei (“Bowbelle”), a
79.91-metre-long ship, was built at
Troon shipyards in Scotland in 1964
for sediment dredging. In the early
hours of 20 August 1989, while sailing
on the River Thames, it collided with
a passenger ship suffering only some
material damage, but the accident
caused more than 50 fatalities. A year
later, it was sold to Portugal to operate
in Madeira for sand dredging, and was
given the name Bom-Rei. On the 25th
of March 1996, this time in open sea,
near Madalena do Mar, it sank due to
overloading.
The crew managed to save
themselves, but the Bom-Rei sank
800m off the coast, today constituting
an artificial reef on the sand. Although
not having been sunk deliberately, the
ship remains in good state of repair.
In Madeira and Porto Santo
there are several diving schools and
companies specializing in excursions,
initiations and equipment rental,
which allow you to venture into the
crystal-clear waters of Madeira.
njoy your stay at Madeira
E Islands and practice diving in
one of the best locations in
Europe for this sport. The temperate,
crystal clear waters of Madeira, allow
you to dive in its natural reserves and
observe cnidarians such as anemones,
black corals, fish such as groupers,
morays, mantas and even monk seals,
Photo by
Carlos Freitas
Madeira Island Magazine | January - February 2021
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