The best dive
site is the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha.
It's the most untouched spot, and it's simply gorgeous
on the surface, appealing to everyone. The difficulty
ranges from beginner to advance. Best time of the
year is from July to December for beginners, all
year round for advanced divers. It's one of the
most expensive dive sites to go.
The second best is Abrolhos. It's
an archipelago some four to six hours from land,
where you can't go on shore, so either you make
one-day trips or take a live-aboard on one of several
boats. The dives are very, very calm, shallow and
relaxed, and though the visibility is not as good
as Noronha, but the richness of the corals and marine
life is incredible. It's good for all levels of
experience. Best time of the year is November to
March, when it is also possible to watch whales.
The
region between Recife/Olinda in
the north and Maceio in the south is named the Golden
Coast, and here are several excellent spots
of scuba diving and the access is much easier than
mentioned archipelagos. Around Recife & Olinda
is considered excellent for advanced divers, rich
of marine life like turtles and sharks, and many
sunk ships, but the sea is usually very, very rough.
To the south there are many dive friendly spots
for snorkeling, scuba dive beginners and also advanced
diving. In Porto de
Galinhas for instance, is a very
pleasant village with many nice sites for good diving
and an excellent area for diving courses. In this
region the diving is good during the whole year.
The
best spots for scuba diving in the south of Brazil
are between São Paulo & Rio de Janeiro.
Of course they are not as good as mentioned sites
in the northeast, but comparing world wide, this
region is very good as well. To indicate some spots
in the area should be Barra do Una, Ubatuba,
Paraty, Ilha Grande and Arraial do Cabo.
Last
but not least, there are two islands near Santos
/ São Vicente where you can take a day trip
for two dives - Laje de Santos and Queimada
Grande. But it might be very tricky to
reach the area: the boat trip usually takes 2 hours
or maybe more, and is often rough. Many times the
trips are cancelled due to bad weather, so it's
always a lottery. From May to July, manta rays are
common in Laje de Santos; possible to see ones with
a "wingspan" of about 2 meters, and even
some big ones, as they can grow up to 6m!
Taking
about Diving & Brazil, we shouldn’t forget
the country-side town of Bonito,
which is more than 1.000km from the sea. This is
a paradise of sweet water snorkeling & diving,
with beautiful nature and rivers of crystal-clear
warm waters with lots of fish. In the region there
are also several unexplored caves, where you can
practice scuba diving in caves
– NOTE:
a special certificate is needed for scuba diving
in these caves.