Scuba diving in Fernando
de Noronha Brazil |
Located about 340 miles (550 km) east of Recife,
off Brazil's northeast coast, Fernando de Noronha
is one of the best scuba diving locations in South
America. With visibilities of up to 120 feet,
beautiful blue water, and an amazing array of marine
life, it is the biggest scuba destination in Brazil,
though still relatively unknown by North America.
When we were there, we met only a couple from Norway
and a couple from the UK who were not Brazilian
on our scuba diving trips, and except for one Swedish
guy, no other non-Brazilians on the entire island.
We did a total of four dives in two days on the
island - two deep dives - Cagarras Fundas and Ponta
de Macaxeira, and two shallow dives - Resurreta
and Ilha de Meio. Click here to see our dive
reviews.
|
 |
Home to resident pods of Spinner Dolphins, the waters
of the Fernando de Noronha marine preserve are also
filled with sea turtles, rays, sharks, and a huge
array of much larger than average tropical fish.
On our four dives, we spotted several spotted eagle
rays and stingrays, two huge green morays, four
big spiny lobsters, three 8-foot nurse sharks, and
a partridge in a pear tree. Not to mention
a huge array of tropical fish. The only thing
we really missed was coral - the rocky slopes of
Noronha don't really give off much color, though
the fish are brightly colored. We saw a pod
of dolphins from the boat one day, but weren't lucky
enough to encounter any under the water. |
FERNANDO
DE NORONHA DIVE SHOPS
There
are currently three dive shops on Fernando de Noronha.
Aguas Claras - In business since 1985, they are
the only PADI 5-Star Gold Palm Instructor Development Center
on the island, and the largest operator on the island.
They have three boats, including a military-style high-speed
inflatable boat, and two larger more traditional vessels.
Atlantis Divers - Established in 1994, they claim
to be the largest and most structured dive organization
in Brazil. This is the dive shop we dove with on our
trip. The dive guides spoke good English, and made
it fun. We would dive with them again. They
have two big catamarans and a smaller 32' boat for experienced
divers. They also have a new liveaboard dive catamaran.
They are associated with all the major dive associations,
including PADI.
Noronha Divers - A NAUI Gold Scuba Center, Noronha divers
is not associated with PADI. They have been diving
on the island since 1995. They use a couple of custom-built
dive boats that take 40 and 50 passengers, respectively.
FERNANDO
DE NORONHA DIVE SITES
Click Here for Detailed Dive Site
Descriptions
DIVE
SITE REEF REPORTS - (Our dives in Fernando de Noronha)
Cagarras
Fundas
Ponta de Macaxeira
Resurreta
WATER
CONDITIONS
The
water temperature in Noronha is about 80F all year round.
A 3mm shorty is usually fine, but many people were wearing
3mm full suits as well. The visibility ranges from
120 feet in the winter months (April through November) to
about 50 feet in the summer months (December to March).
The waters around Noronha are often very choppy, so make
sure to take Bonine or 24-hour-Less-Drowsy Dramamine, even
if you don't usually get sick. This can sometimes
limit the dive sites that you can dive in a particular day.
