Join DiveBuddy.com

Meet new scuba divers, maintain a virtual dive log, participate in our forum, share underwater photos, research dive sites and more. Members login here.

Revision 3/25/2011 4:13 PM
View Most Recent Revision
Gruta dos Ratões - Portugal


Loading...
It’s located in the northern part of Ilhéus das Cabras, at 0.7 nautical miles from the South coast of Terceira. The initial descent is made to a rocky platform, 8 meters depth. After you will descend to a clearing of sand with large rocks at 24 meters. Following South, through the clearing of sand, the depth decreases until you reach the entrance of the cave, an area with large rocks at 15 meters deep. As you enter the cave its depth decreases because the number of rocks in the background increases. Its entrance is very large and the top is out of water.

It is called Gruta dos Ratões because the observation of common stingray’s almost guaranteed, being of two species: Myliobatis aquila and Taeniura grabata, only during the summer, which is thought to be a reproductive season. On the descent it can be observed canary damselfish, ornate wrasse, cuckoo wrasse, salema, and black tail combers. In the bottom rocks can be observed seabream and groupers. On the walls of the islets there’s yellow mouth barracudas, amberjacks and anchovies.