Princess Alice Bank

Verified2026-09-24 checkedPelagic

A seamount forty-five miles from land whose summit sits at 35 m, and devil rays that gather over it by the hundred.

Depth: 35–40 m115–131 ft
Difficulty: Advanced
Entry: Boat · Liveaboard
Typical current: Strong
Coordinates: 37°58.998′N 29°13.998′W
Activities: Scuba

Princess Alice is an underwater mountain rising out of abyssal depth to about 35 m below the surface, some 45 nautical miles south-west of Faial. The crossing takes three to four hours each way and the dive is entirely in blue water on a shot line — no wall, no reef, nothing to hold. What there is, between July and September, is Chilean devil rays in aggregations that can run to a hundred animals, circling the summit and completely unbothered by divers. Blue sharks and pelagic fish pass through. Weather cancels more trips than it allows, the swell out there is oceanic, and this is a dive for people who are comfortable with no reference at all.

Day boat from Horta on Faial or Madalena on Pico, weather permitting; three to four hours each way.

Best season

ExcellentJul–Aug
GoodSep
FairJun

Before you get in

Past 30 m, where no-stop time and gas both go quickly and nitrogen narcosis starts to show.
Recorded as a site with strong current. Settle your gas reserve, when you would call the dive, and your surface signal before you get in.

Taken from this site’s recorded depth, type and current, and nothing else. An empty list is not a safe site — the sea on the day, the local geography and the boat traffic are not in it. The briefing on the spot comes first.

Conditions

Water temperature: 22.3°C72°F
Wave height: 1.1 m4 ft
Air temperature: 22.3°C72°F
Wind speed: 20.9 km/h13 mph

Updated 2026-10-07 15:45 UTC · Source: Open-Meteo

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0)

Conditions are reported for information only. Assess the site yourself and follow your guide and your training.

No live conditions for this site yet.

We only show numbers we can attribute to a source.

Sea state and tide

On a date

Tide · 10/7

Low03:02-0.69 m
High09:150.24 m
Low15:45-0.79 m
High21:450.14 m

Forecast heights against mean sea level. Real tides in a bay, a harbour or over a flat can differ — check an official tide table before you get in.

Pick a day to see its tide

Only wave height and wind are scored, because those are what close a boat ramp or a shore entry. Water temperature is reported and never scored: 12°C is an ordinary dive in a drysuit and punishing in a 3 mm, and a number that cannot see your suit has no business marking it down. Stars do not decide whether you get in — you and your guide do, on the day.

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0)

Marine life you may see

Devil rayMobula spp.Jul–SepSeasonal
Ocean sunfishMola alexandriniSeasonal
Whale sharkRhincodon typusRare
Blue sharkPrionace glaucaCommon
Short-finned pilot whaleGlobicephala macrorhynchusCommon
Bottlenose dolphinTursiops truncatusCommon
Sperm whalePhyseter macrocephalusRare
Yellowfin tunaThunnus albacaresCommon
Loggerhead turtleCaretta carettaSeasonal
Portuguese man o' warPhysalia physalisJan–AprSeasonal
SailfishIstiophorus platypterusRare

From divers

What people who were in the water reported. Not a forecast, and not a judgement about whether the site is safe to dive.

No recent reports from divers. If you dived here in the last two weeks, you can say how it was.

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