SCUBA DIVING | BELOW THE PEARL OF THE ATLANTIC
If you knock on a stone just outside of
Esmeralda ’ s home , she ’ ll always pop out her head to see who ’ s there ” says Sittika Nasufow , who runs the Manta Diving Centre with her partner , Stefan Maier . Sittika isn ’ t talking about a little old lady who lives on her own ; but a huge blue eyed 1.3 metre long brown Moray eel , which has lived in the same hole in one of the diving areas in the underwater nature reserve for 30 years .
Madeira is an excellent place to dive as warm ridges of the Gulf Stream allow the water temperature to wallow between 18 degrees to 24 degrees all year round . “ One of the good things about diving here is that there are no thermalclines ” says Sittika .
This means that there is no drop in temperature from the top of the water to 34 metres down , which is an important consideration when diving .
With both Atlantic and Gulf Stream influences , there is a wide variety of sea life , almost as good as that in tropical waters . Many exotic , brightly coloured fish can be seen from parrot fish to puffer fish , red hogfish to blue fine damsel fish , as well as many massive fish such as giant groupers , barracudas and rays and more delicate species like the orange , yellow and brown seahorses or colourful prawns . And if you are lucky , you ’ ll be able see Manta Rays or even a Monk Seal .
Pictures courtesy of Pedro Vasconcelos | www . madeira-life . net | Summer 2012 | 11