São Paulo Diving
The city of São Paulo is the most populated city in Brazil. It is located in the state of São Paulo, which is on the southeast coast of Brazil. The city is about 60km from the Atlantic coast, which can make organizing dive trips tricky. However, just 125km from the city is an island called Ilhabela, which is part of an archipelago that is known for having some of the best dive sites in the region.
Diving in Sao Paulo
The best diving near São Paulo is in the surrounding waters of Ilhabela, Ilha de Buzios, and Ilha de Cabras, as well as in the protected Laje de Santos Marine Park, which is about 90km offshore. These coastal waters have a unique combination of warm surface water and cold ocean currents flowing north from Antarctica, which leads to great biodiversity in marine flora and fauna. However, due to this influx of nutrient-rich cool water, visibility is poor (about 5m).
The dive sites in this region can only be reached by dive boat, but can be explored during a day trip through any of São Paulo’s dive shops.
Best time to dive
Due to the region’s nutrient-rich waters, visibility is normally about 5m. Visibility improves, however, during the summertime (up to 25m), so this may be a good time to target for diving. On the other hand, if seeing manta rays is on your list, then fall and winter would be the best time to visit, as this is when they pass through the Laje de Santos Marine Park area as part of their migratory path.
Types of diving
Dive destinations near São Paulo offer reef-diving, wreck-diving, deep-diving, and drift-diving. The underwater landscape consists of dramatic rock formations, colorful corals, and shipwrecks. Strong currents in this region make drift dives possible, but there are more sheltered dive sites as well for those new to diving.
What to see
The waters off the coast of São Paulo are inhabited by marine megafauna drawn to the nutrients brought to this region by Antarctic waters. Sightings of whales, giant stingrays, sea turtles, manta rays, and pelagic fish are common. In the waters of Laje de Santos Marine Park, close to 200 species of reef fish can be found, including grouper, wrasse, parrotfish, grunts, sergeant majors, damselfish, porgies, and blennies.
Best places to dive
Ilhabela, Ilha de Buzios, and Ilha de Cabras are rich in marine life and range in depth from 3-50m, making these sites suitable for beginner and advanced divers alike.
Laje de Santos Marine Park is chock full of spectacular dive sites. On the north coast of the island is “Portinho”, on the east end of the island is “Naufrágio do Moreia” (a wreck), and at the west end of the island is the popular, “Anchor Ledge”.
