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Its proximity to São Paulo makes this a very popular weekend dive site for urban Brazilian divers. This part of the Brazilian coast doesn't offer really good diving unless you get out onto the open ocean. And it will take best of 12 hours of your day to get two dives done.
The area around of Santos, especially to the south is heavily populated, and several large rivers empty into the ocean along this part of the coast. Laje de Santos is about 45 kilometers from the mainland, in open ocean. The dive site is really just a few small rocks that pierce the surface, inside an 550 meter times 183 meter state marine park. Divers from the bustling concrete jungle of the 18 million people metropolis São Paulo go in hordes to dive these islets. Living in São Paulo about 70 km's from the coast leaves you no other choice than to get up early to go diving, very early. We left São Paulo at 6 am to avoid battling the worst traffic. But even at this hour it took almost 1,5 hours from the center of the city to the pier in São Vincente. Getting from there to the dive site was indeed a very pleasant trip as the sea was calm which gave us a smooth boat ride for about one hour. Twenty divers on the same boat is a lot, and it always get's very hectic when we arrive at the dive site, everyone being eager to get into the water. Most on board were experienced divers so one pair after another went in the water without to much confusion and we spread out as much as the first dive site allowed us to.
Vale pena
The first impression of the dive sites here was blue water, 20-25 meters visibility and a prolific fish life. With a almost flat ocean for the first dive, diving through a tunnel or really an underwater canyon it was smooth sailing. Even though this is considered real open water diving it's fairly easy if the weather is good. Passing through the shallower parts of the dive sites you have to go with the swells. Below 8-10 meters it was nice and calm and you could effortlessly enjoy the marine life. As soon as we left the surface we were swimming through schools of Sergeant major's. As we sank deeper and came nearer the rock formations the amount of species became larger. Watching French angelfish going about their things is always a delight. A bit more shy than the parrot fish which abundant here, are the groupers. Some of the very nicely camouflaged in the same colors as the surrounding rocks.
Having a closer look between the rocks will reveal murrays. I saw at least five of them within a few meters. Who blames them for gathering here. The rock formations are great hideouts. And hunting rounds as well I guess. There are a couple of swim-through as well. The only thing you have to watch out for are the spiny sea urchins. They are of the painful sort, so keep you hands to your self if possible. For those divers that thrive on rusty bulkheads and mysterious cargo hulls, will be disappointed. There aren't really any wrecks here. Well, you can have your worst abstinence cured at the little wreck «Moreia». This is a small fishing vessel which was brought her and sunk in 1995 to attract some marine life, and make another dive site. At a maximum depth of 22 meters it's a fairly easy dive. Although currents keep the wreck clean and make it a good place for gorgonias and anemones. Groupers are also making the wreck their home.
The treat at Laje de Santos is the fish life. As these waters are semi-tropical where the water temperature peaks at 23-25 ºC during the summer months from December to March and dips below 15 ºC during the winter, there isn't any coral reefs here. There is also an thermocline here. We met it first at 19 meters, so we had no reason to go below. But this may change along with the currents. Even without any coral garden, what also makes this dive site definitely «vale pena»...worthwhile in Portuguese, are the sea turtle encounters. On my first three dives here I met turtles on all. And just to add some to that, a sunfish came out of nowhere on our safety stop. That's always a surprising treat!
Easy come, easy go
Most dive centers in São Paulo, Santos and São Vincente do trips to Laje de Santos. Some run minibuses from São Paulo, others rely on you making it to the pir on your own. There is secure parking at the pir. We made our dives at Laje de Santos with Orion Divers. They run a 48 foot fast boat from São Vincente. The «Orion Diver» takes maximum 20 divers to Laje the Santos in about one hour. The 2-dive trip takes all day from 8 in the morning with return at around 3-4 in the afternoon. Included in the price is lunch, snacks, water and soft drinks. There are cabins to keep bags dry and to change films or clothes. There are also toilets on board.
It can be a challenge for foreign divers, that English is not widely spoken in Brazil. This can make understanding the briefings tricky. However amongst 20 divers on board a boat you could expect at least one person to speak some English, so at the minimum you get some of the dos and dont's explained to you. And as hand signals are international, you will also be able to communicate with your Brazilian dive buddy under water.
To read more of Arnold Weisz's articles about travel, scuba diving, environment and food, see http://www.xray-mag.com/Front
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