Pico Sport Whale Watching Diving - Wal Beobachtung Tauchen

Freediving Snorkeling with Mobula Day Trip

Snorkeling with

Giant Mobula Rays

Giant Mobula Rays are constant visitors of the Azores waters. With our Megalodon tagging project we followed Mobula rays on their journey in the Atlantic Ocean. They travel all the way to Senegal, the Cabo Verde islands and Sao Tome & Principe. During their journey they visit deep sea mountains where they feed with the resident pelagic fish. The most northern stop on their journey are the Azores Island and one of their favourite spots to meet is the famous Princess Alice Bank. We dive and snorkel with Mobula rays at Princess Alice Bank.

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SEASON

1.7. - 29.9.

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SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainable treatment of the animals is our top priority. Therefore, the experienced skippers also read the behavior of the animals first and decide when or if you are allowed into the water.

With the help of the experienced skippers you can observe the behavior of the whales in peace and learn a lot about their life and migration cycles. Permanent residents of the region are sperm whale cows, which stay with their calves year-round in the warm and nutrient-rich waters. In addition, pilot whales, small killer whales, sei whales, fin whales, minke whales, round-headed dolphins, bottlenose dolphins and common dolphins can often be observed.

Why Pico Sport

Operating since 1993 we have 30 years of experience with marine mammals. Our skippers work with us since many years and lots of experience in gentle handling of the animals. We find the whales and dolphins because we work with land based spotters. This technique dates back to the days of the old whalers. With strong binoculars the so called VIGIA searches for the whales and dolphins. They tell the boats the positions of the animals. Thus, we never go blindly to the ocean and work with a 99% success rate in sightings.

Megalodon Project

Want to learn more about megafauna migrations in the Atlantic? Then read on our megalodon page what you can contribute.

from 200,- Euro

200,- Euro

per person

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• Full day trip on a big comfortable boat with cabin and toilet

• Soft drinks and snacks during the trip

• Snorkeling gear is included

• Snorkeling guide on board

Latin name: Mobula tarapacana

They grow up to 3,7 meters of diameter (females bigger than males)

They can reach a weight up to 400 kg

The IUCN Status is Vulnerable

The downside of the body has a black and whiten pattern that is the photo ID fingerprint of each

individual animals.

When They migrate they reach depth of 1.000m

When they dive they turn their body like a driller and reach 1000 depth within less than a minute

In Princess Alice they feed, warm up and have a cleaning station

We meet them in groups up to 50 animals when we snorkel with them

Species that can be seen in Princess Alice

Sicklefin Devil Ray (Mobula tarapacana)

Greater amberjack

Barracuda

Bigeye Tuna

Bonito

Yellowfin Tuna

Bluefin Tuna

Pelagic stingray

Beschreibungstitel

It is main concern to dive save and sustainable. Therefore we ask everybody that wants to join our shark trips to dive with us at least 1 day before in a class 1 spot around Pico. Not only that you can see fantastic marine life during this dive day it helps us to understand what your status is. Also it helps you to feel comfortable in Atlantic water conditions, get used to your rental gear and so on.

The day before your first trip to the sharks you will meet with your shark guide and get a detailed briefing about the dive.  We follow the theories of Professor Erich Ritter / Sharkschool that there are no dangerous sharks but only dangerous situations. When we started the shark diving 12 year ago Erich educated our skippers and crew. This knowledge has been passed on since that time.  Since nowadays work with the shark scientist Lukas Müller who is one of the leading shark scientists currently. With him we develop the guidelines for divers and Freediver and update constantly.