Princess Alice Bank

Named for the research vessel of Prince Albert I of Monaco, which sounded the bank in 1896, Princess Alice is an open-ocean seamount whose summit lies about 35 m down with nothing but Atlantic around it. Divers descend a line or drift over the plateau while sicklefin devil rays rise from the blue in slow, stacked formations, sometimes dozens deep, circling swimmers at the safety stop. Jacks and yellowmouth barracuda school over the top, and anything can cruise past: this is one of Europe's few genuine pelagic stations.

اللحظة التي جئت من أجلها: Summer devil-ray carousels, blue-water descents, schooling jacks over a mid-Atlantic summit

التضاريس: Basalt summit plateau at about 35 m falling away into deep ocean on all sides

التيار: Current over the summit can strengthen without warning; dives are managed as live-boat drifts.

نقطة الدخول: Roughly 45 nautical miles southwest of Faial and Pico, a crossing of several hours each way, run only in settled summer weather.

المخاطر: Deep start, bottomless blue water, surface current and remoteness: self-sufficiency and a DSMB are essential.

الحفاظ على البيئة البحرية: A recognized offshore biodiversity site; operators follow no-touch, no-chase practice around the ray aggregations.

نيتروكس: يستحق الأمر هنا: الملفات الشخصية تقع في النطاق الذي يُمدّد فيه الهواء المدعّم (نيتروكس) وقت الغوص دون توقف تمديدًا ملموسًا، مع التدريب اللازم لاستخدامه.