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.

바로 그 순간: Summer devil-ray carousels, blue-water descents, schooling jacks over a mid-Atlantic summit

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

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

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

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

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

나이트록스: 여기서는 가치 있습니다 — 수치 범위상 나이트록스를 사용하면 무감압 시간을 의미 있게 연장할 수 있습니다(단, 관련 교육 이수 필요).