Madeirense
Depth is the range from the top of the site to its usual maximum; "recommended cert" is the mainstream-agency level operators usually ask for, not a legal rule. Currents and visibility change daily — treat everything here as planning ranges.
Scuttled in 2000 off Porto Santo, the small cargo ship Madeirense was the island's first purpose-sunk reef and remains its signature dive. She sits upright and largely intact on pale sand that bounces light around the hull, so the wreck photographs far bigger than her modest length. Two decades of growth have wrapped the railings in algae and hydroids; barracuda hang off the mast, groupers and morays work the holds, and garden-eel-flecked sand stretches away toward the second wreck nearby. An unhurried, high-visibility introduction to Atlantic wreck diving.
The moment you come for: Upright intact hull, luminous sand setting, easy navigation
Topography: Cargo vessel upright on bright sand in roughly 30 m
Entry: Short boat run from Porto Santo's marina; often combined with the nearby corvette General Pereira d'Eca.
Know before you splash
Hazards: Depth and occasional current on the sand plain; standard wreck cautions inside.
Nitrox: Worth it here — profiles sit in the range where enriched air meaningfully extends no-stop time (with the training to use it).
For photographers
Wide angle: ★★★★★ · Macro: ★★☆☆☆ — editors' 1–5 rating of what this site gives each style of shooting