Graciosa is the quiet island of the Azores: about 4,000 residents, low green hills, and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve status since 2007. Underwater it is anything but quiet. Around a small island with few sheltered harbours, ships have been running aground for centuries, and several of those stories can still be visited on a dive.
This guide covers the four historic sites around Graciosa that most interest divers: the Terceirense, the Corvo, the Mazzini and the Cemitério das Âncoras (anchor cemetery) off Praia. For each one we explain what happened, what is left, how deep it is, and what level you need.
The historical details come from the Guia do Património Cultural Subaquático dos Açores (Guide to the Underwater Cultural Heritage of the Azores), published by the regional government, which quotes the island newspapers of the time.
The Terceirense was built in 1949 at the Grangemouth Dockyard in Scotland for the Empresa Insulana de Navegação, the company that for decades ran the sea link between the Azores and Lisbon. She was a substantial ship for the islands: about 76 metres long, 1,295 tonnes, up to 12 knots, room for 28 passengers and around 3,000 cubic metres of cargo.
On her last voyage she left Angra do Heroísmo (Terceira) for Graciosa, with São Jorge, Pico, Faial and finally Lisbon still ahead. In the holds were cars, an engine, six tonnes of leather, boxes of embroidery, butter, cheese and flour, the flour urgently needed because Graciosa was running short.
In the early hours of 17 January 1969, in heavy rain and with almost no visibility, she struck a shoal near the Carapacho islet. Water flooded the lower hold and the engine room. The crew tried to pump her out and steered for the harbour of Praia, hoping to anchor and save the cargo. They didn't make it: at 12:10 the ship went down. The whole crew was rescued and no lives were lost.
The sinking caused a heated debate in the Azorean press about the lack of navigation instruments on board, the state of the island's harbours, and the pressure to deliver flour in bad weather. The captain's official statement blamed "bad weather and sea, lack of visibility caused by heavy rain".
(You will often see "1968" online for this wreck. The newspaper report quoted in the official guide is dated 17 January 1969.)
The Terceirense lies between Ilhéu da Praia and the coast, which gives her some shelter. She is broken in two, with the most wreckage in the central section, and the propeller is still impressively well preserved, along with a good part of the hull.
| Type | Wreck |
| Depth | about 14 m to 21-22 m |
| Current | Occasional |
| Level | Low: Open Water Diver or equivalent |
| Marine life | Dusky groupers (meros), often curious; conger and moray eels, amberjacks (lírios), white trevally (encharéus) and stingrays (ratões) |
| Photography | Wide-angle and macro |
Because the depth stays above 22 metres and the site is relatively protected, it is one of the few historic wreck dives in the Azores that a newly certified Open Water diver can do in good conditions. The groupers are the other highlight: they are used to divers and often come close.
Not every Graciosa wreck is old. In the early hours of 16 December 2000, the container ship Corvo, 89 metres long and owned by Mutualista Açoreana, was pushed by a storm onto the coast of Ilhéu da Praia, about 1,500 metres from the commercial port. She was carrying 80 containers, 16 cattle and supplies for Christmas.
All 11 crew were saved during the night, led by a small local boat and later helped by a Navy corvette from Horta. A floating barrier stopped the fuel spill from reaching the islet, which is a nature reserve where the endangered roseate tern nests. The ship broke in two and was partly salvaged in January 2001.
Today the remains, including engines, boilers and containers, are spread over a wide area next to the islet on three underwater terraces at about 5, 14 and 17 metres. That makes it a good dive for mixed groups: snorkellers and beginners can see the shallow section, and certified divers can work down the terraces.
The oldest steel wreck on the island is the Mazzini, an Italian steamer built in 1913 at the A.G. Weser yard in Bremen as the Spitzfels, renamed Brescia in 1916 and Mazzini in 1920. She was 128 metres long.
On 31 March 1925, travelling from Baltimore to Algeria with a cargo of coal, she ran aground at night in the Baía do Calhau on the north of the island. Rough seas made it impossible to tow her off, and the wreck was abandoned.
What remains today lies near Baía da Vitória, to the left of the Ponta da Barca lighthouse, at about 7 metres: part of the propeller, two huge boilers, part of the engine, an anchor and heavy chain. Part of the cargo was recovered by islanders at the time, and a washbasin from the ship can be seen in the Museu da Graciosa in Santa Cruz. The museum is a good rainy-day visit before or after the dive.
The fourth site is less a wreck than a record of near-misses. Off Vila da Praia lies a rocky shoal on the sandy bottom of the old anchorage, where larger ships used to drop anchor. When strong winds or a sudden change in the weather dragged them towards the shoal, captains had to cut their anchors loose or risk sinking. The anchors stayed on the bottom.
The site was found by Rolando Oliveira. The official guide places it between 21 and 24 metres, and our own dives on the site reach about 22-26 metres. Historical accounts describe the anchorage as exposed and unpredictable for centuries. In the late 17th century, a pirate crew posing as English merchants had to ask the harbour authorities for help just to anchor there safely, before sacking the town.
We follow a marked route among the old anchors. Groupers, amberjacks and moray eels are regular company. We recommend Advanced Open Water or equivalent because of the depth.
| Site | Depth | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Mazzini | ~7 m | Snorkellers, try-dives, history lovers |
| Corvo | 5 / 14 / 17 m | Mixed groups, first wreck dive |
| Terceirense | 14-22 m | Open Water divers, photographers |
| Anchor cemetery | 21-24 m | Advanced divers interested in history |
If you only have one day, the classic combination is the Terceirense in the morning and a reef or wall dive in the afternoon. Good choices are Ferreiro de Fora (5-42 m, with black coral and barracuda) and Baixa da Arcada (12-34 m, arches and large black coral trees).
DivinGraciosa is based in Santa Cruz da Graciosa and dives all of the sites above, plus the island's walls, pinnacles and blue shark dives. Tell us your certification level and the dates you are on the island, and we will suggest the right combination of sites for you.
Contact: geral@divingraciosa.com · +351 960 082 647 / +351 962 513 411
Main source: Guia do Património Cultural Subaquático dos Açores (Governo dos Açores / Visit Azores). Dive site data from DivinGraciosa.