Diving Princess Alice Seamount is one of the great blue-water diving experiences possible in the Azores archipelago.
Rising dramatically from the deep Atlantic southwest of Pico Island, this remote underwater mountain is famous for its challenging conditions and significant depth.
But, above all, the possibility of encountering large pelagic animals in the middle of the ocean.
It is a long way from anywhere.
The journey takes upto 3 hours each way, and the diving itself requires careful planning and good technique.
But when the conditions come together and large manta or mobula rays appear from the blue, all that effort suddenly seems very worthwhile.
It’s quite a place!
What is Princess Alice Seamount?
Princess Alice seamount is actually part of a much larger underwater feature known as Princess Alice Bank. An extensive area of submerged mountains and seamounts surrounded by very deep Atlantic water.
The area was explored and surveyed during the pioneering oceanographic expeditions of Prince Albert I of Monaco in the late 19th century. Prince Albert was a passionate oceanographer, explorer and scientist. Who made numerous expeditions of the world’s oceans and played a major role in the development of modern marine science.
He also founded what would eventually become the famous Oceanographic Museum of Monaco.
Prince Albert owned a series of increasingly sophisticated research yachts, the second of which was Princess Alice. The yacht was named after his American-born wife, Alice Heine, and Prince Albert was aboard when the area was explored.
Hence the name Princess Alice.
The Princess Alice Bank covers an enormous area, but most of it lies far beyond recreational diving depths. What makes the site so special to divers is the much smaller pinnacle that rises dramatically from the surrounding deep ocean.
Its shallowest point is approximately 35m, with the seafloor dropping away rapidly into much greater depths. And that isolated position is a big part of what makes Princess Alice such an extraordinary dive.
Diving Princess Alice Seamount: Where Is It?
Princess Alice Seamount lies approximately 90 km southwest of Pico Island, out in the open Atlantic Ocean. That distance gives you some idea of the commitment involved in diving there.
From Pico, the boat journey takes upto 3 hours each way, depending on the boat and sea conditions. So this is not a dive site you simply pop out to do for a couple of hours. It is a full-day expedition.
The day generally starts soon after dawn, followed by the long journey travelling across the open Atlantic. If the weather and sea conditions are good, you eventually arrive at the seamount and prepare for the dive.
Then, after the diving is finished, there is the long journey back. By the time you finally return to land in the late afternoon or early evening, you may well be thinking about an appointment with the local chiropractor! But the remoteness is also part of the attraction.
There is something quite special about knowing that you are many kilometres from the nearest island, with nothing but deep Atlantic water surrounding you.
Why is Princess Alice such a special dive?
The key to understanding Princess Alice is to think about what an isolated underwater mountain does to the surrounding ocean. The seamount rises from deep water into the upper part of the water column. Creating a prominent feature in an otherwise vast expanse of open ocean. Currents sweep around the underwater topography and bring nutrient-rich water into the area.
That makes the seamount an important gathering point for marine life. And while the pinnacle itself is interesting, the real attraction for many divers is what can appear in the blue around it. This is not a traditional reef dive where you spend your time swimming along a wall looking for small creatures. Princess Alice is much more about the open ocean.
You descend to the pinnacle, spend some time exploring the immediate area and then, as you ascend, you can find yourself suspended in deep blue water watching for silhouettes approaching from the distance. That is when the dive can become truly spectacular.
Diving Princess Alice Seamount: The Technique
Because of its remote location, extreme surrounding depths and potentially powerful currents, diving Princess Alice requires a very specific procedure.
The dive boats use descent lines secured to the pinnacle, with a surface buoy marking the line. That buoy is also useful because it provides an immediate indication of what the surface current is doing.
When you enter the water, your first priority is to reach the descent line. And. once on the line, the instructions are straightforward: Stay on the line.
It is difficult to overstate how important this is.
At Princess Alice you are very much in the blue. Literally in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. Above a seamount surrounded by deep water and potentially strong currents.
There is no shallow reef extending towards the boat and no convenient coastline to orient yourself towards.
Diving Princess Alice Seamount: The Dive…
The descent itself is quite an experience… As you leave the surface, the line disappears down into increasingly blue water. And the surrounding ocean becomes progressively more featureless.
There is something slightly surreal about descending into the Atlantic with nothing visible around you except the line. And an occasional glimpse of the seamount emerging from the blue below.
The shallowest point is around 35m, with the immediate area around the pinnacle dropping to approximately 40m before rapidly falling away much more steeply down into the abyss.
At those depths, bottom time is necessarily limited, and nitrogen narcosis can also affect perception and judgement. So the actual time spent exploring the pinnacle is relatively short.
And that is one of the interesting things about Princess Alice. The best part of diving Princess Alice seamount is often on the line as you make your ascent.
The nitrogen is dissipating and you will be feeling much more comfortable and able to enjoy the show! Manta and mobula rays are commonly sighted at Princess Alice. But many other large creatures like tuna, barracuda and marlin often put in an appearance!
