Fernando De Noronha

Atlantis Divers, Pousada M. Rocha, July 1996 Luiz T. Salazar Queiroz, S.J. Campos-SP, Brazil. "Fernando de Noronha is a volcanic island on Atlantic Ocean, 3 degrees below Equator, 1.5 hour flight from Recife. Few corals, no walls, but fish and pelagics abound. Beautiful sightseeing. Accommodations Spartan compared to American standards (no air conditioning, hot water, TV), but at Pousada Monsieur Rocha everything is clean, good food and employees polite. Night life limited to lectures on dolphins, turtles and wild birds by Brazilian Environment Institute or local music and dance at Bar do Cachorro (The Dog's Bar) or Bar do Mirante. . . . Atlantis Divers run by a Frenchman: they provide transportation hotel/dock/hotel and boats are fast, with shaded area, good stern ladder and platform, but if full similar to cattle boats. Little space for photo gear; no rinse tanks for cameras. Rental gear in good condition. Short rides to sites (average 15 minutes), friendly crew, help with tanks and gear but poor briefings (if any). Best sites at open sea region called Mar de Fora ("Outside Sea"), like Iuias, Frad ("Angel Fish"), Cabeco Submarino and Pedras Secas ("Dry Stones"). The latter is shallow (40ft) but full of colorful fish; strong currents and choppy seas. Mar de Fora is divable only from December to March, due to choppy seas. In the other months the diving is in Mar de Dentro ("Inside Sea"), not so spectacular but some marvelous points like Ipiranga wreck (a 150 ft. Brazilian navy small destroyer, bow gun, 210 ft deep, completely intact, l00 ft. Vis, abundant fish life, sting rays galore. . . . breathtaking dive. . . . only for experienced divers, with long deco stops), Cabeco da Sapata (pinnacle covered by chromis, 130 ft depth, vis 100 ft), Pontal do Norte (130 ft. depth, sharks, occasional huge groupers, green morays, lots of lobsters, vis 100 ft.), Lage Dois Irmaos (gray reef sharks, eagle rays, lots of tropicals, some corals, 80 ft. depth, vis 30-70. Lots of colorful fish, like squirrels, grunts and parrots, green and spotted eels. Turtles not uncommon. Forbidden to dive at Bay of Dolphins, but several times spinner dolphins follow the dive boat. Water 80 degrees. All dives guided by instructor or divemaster. Usually two per day, first good to world class, but second could be boring at sites like Ilha do Meio ("Middle Island"), Cagarras (good scenario but lack of fish) and Buraco do Inferno ("Hells Hole"). English rarely spoken by locals. And bring hard cash (Brazilian Money, not US dollar)."

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