Terceirense Shipwreck (Graciosa Island)

Just two minutes from the sunny beach of Vila da Praia, you reach the most famous dive site of Graciosa Island – the ‘Terceirense’ shipwreck, resting at a depth of 20 metres. This 40-metre long freighter has been here since 1968 and today it is inhabited by an extraordinary mix of marine life. Large dusky groupers and curious groupers move among the ship’s pipes, boilers and large sections of the hull, all of which are still intact. Thousands of Azores chromis and ornate wrasses surround the main body of the wreck and after decades of marine activity forcing smaller parts to break away, chunks of the wreck lay on the seabed sheltering small fish and shellfish. It is exactly what you imagine a wreck dive to be and unsurprisingly it is one of the best known sites in the Azores.