Outstanding Dive Center and Wonderful World Class Diving! - Wow, could not be more impressed with the dive centre and quality of diving at Santa Maria Dive Centre. We were looked after right from the point of booking - Xavier, the owner, contacted me via WhatsApp and maintained communication during our trip preparations, advising us both on the local diving conditions as well as the local area, culture, restaurants and more. Super helpful comms to have even before travelling! The dive centre is well resourced and the team were outstanding looking after our every needs from finding perfect fitting equipment to literally lifting it onto our backs and buckling it for us before jumping in. In over 300 dives, I have not seen a more helpful and friendly team anywhere. The dive conditions were excellent - water in August was 25c meaning the 5mm wetsuits we rented were more than capable. Visibility 20-30m on every dive with a little current and surge to keep things interesting without being a struggle. We saw Turtles, sleepy Nurse sharks, huge stingrays and a schools of Puffer fish, and millions of other fish of all shapes and sizes on virtually every dive, all within standard Open Water 18m depths. It was great to see such healthy underwater environment. Can highly recommend 3 caves and Santa Antao wreck as two fantastic dive sites, the latter an enormous wreck sat in just 12m - accessible to all. We were joined on the trip with 2 friends brand new to diving who were understandably nervous about doing their first certified dives. The team were completely understanding and supportive, and the dive leader Fernando dedicated himself to looking after them underwater from start to finish. Suffice to say they absolutely loved their diving experience and come away completely hooked. All in all this was one of the best dive experiences I have had in recent years and can highly recommend to anyone keen to explore underwater!

Great first experience of diving - I did a first try dive here. Very knowledgeable and friendly instructors, I had a great time and saw a lot of different fish. Wish I had more time to do more dives here!

Must do - This was the best tri ever great teachers good company and a fantastic dive experience recommend a must do on everyone list my thanks to the instructor 100% safe and secure training good clean equipment and best ever time well done all

Just simply great, honest, simple solid dive center. Highly recommended. - I’m an experienced diver and I have a young child did a try dive with, Joana Santos, the owner of the dive center. I communicated with Bea few weeks before our trip to organise everything. She was prompt and kind and easy going. All prices was fixed and no surprises. Joao picked me up from the hotel and back to the dive center to get kits all sorted. Everything was organised and we only had small group. I did two boat dives with Fernando and we saw countless of fish, a few large lemon sharks, turtles and stingrays. The small cave dive was simply great. Fish everywhere and don’t move and no stress like the locals on land. It is not a luxurious pimped up dive school but solid authentic dive school who knows their stuff. If you are expecting a luxurious yacht and aircon transport this is a center not for you. I love everything about them and my little boy felt confident and safe in Joao’s try dive lesson. It was almost two instructors to one for my son which I cannot ask for more. When they both surface with a beaming smile on their faces I cannot be a more happier mother. Thank you Joao and your team. You’ve made our holiday special and some great memories. PS we have a dive center right by our Hotel Meliá Dunas and I carefully weighted up and went with SMDC due to their friendliness and focus on scuba diving rather than hard selling other trips.

5 quality stars out of 5 stars. - I enjoying diving with this dive center. They are very good and reasable in price. They empasize safelty. The staff are very nice. I can recomment this dive center. / Jens- Frankfurt/ Germany

Incredible!! It repeats itself yes or yes! - An incredible experience in this center. Thanks to Fernando and the others, we managed to swim with turtles and have unforgettable moments. Everyone at the center is super friendly. The equipment is well taken care of and helps you with everything. Thank you for these beautiful memories that we take with us!

The diving was great, very good service, jacket and bottle new, the other material is getting old i - The diving was great, very good service, jacket and bottle new, the other material is getting old, I have never seen schools of fish this size

Nice and helpful diving experience - Very nice diving centre. Helped me with clear instructions and underwater guidance was very good. Nice people and was picked up and brought back tot the hotel. Hadn't been diving in 12 months so they helped.me refresh a bit as well.

Low cost vs satisfaction - The staff was friendly but the experience does not justify the price. It was about 20 minutes of diving, the place where we entered the water was a little complicated with lots of rocks, the water was very turbid, full of algae where I practically saw 2 or 3 fish during the entire time. I had already done something like this in Brazil where the experience had been wonderful, another thing is that there are no cameras to take photos or videos, which ends up losing a little interest for those who are doing the experience and are left with no memories.

Cancellation without any explanation - They cancelled on me few days priors without any explanation. I booked in advance though…I tried many times to reschedule or rebook again but no luck. Too bad.