Bowbelle / Bom Rei Wreck

The Bowbelle sits just off Ponta do Sol on Madeira's leeward south coast, with the island's high bulk to the north shielding it from the dominant W-NW-N Atlantic groundswell that pounds the north side of the island — the reason the south coast is the calm, divable side. The exposed window is the open Atlantic to the south, so the S-SSW-SE sector is fully open and it is southerly swell or a sustained southerly wind that builds waves here. Adjacent headlands, including the Ponta do Sol point and lido to the east, partially shadow the E and W sectors, while anything from the northern half of the compass is blocked by land. As a deep wreck it is little bothered by day-to-day chop, but a southerly blow or distant south swell can make the surface and descent line rough enough to call a dive off.