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Madeirense Wreck
About This Site
The Madeirense is the signature dive of Porto Santo and the first ship in Portugal to be intentionally scuttled as an artificial reef, sent to the bottom in October 2000. A 70 m former banana cargo and passenger vessel built in 1962, it once ran the Funchal-Porto Santo supply line before its second life as a reef. It sits upright on a sandy seabed about a mile off the south coast, with the superstructure rising into the low-20s of metres and the sand at roughly 34 m; the hull has worked open over the decades and now reads as broken/segmented, which makes it feel even larger underwater. Two decades of colonisation have left every surface encrusted in algae, bryozoans, hydroids and sponges, and the open holds, deck and bridge offer easy, well-lit interior penetration. Famous for exceptional visibility that often beats Madeira island, it routinely ranks among the best wreck dives in Portugal.
Difficulty
Intermediate
Max Depth
34m
Type
Boat
Typical Visibility
24m
Conditions Summary
Best time today
6AM - 12PM
GREAT
Best day in forecast
Thursday
GREAT
2026-07-16
Community-reported visibility
n/a
Warnings for today
- Strong winds expected
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