Top Snorkeling and Scuba Diving in Vila Chã

The history of this wreck is unknown. We know that she is quite old, built of wood, but what kind of ship, where she came from and her destination is still a mystery. "Navio do Norte" is the name given by local fishermen to this wreck, located north of Angeiras village. It means "northern ship". From this vessel rests her cargo, or part of it, composed of iron cannons, bullets, wheels and other iron debris. It's still possible to see some pieces of wood that belongs to the main structure of the ship that have remained well preserved under the sand. This wreck rests in open sea, on a sandy bottom at 34m. Marine life on this site is amazing, with lots of small fish, lobsters, conger eels and amazing octopuses. There are lost lines and fishing nets on the wreck. We believe that this wreck is part of the steam-boat Tiber, owned by British company P&O Line. Tiber was an iron paddle steamer of 763 tons. This vessel was laid down on August 8th, 1846, and arrived in Southampton on October 26th from builders, Caird & Co in Greenock. She was originally to have been named "Ceylon", and ran P&O's Peninsular, Italian and Black Sea routes. Tiber was 56.29m long, 8.15m broad and 5.26m deep. She had 280hp engines, a speed of 9 knots and a bunker capacity of 225 tons. This steamer cost £28.600 and was insured for £20.000. On 21st February 1847, early in the afternoon, Tiber sank out of Vila Cha when she was homeward bound from Gibraltar. Her captain was Mr Bingham. The cause of her sinking is still inconclusive. In Portugal we found documents that say that this ship sank due to a severe sea storm and despites the efforts of local fishermen to help with the rescue of both passengers and crew, around 30 people died in this tragedy. In other researche, we found out that the ship was sailing in dense fog, hit a rock and sank in deep water within minutes with no casualties to report. Her cargo and mail sank with the ship and were lost. Among the cargo was a load of gold coins destined for the royal treasury. Source: www.submania.pt (Reproduced with permission of the author)

A group of underwater rocks located between Mindelo and Vila Cha village. They form an amazing sandbank full of marine life. With a maximum depth of 15m, some of the rocks almost reach the surface. The marine life is quite good. Here the diver can find some gorgeous anemone carpets, crustacea, molluscs, fish and a variety of green and brown seaweed. It is also possible to find areas with types of gorgonians. Source: www.submania.pt (Reproduced with permission of the author) Located between Mindelo and Vila Cha village