“We are beginning the process of creating the centres so people who don’t dive can enjoy these stories of maritime tragedies. We are also going to invest in glass-bottomed boats, regional cultural department archeologist José Luís Neto told Lusa.
The underwater cultural heritage circuit in the Azores is currently composed of 25 underwater archeological parks that divers can visit. The first was set up in 2005 in Angra do Heroísmo bay on the island of Terceira, where there are about a hundred shipwrecks.
The visits to the parks are currently accompanied by divers from the naval clubs or tourist operators on the different islands who act as guides.
“In these 25 sites we have ships of different sizes and integrities. We have wrecks down at 60 metres, but we also have the ‘Canárias’, which is in just three metres of water and so anyone visiting Santa Maria, which is on Formosa beach can see it with a pair of goggles so long as they know how to swim”, he added.