Many of the larger hotels can arrange scuba diving, usually in the protected waters around Garajau and Caniço de Baixo, or off Machico in the Eastern region of Madeira. To hire equipment, you will need to show a diving certificate, logbook and sometimes a medical certificate. Basic equipment hire starts at around e25 per day. Most places also arrange four- to five-day internationally recognized PADI diving courses for beginners, for around e350–450. Once in the sea, you can swim face to face with moray eels, conger eels, squid, octopus, monkfish, tuna, parrot fish, mantas and Atlantic rays.
