Staying Home Sucks, home
SMG PDL SaoVicenteFerreira coast
Near Bahia de Capelas, 2 km away. Photo: Ruben JC Furtado, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Bahia de Capelas

Dive site · Portugal

Advanced divers and up

Is it worth the trip?

75Good out of 100 for your dates

Home sucks

3 days tie for best

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Mon 2 · 74 out of 100

Sea
0.8 m
Wind
6 kn
Gusts
17kn
Air
20°C

Tue 3 · 76 out of 100

Sea
0.7 m
Wind
5 kn
Gusts
13kn
Air
19°C

Wed 4 · 75 out of 100

Sea
0.8 m
Wind
2 kn
Gusts
6kn
Air
19°C

Thu 5 · 75 out of 100

Sea
0.7 m
Wind
7 kn
Gusts
18kn
Air
19°C

Fri 6 · 76 out of 100

Sea
0.6 m
Wind
2 kn
Gusts
10kn
Air
19°C

Sat 7 · 76 out of 100

Sea
0.6 m
Wind
5 kn
Gusts
24kn
Air
18°C

Sun 8 · 61 out of 100

Sea
0.7 m
Wind
6 kn
Gusts
22knboats in
Air
16°C

Tap a day for sea, wind and water. Full forecast

Forecast: next 10 days

Full forecast
  1. Sun 150, fair
  2. Mon 274, good
  3. Tue 376, good
  4. Wed 475, good
  5. Thu 575, good
  6. Fri 676, good
  7. Sat 776, good
  8. Sun 861, good
  9. Mon 95, poor
  10. Tue 1058, fair

The site in five facts

  • Down to 20 mits deepest
  • From a boathow you get in
  • Advancedand up
  • Water 20 °C7 mm wetsuit and hood
  • Faces NEswell from there reaches it

Full forecast

every day, every number

The score doesn't know currents, the visibility on the day or your certification.

Suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it. Scored for Advanced divers.

Sea and wind forecast and score for each day at Bahia de Capelas
DayScoreSeaWindGustsAir
Sun 1Nov50, fair1.5 m10 kn27knboats in20°C
Mon 2Nov74, good0.8 m6 kn17kn20°C
Tue 3Nov76, good0.7 m5 kn13kn19°C
Wed 4Nov75, good0.8 m2 kn6kn19°C
Thu 5Nov75, good0.7 m7 kn18kn19°C
Fri 6Nov76, good0.6 m2 kn10kn19°C
Sat 7Nov76, good0.6 m5 kn24kn18°C
Sun 8Nov61, good0.7 m6 kn22knboats in16°C
Mon 9Nov5, poor1.6 m14 kn42knboats in18°C
Tue 10Nov58, fair1.1 m7 kn22kn17°C

Sea is the waves near the site, in metres; wind and gusts in knots. "Boats in": gusts that keep dive boats in. More

Tide

  • Sun 1 NovHigh 05:50 +0.6 mLow 12:23 −0.5 mHigh 18:36 +0.4 m
  • Mon 2 NovLow 00:41 −0.4 mHigh 07:11 +0.5 mLow 13:49 −0.5 mHigh 20:02 +0.4 m
  • Tue 3 NovLow 02:06 −0.4 mHigh 08:31 +0.6 mLow 15:07 −0.5 mHigh 21:18 +0.4 m

Local clock times; heights about mean sea level. On open coasts the times are usually within a quarter of an hour; in bays, estuaries and on the Gulf of Mexico they can be an hour or more out. Slack water, the safest time to dive where there is current, is about half an hour either side of each high and low. Tide: EOT20 global ocean tide model, Hart-Davis et al. 2021, DGFI-TUM (doi:10.17882/79489), CC BY 4.0. Times and heights computed by us. A model, not a tide table: check a local table before you go.

Forecast updated . It refreshes every three hours. Forecast data: ECMWF, DWD, Météo-France and NOAA, served by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Changed by us. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.

Best time to go

No month stands out

Good diving days in a typical week, each month, for Advanced divers, from 2016 on (ERA5 history scored the same way).

  1. Jan5of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Jan
  2. Feb5of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Feb
  3. Mar5of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Mar
  4. Apr6of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Apr
  5. May7of 7: a trip from Sat 1 May
  6. Jun7of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Jun
  7. Jul7of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Jul
  8. Aug7of 7: a trip from Sat 7 Aug
  9. Sep7of 7: a trip from Sat 4 Sept
  10. Oct6of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Oct
  11. Nov5of 7: a trip from Mon 2 Nov
  12. Dec4of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Dec

Tap a month to see this spot for a trip then.

Typical, not a forecast: the sea and the mean wind of each day, with no gusts or rain in the history.

Map

the site and its town

Each place wears its best day on these dates: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.

The map needs JavaScript. Every place on it is listed on this page, and each place's page links to Google Maps.

One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

About

the place in full, sources, credits

About Bahia de Capelas

A reef dive. It goes down to 20 m. You get in from a boat. It suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it. The coast faces NE: swell from the NE reaches it, and wind from the SW blows out to sea. No dive centre within 10 km, the nearest 12 km away. The sea is about 16°C in March, its coldest month (7 mm wetsuit and hood), and 24°C in August, its warmest (5 mm wetsuit). The town to stay in is Capelas.

  • What it is Reef.
  • How deep Down to 20 m.
  • Getting in From a boat.
  • Who it suits Suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it.
  • Dive centres No dive centre within 10 km, the nearest 12 km away.

Water about 20°C: 7 mm wetsuit and hood. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.

Visibility about 20 m. Typical for the time of year, estimated from ten years of NASA satellite water clarity, not a forecast. Clearest in Aug, Sep and Oct (about 25 m).

The score is the conditions only: the journey, the price and the partners never change it (how we score, how we earn).

Rough cost (estimate): about US$791–US$1,520 each

about US$791–US$1,520 each · 6 nights, 2 sharing: flights, taxi, stay, food.

Our estimate from typical public prices, not a quote: check the real prices before you book (where they come from). Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

How we worked it out 
Rough cost per person for this trip
WhatHow we worked it outEach
Flightsreturn ORD to PDL, estimated from distance and season, changing at JFK, full-service airlines, with a hold bagabout US$382–US$797
Taxiairport and back, sharedabout US$27–US$47
Stay6 nights, a mid-range double, sharedabout US$181–US$301
Food7 days eating outabout US$201–US$375
Totalabout US$791–US$1,520

Guided dives are not priced yet: we have no sourced price, so it is not in it. Prices from public sources, checked in 2026.

Where to stay: Capelas

Closest

Capelas

1 min by car · 13 places to stay

about US$67/nightcountry average

See 13 places to stay in Capelas · Booking.com

About Capelas its beds, food and every spot near it

About US$67 a night is our estimate of the country's average 2-star double room that month: not each town's price, and not a quote. Drives are estimates. Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

Getting there: about 14h 50m

About 14h 50m door to door from Chicago

Fly ORD → PDL, changing at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), then 30 min by road

An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.

In the water

Dive centres nearby

The nearest named dive centres and shops within 25 km, in a straight line; training agencies where the map states them. Listings, not a recommendation. Dive centres: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Credits

What you might see

Too few open records near this site to list its animals. Ask a dive centre what you are likely to see.

This week: visibility about 20 m, about usual for the month (satellite plankton reading, 24 Oct). Estimated from the month's typical visibility and this week's satellite chlorophyll against the site's normal; heavy rain before a dive can still muddy it.

The current and the life no free forecast gives. Ask a dive centre before you book.