"LUSO" wreck is not the most famous wrecks of the island but it still gives a very interesting dive spot with many unexpected surprises. It was found by local spearfishing hunters but was at that time connected to a tow boat that no one knew is name or story...
After hearing about this we had to explore it to see if it was a potential dive site. After some dives there and home research we discover that this was a magnifician cruise ship that connect Lisbon, Madeira and Azores by the company Insula de Navegação.
A sad story bring him to the bottom of the sea at 26 July 1883 at 11pm after coming from Lisbon to Madeira, Madeira to Sta Maria island and last trip to Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island because of the strong fog that was on the island that made the captain to set is course very close to the coast line.
Bringing around 50 passengers and corn as main cargo all the passengers were saved and some of the cargo as very fast the boat got flooded by water.
With a maximum deep of 16m the wreck is very spreaded in a vast area but 2 main areas are the most interesting: 1. the stern of the boat were you can still see the massive propeller cutted in the edges after heating the rocks. 2. The middle of the boat were you can see 2 massive boilers, the entrance to the hold, parts of the masts and several metal parts of the boat.
The top of the reef is very shallow and you can easily bump with your propeller if you make the wrong approach to the dive site. The remaining portion of the reef can go down to 16m deep.
Sources:
1. Azores Underwater Cultural Heritage Guide
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