Chapeirões da Sueste

At Chapeirões da Sueste, columns of rock and coral rise from a bottom of sand and algae, separated by passages that form a maze. These formations grow about 1 mm per year on average, and around 60% of the bottom is covered by rhodolith beds, which are calcareous algae. In the archipelago, the islands of Siriba and Sueste have no developed reefs around them, but rather isolated chapeirões that reach 15 m in height in the channel between them. Ilha Sueste, which gives the site its name, is the most remote island of the archipelago and hosts the largest brown booby (Sula leucogaster) colony in Abrolhos. In the Park's 2017 dive records, the site appears, under the name Chapeirinhos da Sueste, as the fifth most dived.

A family of large badejos usually greets divers at the mooring. On the spiral ascent to the top there are fire corals, sponges, gorgonians and anemones, while dentões and moray eels are common in the crevices. The chapeirões also hold very large gorgonians, and sharks sometimes turn up. Between the columns, on the flat bottom, arraias-prego and several species of molluscs hide. In summer, it is common to find young tubarão-galha-preta-oceânico up to 1 m long.