Rating:

"Typical Mediterranean aquatic life. You find billion of little fish as well as big Groupers."
Maya Apostolides

Rating:

"In comparison to other places I have been to dive, it is magical."
Maya Apostolides

I know Red Sea is fantastic, but also can be frantic. Scotland 's west coast is great but cold. Paleocastritsa, Corfu, is my favourite compromise. This whole area is a hidden gem of underwater caves and arches, sometimes a bit more mystery than say the Red Sea now so well dived. Here you sometimes feel its a new adventure exploring. One dive myself and the divemaster acompanying discovered a new link between one cave and another better known one by dropping down a steep gully and creeping under a rock sill into the rear of a better known cave! There are also some wrecks, very nice, if you can get a day trip to the northern island near Mathraki. This is more an expedition, but we did a dive on a cement coaster (fairly intact but split down reef to 35 mtres) and a costal tanker barge in 20-25 level on flat sand. Getting right inside fairly intact engine room and cabin/Wheelhouse.

With careful flight sourcing (thanks Easyjet) and accomodation which can be inexpensive booked direct once you make friends with the locals. Self catering apartment within 10 mins walk of the diving centre (Achilleon Diving Center) cost 180 Euro for the week (2 Adults)in September. Warmest water and if it maybe rains, who cares, its warm and we are getting wet anyway! Also good discounts on diving September/October at season's end.
Donald, Scotland

Rating:

"One of my favourite dives, something new every time.Sheer wall, huge underwater arch, reefs dropping to 40m plus, one with a small hole leading into huge funnel shaped cave (42.5m deep inside) cutting through the reef from East to West. Huge shoals of pelagic fish feeding, moral eels galore and barracuda. Can be intermediate or advanced depending on dive profile. Part of dive also known as Monument with diving memorial. Arch through island can be easy for novice with care.
Donald, Scotland

Rating:

"Sheltered mooring looks unassuming, leads to two routes. Outer one round northern rock drops steady to 30 plus then round sheer rock wall with small caves at various depths.If you complete circuit of the little promontory it finishes in area of huge lumps of rock.Many small fish in shoals and moray eels.Return back at shallower depth along wall, seeing grouper below on thermocline.finish Through shallow gut between main body of promontory and satellite rock back to stop below boat. Very sheltered and easy for beginners, but can give experienced divers good workout depending on dive profile chosen.
Donald, Scotland

Rating:

"Easy dive around rocky reef in middle of bay. Good for novice with a lot of small fish shoals, nice overhangs small wall dive and has an amazing exit through a rock chimney onto a 5m shallow flat below mooring for the 3 min Stop.
Donald, Scotland

"I dived a variety of sites during my stay, in all areas of the island, including some beautiful, remote locations. The dive centre ensured I saw a wide variety of the island's different underwater experiences. Excellent visibility (20 m). A large marine population, with a wide variety, I often saw octopus, moray eels, grouper, starfish, etc.

The operator I dived with was the Seven Islands Dive Centre. I would definitely recommend diving with them to others, and I will again. The dive centre arranged my accommodation for me and I found it to be clean, spacious, comfortable, with en suite and a balcony. It was also very cheap. Excellent value for money. "
Adam Young

Rating:

" This is a reef in the middle of the open sea with a minimum depth of 3 m. At the edge of the reef the wall goes down to 200 m giving the feeling of the abyss. Colourful plantation and some sights of big fish that vanish in the open sea very quickly. Excellent visibility."
Vassili Mousoulea

"I was surprised how good the diving was for the med. The water was lovely and warm and the visibility was around 26-30 meters. There was plenty of life down there, including King Solomon's, Octopus, Barracuda, Red Snapper and Grouper. There was also a lot of coral. Red, Vibrant Yellow and Black. Clams, huge shells with snails in, some anemones. Apparently this was not one of the best sites, there are plenty more. Apart from that the Island is a lovely place to go for a holiday, with lots to do "
Sián

Rating:

"Wreck of a small passenger ship. Maximum depth 18 m."
Vassili Mousoulea

Rating:

"South coast dive site. Canyons, caverns, swim-throughs and more amid volcanic scenery. Good place for octopus and long 2nd dive, depth to 12 m max. "
Owen Butler, Manager of Navys Waterworld, 2009

Rating:

"Wall dive. Small beach with shallow water good for snorkelling, drop off to 200+ m. "
Owen Butler, Manager of Navys Waterworld, 2009

Rating:

"Local reef close to Kamari and Perissa. Good amount of fish, small pinnacle out from the main wall where you can often find purple nudibranch and moray eels. Depth to 26m max on Kamari side. 3-10 m in the bay, 12 m at pinnacle, 18 m beyond. "
Owen Butler, Manager of Navys Waterworld, 2009

"The diving is mainly on the Caldera (volcano). Vis was excellent and water temperature was 25C, but the Greeks have fished the place out, so there ain't a lot of marine life to look at. Some of the rock formations on and around the volcano are interesting, and there are wrecks to dive on too. We dived with a company called Mediterranean Dive Club (tel: +302860-83080). We found them near the beach in Perissa on the other side of the island to the diving."
Dave Bromley

"I went to Zante to the resort of Argassi in September last year. The sea life compared to places like the Red Sea isn't that great (but that is hard to compare to the Red Sea). The best thing that I found about diving in Zante was the Caves, they were fantastic, at times a touch scary as some of them you have around 1.2 m to get through but really really good. The hotel I stopped at was Zankantha Beach hotel which was quite nice but nothing special."
Matt Wilson

The WWII submarine wreck of the HMS Perseus lies between Zante and Kefalonia.

Rating:

"The light house is a great wall with rich marine life. "
Giannis Kalopisis

Rating:

"The canyon is between 2 walls of 15 m, with a swim through cave 30 m long."
Giannis Kalopisis

"A commercial wreck recently found at 10 metres. Easy entry and exit."
George Filios, 2006

"A fantastic cave, amazing colours and aquatic life. Deep blue water."
George Filios, 2006

Rating:

"A commercial boat in 25-30 meters depth. It was broken in two pieces. Clear waters. Pretty good dive."
Dimitris Pelekis, 2007

Rating:

"Small undersea caves and paths between impressive rocks, colourful reefs and vertical walls, small shipwrecks! Shoals of salpas, tunnies and colourful wrasses, sarguses, curious combers and perches, which feel comfortable with the diver visits playing with them making with this way the "walk" in the bottom of the sea more enjoyable. Chios Island is good value for the money specially in months of April-June and September-October. "
Angela

Rating:

"An old river boat broken in pieces all over the bottom. Very good!"
Dimitris Pelekis, 2007

Rating:

"Brother of Titanicus. Great wreck. It was huge! The best wreck for me!"
Dimitris Pelekis, 2007

Aqua Divers Club
km 48.5 Souniou-Athens Ave
Athens
Greece
Tel: +306974840084
Fax: 00302291053461
info@aquadiversclub.com,
http://www.aquadiversclub.com/

A 5* PADI Instructor Development resort situated in the grounds of the Calypso Hotel (which was used as a base by Jacques Cousteau when visiting Greece) at Anavissos, near Athens and the famous temple of Sounio. They offer a comprehensive selection of PADI diving courses, up to instructor level, plus daily shore and boat dives (leaving at 10.30 am and 2.30pm), equipment rental and retail outlet. The centre operates all year round, seven days a week.
Special diving packages are available with nearby accommodation
All training takes place in the security of the sheltered bay of the Calypso Hotel with its own house reef. For the instructor courses duration approx 10 days, they offer free accommodation. From the diving shop it only takes one minute to reach the beach for a shore dive or the boat for a diving excursion to the nearby island, with over 15 different dive sites. Instructors are multi-lingual: English, French, German and Greek and all PADI courses are offered in these languages.
Special courses for children 8+ years with the appropriate equipment.

Mediterranean Dive Club
Perissa
Santorini
Greece
Tel: 22860 83080
Fax: 22860 33989
E-mail: mdc@otenet.gr,
http://www.santorinidiving.com

The Mediterranean Dive Club started operating in Santorini summer of 1998 as a fully organised diving centre and they are proud that it is one of the "most up-to-date" in the Cyclades islands.
Located on Perissa beach, with the harbour and the dive sites just around the corner, they are glad to take you out with their speed boat diving, snorkelling or taking a PADI course.
Experienced staff and instructors are always at everyone's disposal, promising a unique experience of the under water spectacular world of Santorini.
"We can make your dream to have your most fun experience this summer come true. Diving in the Mediterranean, experiencing the big blue, watching new interesting animals, plants, lava formed bottoms, caves, drop offs; all in the crystal clear waters surrounding Santorini and the Volcano Islands."

"Would NOT recommend dive operator Mediterranean Dive Club. Friendly staff but...
-first dive delayed by 3.5 hours due to disorganized customer pickup by car and boat
-inadequate equipment: two divers' BCDs leaking, no snorkels provided, no console dive computers
-not value for money: 80 Euros for two dives, usual Bottom Time/depth 35min/15m, 25min/7m
-inadequate manpower: boat driver is also dive guide, hence long wait times in the water before descent and no backup person
-poorly equipped boat for emergencies: one diver made a forced emergency ascent after weightbelt loss. No injuries incurred but there was no surface help, no first aid kit and no way to contact shore.
-general conditions: uncovered inflatable boat, air temp of 36-40 degrees, water temp of 25 degrees, viz: 20-30m.
2 sites: rock reefs and sand bottoms, grass mostly, little coral, some small fish, two octopuses, dead fish at the boat mooring. "
Sam, USA, 2007

" I’m the owner of Mediterranean Dive Club – Santorini - Greece. I will like to guaranty you for our quality and also to make clear to you that we never had client with that name (Sam). Also the way that lady describe our business is offensive and defiantly not true. I don’t know from where to start....
Let's start with the first 3.5 hours delete....come on....in wish serious business they do this....We are cooperating with the biggest tourist offices in Greece and some from US. Libra, Tui Hellas , Gats, Apollo......our time schedules is so organized so we can do pickups from all over the island and be earlier than we said to our clients.
About the quality of our equipment we have certificates that guaranty that all our equipment is new since we change it every two year at least. All our equipment is Scubapro since we are dealers and soprasub wet suits. All the masks has snorkel on , unless if the client take it off.
We don’t have console dive computer since is very personal instrument, but we rent extra if clients wants Aladdin pro wrist dive computer.
Also we have Oxygen tank on boat ,Full organized pharmacy, and vhf and sell phone in all our boats. "
Olga Pozidou, Owner of Mediterranean Dive Club

Santorini Dive Center
Santorini
Greece
E-mail: info@divecenter.gr.

Navys Waterworld
Kamari
Santorini
Greece
Tel: +30 22860 28190

Rating:

Yiannis Ligos
Elounda
Crete

"Located in Elounda, I would surely dive with him again. He really makes you feel like home, and definitely safe."
Maya Apostolides

Eurodiving
Ligaria
Crete
Tel: 00 30 2810 811252
Fax: 00 30 2810 811253
E-mail: admin@eurodiving.net.

Diving for experienced divers, PADI courses and Discover Scuba Diving in what is claimed to be one of the best diving areas in Crete.

Kalypso Rock's Palace Diving Center
Sof.Venizelou 21
Crete
Tel: 00 30 2831 056641
Fax: 00 30 2831 056861, E-mail: info@kalypsodivingcenter.com

Diving excursions for certified divers and for beginners on the south coast of Crete.

Seven Islands Dive Centre
Kontokali
Gouvia
Corfu
49100 Greece
Tel: 0030 266 109 0006

PADI dive centre which is being revamped for 2007. Offer three dives a day on their new dive boat, the Magdalena. Offer the normal PADI dive-courses, as well as DAN courses. Speak: English, Greek, Dutch, German, French and Arabic.

"I did my advanced open water in Greece in Corfu - have been diving there the last few years and used the same diving school each year. Seven Islands dive centre. It's family run and they are lovely, they even got my sister in the water who is scared of fish?! nothing is any trouble for them, they'll pick you up and drop you off from wherever your staying or need to go to. It's a great island aswell and the people are so friendly. The hotel we stayed in is the Kontokali Bay Hotel which is a five star hotel - gorgeous. Although there are other hotels nearby."
Jenny

"The operator I dived with was the Seven Islands Dive Centre, I dived extensively with them during my time in Corfu and found them extremely friendly, kind and they catered to my needs very well, ensuring a quality experience. They are located in the resort of Kontokali on the island of Corfu. I would definitely recommend diving with them to others, and I will again. The dive centre picked me up from my hotel and handled all dive logistics, all the gear I required was in very good condition and included in the price of the dives. As I dived extensively, I got a discount, and my wife participated in the open water course with the centre, and although she had some difficulties (she was scared) the staff there were extremely patient and caring, resulting in her certification. The dive centre arranged my accommodation for me and I found it to be clean, spacious, comfortable, with en suite and a balcony. It was also very cheap. Excellent value for money. "
Adam Young

Apollo Dive Center
Barbati Resort
Corfu
Greece
Tel: (+30) 697 470 5697
E-mail: divesafety1@yahoo.gr

Based in Nissaki Cove and Barbati resort (main street).

Rating:

Achilleon Diving Center
Akrotiri Beach Hotel
TK 49083 Paleokastritsa
Corfu
Greece
Mobile: +306932729011
E-mail: divingcorfu@yahoo.gr

Very experienced, friendly and relaxed in a nice way. Speak English, Greek and a little of various European languages including Russian. Are enthusiastic, knowledgable and make it a pleasure. Cost is very reasonable and they are a very short boat transfer (15 mins max usually) from some excellent caves, reefs and Drop-offs. Have Nitrox available as well as usual hire stock diving gear. Visit every year I can, one of my favourite spots. Having dived with them for some years I now look on them as buddies and friends.
Donald

See also accommodation and Corfu dive sites.

St Nicholas Beach Dive Centre
Vassilikos Beach Hotel
Vassilikos
Zakynthos
29100
Greece
Tel: +30 6980 214275
E-mail: mike@stnicksdiving.com

Mykonos Diving Center
Psarou beach
E-mail: info@dive.gr
Tel: (+30) 2289024808.

"Mykonos Diving Center at Psarou beach was an excellent experience. Great locations along with a top quality service and equipment. Pricing starts at 60 Euro a dive and drops depending on the number of dives."
Sotiris Vassiliadis, Greece, 2005

FNEC Dive Center
, Ethnkis Antistaseos
C/O FNEC
Kefalonia island
Greece
Tel +306977478395
scuba@fnec.gr,

Fiskardo Dive Center was set up as an extension of the Fiskardo's Nautical and Environmental Club (FNEC) in 2002. The aim of the dive centre is not only to generate funds to support the voluntary activities of the club, but also to allow us the opportunity to show you the relatively unexplored areas of the Mediterranean sea without damaging or changing the original character and appearance of the underwater world.
FNEC was first established in June 1998 as a non-governmental and non-profit making organisation. The objective of the club is to promote the idea of voluntary service, nautical sports, environmental awareness, youth exchanges and to provide social services to the local community.

Odyssey Dive Club
Pefkohori
Halkidiki 63085
info@odysseydive.com

"A great bunch of people, really passionate and knowledgable, and they care about the marine environment (which is more than some dive clubs in the Mediterranean do). We dived with them for two weeks last September/October - shore and boat dives, night, wreck and island, a great variety of sites and we saw a lot of marine life. It's a lovely area - I also saw a dolphin! We stayed with Neilson at the Anastasia hotel which is lovely, and I'm sure there are lots of other good places. "
Paula

Rating:

Vassiliki Divers
Lefkas Island

"Very friendly and good service. The cost of the dive is 35 Euros."
Giannis Kalopisis

Lesvos Scuba Oceanic Centre
Irinis 3
Mytilene
Tel: 0030 6945998764
Fax: 0030 22510 37799
info@lesvoscuba.gr

The only diving centre at the island; they dive from their custom 40 foot dive boat.

Rating:

Island Divers
Karfas beach
Chios Island
82100
Greece
Tel: +30 22710 32434.

"Diving prices start from 45 Euro for a single dive everything included plus transportation from your hotel. Diving courses start from 300 Euro for the Open Water Diver course, 275 for the Advance Open Water Diver course. Very good service, nice, friendly and FUN people. THUMBS UP! YES I will dive with them again 100%. Thanks guys!"
Angela, 2004

Rating:

Meandros Diving
Taxiarxon 14
17455 Alimos
Greece
Tel: +30 210 9850220
Mobile: 6948364217
Fax: +30 210 9884596
meandros@meandros.gr

Offer sailing with SCUBA diving trips around Greek Islands.

"I took a 10 day package which included 7 days sailing with immediate stops for wreck diving in Cyclades islands (Lavrion, Syros, Paros and Mykonos ). Then I stayed 2 days in 3-star hotel in Santorini. The cost was Euros 85/ day/ person (plus Euros 5/person/ day for fuels). It was very nice I hope I can make it again. The sailing yacht (56ft) was in good condition, friendly skipper. Nice equipment. I felt king for 7 days! "
Dimitris Pelekis, Greece, 2006

Try Seaview Apartments, owner Stavros ( Good sort, very Kind and helpful) direct (look on Paleocastritsa's own website) or try Olympic Holidays at the last minute! Can't remember most of the costs but got 2 weeks in the Akrotiri Beach Hotel bed and breakfast for £700 for two (flights and all) 2 years ago.And thats right above the Diving Centre. Down in the lift, a few stairs and on the beach.Perfect.