Not often we speak about Europe, as a place to have great diving time. Most scuba divers, especially the beginners, prefer diving in the tropical waters of Africa, Australia and America.
Now I am here to introduce Europe’s top scuba diving destinations to you.
Let us start from the Zenobia, Cyprus. It is an ancient wreck of a huge ferry. The ferry was built to operate in the eastern Mediterranean. It sank while sailing from Sweden to Syria. The Zenobia sank within two days taking the 104 lorries it had on its board. The wreck starts at about 15 meters and descends to 42 meters. The Zenobia dive can be considered the best shipwreck dive in the world, thanks to its depths. The visibility there is good all year round, almost 20 meters in spring and summer seasons. However, in order to examine the shipwreck thoroughly, you need several dives. It is practically impossible to admire the whole ferry in course of one dive. The ferry weights 10 000 tones with a length of 178 meters.
Now let us move to Malta to dive at Cirkewwa. Cirkewwa is a wonderful place to go diving. The area is filled with colors and adventure. During your dive you’ll admire the variety of Malta’s underwater flora and fauna. Cirkewwa is an excellent diving site, that habitats jellyfish and cuttlefish, dolphins and sharks, barracuda and morays. When in Cirkewwa, it is a must to dive the Cirkewwa Arch that stands in the depth of 18 meters. It has actually been a cave. Throughout the time the cave has collapsed and, thus, an arch was created. Now this arch is famous among the divers as the Cirkewwa Arch. Summer is the best season for diving the arch, as the visibility reaches to 35 meters at that time.
The next scuba diving destination in Europe I want to speak about is the Chios Islands in Greece. The underwater world of Chios Islands is like a fairy tale: small undersea caves, rocks, with neat paths between them, vertical walls, colorful reefs and small shipwrecks. During your dive in the Chios Islands you’ll witness colorful funny wrasses, shoals of salpae, tunnies, and of course, perches and combers, that greet the divers with great happiness. I’d advise you to dive in the Chios Islands from April to June and from September to October. The visibility is perfect there in these months. Besides, there are numerous diving trips the nearby diving centers organize in these seasons.
When speaking about Europe’s best diving sites, one can’t ignore the Isle of Man: The Booroo. The marine life is so rich here, that you may easily get lost between the colorful reefs and walls. We do not promise historical shipwrecks or other interesting sunk objects here. We promise a colorful and amazing dive. During your dive you’ll see brightly colored fish and sea-plants. However, one should be an experienced and flexible diver not to harm the rich reefs and walls. Because of such abundant nature, it is nearly impossible to find the bottom.
Secca della Colombara, Italy is the next destination I am going to tell you about. Secca della Colombara is one of the best diving spots in the Mediterranean. It is a habitat for numerous species of fish, colorful sea-plants, richly inhabited walls and coral reefs and a shipwreck. The 75m ship has sunk recently, in 2005, while carrying slabs of marble. Within one dive you may admire white breams and crayfish, barracudas and dentex. The visibility in Secca della Colombara is rather changeable. July and August are the best diving seasons. The water is heavenly blue in these months. Most divers claim that they like Secca della Colombara because of the color of its waters.
If you’d like to admire hundreds of fish species, we advise you to consider Fanore, Ireland. Fanore is a quite calm diving destination. Fanore doesn’t stand out for its world-famous wrecks or huge walls and reefs. It’s a quiet and silent diving destination, which is rich in underwater flora and fauna. We do not promise you dives, full of adventures and extreme. Instead, we promise crystal clear Atlantic water with tiny reefs, splendid caverns and unique fish species. The best diving season here is from March till October.
After enjoying yourself fully in Ireland’s waters, you can continue your diving vacation at Eddystone Reef, England. The reef reaches to 60 meters in height. Hundreds of animal and fish species can be found on the Eddystone Reef, let alone the incredible colorful plants. You may also examine some shipwrecks in these waters. The visibility here reaches its height in summer seasons.
Here are the diving sites in Europe I wanted to tell you about. All the above mentioned diving destinations have their peculiarities and are worth visiting. Your dive in the underwater world of Europe may become the best diving adventure you’d ever have.