Diving in Gulf of Heraklion

Date of Dive:
June 24, 2023

Location of Dive:
Agia Pelagia, Crete, Greece

Noticeable Sightings
Lionfish (Pterois miles)

I was very excited to be back in the water again. A few years back I did a try dive in Greece, so I was keen to find out how it compared to my memory. The water was nice and warm, and it felt like the perfect start to my turtle adventure (you can read more about my turtle adventure here, link opens in a new tab). I wasn’t too sure what to expect, since I’ve heard mixed opinions on diving in this part of the Mediterranean. Still, it is always good to be diving, so while I was there I booked two dives. Both dives were boat dives in the Gulf of Heraklion.

During the first dive, we saw quite a bunch of lion fish. They are unfortunately an invasive species, but they are stunning nonetheless. I saw a bunch of other fish too, such as a moray eel, ornate wrasses, some breams. I also saw sea urchins, sea cucumber, sea stars, and many other invertebrates. The visibility was great. There were big patches of sea grass, moving along with the waves, though sadly no turtle munching on it.

The second dive we ventured along the other side of the boat, following the rocks and even passing through a small canyon like section. Diving under a rocky arch really made me excited to one day getting my cave diving licence!

Regarding this dive location, the diving centre was really nice. The area is probably not the best place for diving to ever exist, however, there were quite a lot of fishes. Occassionally there were even some pretty big schools of fish, the saddled sea bream was the most common I’d say. Still, the water temperature was pretty nice and I had a good day over all so I would recommend!