Category: Diving

Chapel

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The charming, little, white washed Agioi Anargyroi chapel that sits above this dive site gives it its name, with steps on the water’s edge leading down to the entry point where a sudden drop allows divers to descend fairly quickly.

Divers are then rewarded with the sight of beautiful, changing underwater scenery that unfolds with overhangs and ledges; cliff faces with fossils; rocks with sponges and encrusted, shattered amphorae on the seabed.

The highly popular and picturesque dive at Cape Gkreko is ideal for all levels of diver, and for navigation, deep dives and night dives – where octopi and eel hunt for their food in the darker hours. An array of other sea creatures live among the rocks and meadows of Posidonia seagrass, including bream, grouper, lionfish, moray eels, nudibranch and sea urchins.

Location:Cape Gkreko – Protaras, Ammochostos
GPS Coordinates: 34° 58’33.88″N 34° 4’33.98″E
Type of Site:Rocky, Sandy, Drop Off (cliff)
Depth:40 metres
Visibility:20+ metres
Access:Easy access up to the entry point (steps), but difficult entryand exit point.
Qualification Required:Open Water
Dive Category:Recreational and Technical Diving

Laboe Shipwreck

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Location: Geroskipou, Pafos (Paphos) region

Type of dive site: Artificial reef

Depth:  27 metres

Visibility: 20 metres

Access: By boat

Qualification Required: Advanced Open Water (AOW)

Features: Although still relatively new, the artificial reef has already attracted some resident groupers and other varied marine life, including barracudas and bream.

Interesting Facts: Built in Germany in 1940 as a cruise ship, the Laboe was brought to Cyprus in 2006 and donated to the Department of Fisheries and Marine Research by the Cyprus Tourism Organisation and the Cyprus Dive Centres Association. It was sunk as an artificial reef with the aim of encouraging the increase of marine life to the area.

Laboe (diving_routes) by visitcyprus on Sketchfab

Amphora Cave

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This marvel of nature created by the sea currents of two thousand years is a network of rock formations given its name from the amphorae-encrusted ceiling of one of the caves.

In particular, beginner divers – or the more timid – will enjoy the mostly sandy, flat surface of the site that offers an experience of cave with reef and offers plenty of natural light.

And when evening sets, the mood of the topography changes, with numbers of shrimps, lobsters, black sea cucumbers and cuttlefish venturing out, making the site perfect for night diving too.

At the deepest part of the dive are meadows of Posidonia seagrass where pearly razorfish in iridescent gold and red tones make their home, and sometimes stingray, whilst scorpionfish hide among the seaweed.
Other marine life to spot includes bream, damselfish, hermit crabs, moray eels, octopi and wrasse.

Location: Pafos
GPS Coordinates: 34°43’21.6″N 32°26’13.0″E
Type of dive site: Rocky and Sandy Bottom
Depth: 14 metres
Visibility: 20+ metres
Access: By boat
Qualification Required:Open Water
Dive Category:Recreational Diving

Vera K Shipwreck

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Location: Pafos (Paphos) Harbour

Type of dive site: Wreck

Depth: 11 metres

Visibility: 25 metres

Access: By boat

Qualification Required: Open Water (OW)

Features: Two large archways and narrow tunnels are suitable for experienced divers to explore with plenty of marine life to observe, including grouper.

Interesting Facts: This Lebanese freighter ran aground in shallow water in 1972 and was initially used as target practice by the army. It was later declared a hazard to other ships and blown up in 1974. It now rests in a crater created by the explosion. It is in four main sections with the bridge still fairly intact.

Vera K Dive Site by visitcyprus on Sketchfab

White Star Shipwreck

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Location: Pafos (Paphos) Harbour

Type of dive site: Wreck

Depth: 14-18 metres

Visibility: 20 metres

Access: By boat

Qualification Required: Open water (OW)

Features: The ample loading bays of this site are home to groupers, breams and other marine life.

Interesting Facts: This former Russian fishing vessel (built in 1954) sank at sea, close to Pafos Harbour in 2006 as she was being towed to Lemesos to be completely scrapped.

Devils Head Diving Site

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Location: Akamas Peninsula, Pafos (Paphos) region

Type of dive site: Rock

Depth: 11 metres

Visibility: 20 metres

Access: By boat

Qualification Required: Open Water (OW)

Features: A combination of caves and interconnecting tunnels with a variety of marine life make this an interesting dive. Fortunate divers may also spot Green and Loggerhead turtles during the turtle season.

Interesting Facts: Green and Loggerhead turtles nest in Akamas and are a protected species under the Council of Europe’s Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention).

Amphitheatre

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Located next to the Church Bay dive site at Coral Bay, the beautiful underwater landscape of Amphitheatre takes its name from its natural rock formation that resembles an amphitheatre, cut out by the undulating sea currents of two thousand years.

With a mostly flat, sandy surface, the site is perfect for beginners – and even snorkelers – and provides interest with a topography of holes, arches and overhangs.

Notable features include the valley walls where huge, colourful sea snails dwell, and a second amphitheatre with a ‘skylight’ created by a vertical opening.

Starting with the groups of squid that are sometimes spotted inside the large sandy patch of the bay at the beginning of the dive site, divers will also see bream, cuttlefish, flounders, grouper, moray eels, octopi, trumpet fish, wrasse and the occasional sighing of a turtle.

Location: Coral Bay, Pafos
GPS Coordinates: 34°51’21.06″N 32°20’44.64″E
Type of Dive Site:Rocky and Sandy Bottom
Depth:16 metres
Visibility:20+ metres
Access:Shore
Qualification Required:Open Water
Dive Category:Recreational Diving

Amphitheatre (dive routes) by visitcyprus on Sketchfab

Alexandra Wreck Diving Site

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Location: Larnaka (Larnaca) Bay

Type of dive site: Wreck

Depth: 32 metres

Visibility: 25 metres

Access: By boat

Qualification Required: Advanced Open Water (AOW)

Features: The site features the same marine life with schools of fish including grouper, barracuda, kingfish, jacks and trigger fish, as well as moray eels, stingrays, turtles and octopus.

Interesting Facts: The Alexandra was a wooden Egyptian fishing vessel that sank in 2006 and measures 37 metres across.

HMS Cricket Shipwreck

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The HMS Cricket is an old British river gunboat (built in 1915) that weathered both WW1 and WW2. When she was declared a loss in 1942, she was stripped for spare parts and her hull towed to Cyprus where it was then anchored in Larnaka Bay and used as target practise by the UK’s RAF.
After the boat sank in 1947, due to bad weather, it ended up resting upside down, creating an enticing sandy dip beneath the wreck that now allows divers to swim through.

Divers can also swim inside the hull through the battleship’s escape hatches, making this a popular wreck dive with a historical twist.

Marine life at the HMS Cricket includes bream, groupers, lionfish, moray eels, nudibranch, octopus, sea slugs, starfish and tube worms.

Location:Larnaka Bay
GPS Coordinates: 34° 58’5.40″N 33° 48’4.02″E
Type of Dive Site:Wreck
Depth:32 metres
Visibility:20+ metres
Dimensions: 72 metres long / 11 metres wide
Access:By boat
Qualification Required:Advanced Open Water / Boat Diver
Dive Category: Recreational and Technical Diving


HMS Cricket Shipwreck by visitcyprus on Sketchfab

MS Zenobia Shipwreck

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The MS Zenobia deservedly ranks among the top 10 wreck dive sites in the world and boasts the richest array of marine life on the island.

The Swedish Challenger Class roll-on-roll-off ferry was carrying 108 articulated lorries with a diverse array of cargo when she sank off the coast of Larnaka in 1980 on her maiden voyage, thus naming her ‘the Titanic of the Mediterranean’.

Due to a malfunction in her computer-assisted stabilising system, the ferry slowly inclined over the course of a few days before finally sinking on her port side where she now lies on a flat bed of sand and rocks, inviting divers to explore her rich treasures. As there is so much to discover, it is highly recommended to take two dives to fully experience all the Zenobia has to offer.

Among the highlights of this famous must-dive are: 100 trucks that float in eerie suspension within the huge cargo bay; the engine room; two enormous propellors, and of course the cargo itself, which was estimated at £200 million at the time of sinking. The immortalised freight includescars, military equipment, games, telecommunication systems and food. There are even intact hen eggs!

Among the incredible marine life is a shy, resident moray eel and visiting turtles, whilst many other marine life is in abundance, such as barracuda, breams, grouper, jacks, kingfish, lionfish, octopi, sea slugs, sponges, star fish, stingrays, trigger fishandtube worms.
Tour the dive virtually here.

Location:Larnaka Bay
GPS Coordinates:34° 53’31.80″N 33° 39’16.20″E
Type of Dive Site:Wreck(also suitable for scooter diving)
Depth:16– 42 metres
Visibility:25+metres
Dimensions:172 metres long / 28 metres wide
Access:By boat (1.5km from the shore)
Qualification Required: Advanced Open Water / Boat Diver
Dive Category:Recreational and Technical Diving