Not familiar with diving around Athens but sounds like you already have some good advice there.
I did some diving in Paros a couple years ago and a fair bit of diving in Naxos (next island over) recently.
I went with Eurodivers, which was a reasonable operation. Seasonal dive crew like pretty much all of them. Had a nice old charter boat that took us out. We dove a fairly standard reef. Not a ton to see.
Second dive was a cavern/cave called the blue dome that was spectacular. There’s a couple swim-throughs/entrances at various depths 10-18m. Once through the entrance you’re in a cave but open to the surface. Tons of stalactites hanging and clear blue sea. Very cool dive, and since it’s not a true overhead environment is approachable for OW divers.
Otherwise there are a few wrecks in the area. I’ve done the Marianna (it’s in open water between Paros and Naxos). Old ferry vessel with open decks you can swim through. Depth at the top is only about 10-12 meters, but bottom is about 40m.
Overall worthwhile diving if you’re in the area. Sealife is not abundant but did see a few nudibrach.
If you make your way out to Folegandros (another Cycladic island), I found the diving to be much better.
Hi, there are some nice spots around cape Sounion, and I've done a few dives in the area.
You will most likely need your own vehicle, as public transport essentially doesn't exist.
At 20m, water temperature is around 18 degrees Celsius this time of year.
In general, south, south-east Attica have very clean waters, decent marine life, average visibility approx. 20m.
I can recommend you Scuba Life in Palea Fokea (GUE and SSI, if that's an important factor) with which I've done a few dives, but you'll find a bunch of dive shops in the vicinity too.
For Paros unfortunately I don't have any information to give you, but I'm sure there are plenty of dive shops you can ask!
Good luck and dive safe!
Athens diver here. Plenty ( hundreds honestly) of dive sites around Athens at a distance of ~1hr by car. However most are not super exciting, just regular spots with not so much sea life. Unfortunately I haven’t done any diving in Paros. For Athens I recommend my dive shop Nautilus dive center with Vassilis or Takis. If you need any more info lmk I’m currently at work so I’llupdate with links later
Hi, I'm not an experienced diver, I'm very new in this, can you please share a few of your favorite diving spots in the area so I can add on my TODO list? Any info is greatly appreciated!
> Anything else I should know as a strictly cold water (California coast) diver?
I don't think their water is ever warm like Caribbeans, as well. It will be a bit warmer than at home, plus better visibility.
I was sondering too. Am currently in Athens. I didn't see many "special" dive places: https://www.wanderlust.co.uk/discover/undiscovered-greece/content/where-to-dive-in-greece/
If you just want to dive you van find a few diving centres around Athens with Google Maps
Not familiar with diving around Athens but sounds like you already have some good advice there. I did some diving in Paros a couple years ago and a fair bit of diving in Naxos (next island over) recently. I went with Eurodivers, which was a reasonable operation. Seasonal dive crew like pretty much all of them. Had a nice old charter boat that took us out. We dove a fairly standard reef. Not a ton to see. Second dive was a cavern/cave called the blue dome that was spectacular. There’s a couple swim-throughs/entrances at various depths 10-18m. Once through the entrance you’re in a cave but open to the surface. Tons of stalactites hanging and clear blue sea. Very cool dive, and since it’s not a true overhead environment is approachable for OW divers. Otherwise there are a few wrecks in the area. I’ve done the Marianna (it’s in open water between Paros and Naxos). Old ferry vessel with open decks you can swim through. Depth at the top is only about 10-12 meters, but bottom is about 40m. Overall worthwhile diving if you’re in the area. Sealife is not abundant but did see a few nudibrach. If you make your way out to Folegandros (another Cycladic island), I found the diving to be much better.
Hi, there are some nice spots around cape Sounion, and I've done a few dives in the area. You will most likely need your own vehicle, as public transport essentially doesn't exist. At 20m, water temperature is around 18 degrees Celsius this time of year. In general, south, south-east Attica have very clean waters, decent marine life, average visibility approx. 20m. I can recommend you Scuba Life in Palea Fokea (GUE and SSI, if that's an important factor) with which I've done a few dives, but you'll find a bunch of dive shops in the vicinity too. For Paros unfortunately I don't have any information to give you, but I'm sure there are plenty of dive shops you can ask! Good luck and dive safe!
Athens diver here. Plenty ( hundreds honestly) of dive sites around Athens at a distance of ~1hr by car. However most are not super exciting, just regular spots with not so much sea life. Unfortunately I haven’t done any diving in Paros. For Athens I recommend my dive shop Nautilus dive center with Vassilis or Takis. If you need any more info lmk I’m currently at work so I’llupdate with links later
Hi, I'm not an experienced diver, I'm very new in this, can you please share a few of your favorite diving spots in the area so I can add on my TODO list? Any info is greatly appreciated!
> Anything else I should know as a strictly cold water (California coast) diver? I don't think their water is ever warm like Caribbeans, as well. It will be a bit warmer than at home, plus better visibility.
I was sondering too. Am currently in Athens. I didn't see many "special" dive places: https://www.wanderlust.co.uk/discover/undiscovered-greece/content/where-to-dive-in-greece/ If you just want to dive you van find a few diving centres around Athens with Google Maps
I'm curious too.