The Crete Underwater Centre - Aghios Nikolaos, Crete, 2005

by Steve Wilkinson

The Facilities:

I had found the Crete Underwater Centre through BSAC - they are an approved resort centre and, as I found out later, are looking at becoming a BSAC School by the 2006 season. The deal is that you source your own flights and then let them know when you will arrive. The staff at the centre will arrange a hotel to your tastes and pocket and then pick you up from the airport.

Flying out from Manchester with MyTravel was a breeze; they happily give 10kgs extra each for sports equipment and check in automatically put diving equipment in to the fragile hold of the aeroplane. Four hours later we arrived at Heraklion on the isle of Crete where we were met by Gary McKeown, one of the staff instructors.

After the 45 minute drive from the airport we were dropped off at the hotel. We had opted for the basic package which put us in a typically Greek 3 star; clean and serviceable en-suit rooms with all the basics needed. The staff are friendly, open and will bend over backwards to help you out with any requests. Should you wish to go up market then 5 start all inclusive luxury can be arranged, although having looked into that hotel I found it somewhat impersonal.

The next morning, following the buffet breakfast, we lugged kit the 300 metres from the hotel to the dive centre. There is little to see from the outside as the centre is housed in rooms built into the sea wall of the Mirabello Bay Hotel. There is however plenty of sun beds, a small but sandy beach, and a bar serving food and drinks all day long (very handy for the non-divers and surface intervals). Water sports equipment is available for hire if you're feeling energetic.

Inside the centre is a different matter; an Aladdin's cave of dive equipment ranging from the 30+ sets of BCD's, regs, shorties and steamers in all shapes and sizes, shelves of odds and sods like lamps, fins, masks - you name it!! A wet area with dunk tanks for kit cleaning and drying, the compressor and a school room as well as storage for those of us who brought our own gear.

The Diving:

For the qualified diver there are normally two dives a day, the first at 10am and the second at 4pm. These are run from the centres RIB. Given the normally flat sea conditions and that the furthest site is only 15 minutes away; even the worst sailor will be fine. The water temperature varies from 20 degrees at the start of the season in May up to about 27 degrees by October. Visibility is excellent, rarely dropping below 20m and often 30+.

On each dive you will be accompanied by one or more of the three staff members - Pavlos (the owner), Gary, a resident ex-pat British commercial diver (and soon to be BSAC AI) and Richard who is a very experienced PADI Instructor. I found all the guys friendly, likeable and excellent divers to buddy up with. In the evening we would often all go to dinner together and visit the restaurants off the tourist routes, Greek cuisine is excellent!!

The dives vary from 10 to 30 metres in depth so there is something for everyone. The terrain is that of rocky terraced reefs with sandy patches, or nice big walls; a very similar topography to say Tenerife or Malta. Normally there is no current and tides in the Mediterranean are negligible. Whilst the seas off Crete are heavily fished, the area around Aghios Nikolaos is a"no take" zone and so abounds with life. On one of the shallower dives there are resident Groupers up to 1.5m long but they were not the star of the show…

One morning dive saw us head to a site called Explosion; so called because of actions by the Allied troops during the retaking of Crete in 1943, they attacked and blew up two large naval gun emplacements that had been on the cliff top. The sea bed is still littered with pieces of shell casings and several intact artillery shells (rumour has it the guns are still intact but awaiting discovery in 70+ metres). Having worked our way round the reefs at about 30m we turned and headed back to the boat along a stunning section of wall. Already hyped up by this scenic dive, the fish and playful octopus, we hung around for a 6m safety stop beneath the boat when one of the party started to signal wildly. Looking directly beneath me I saw a free swimming Moray eel that later we all estimated to be 2m long if not bigger. He snaked through the rocks below us until suddenly he seemed to pick up the scent of the octopus we had been examining just moments before. The Moray's head shot into the hole and took the octopus, pulling it free the Moray swallowed it whole! When we got back on the boat the only conversation was"did you get a picture???? Did you see the size of it???". A Moray of that size in daylight is rare enough, but a predation event too… That made the weeks diving for everyone present!!

A very close runner up award must go to the night dive. Starting from the beach in front of the dive centre you work your way around the rocky headland and back, popping your head into the caves should you feel like it. I was buddies with fellow club mate Aimee Barnes, this was to be her first night dive and she was a little apprehensive until we got in the water. The sea was alive with life! Free swimming Green Moray's, octopus everywhere, Cuttlefish, nudibrancs and sea cucumbers, even a baby Conger came out to play. 55 minutes later as we broke the surface the grin on Aimee's face told me all I needed to know - she had loved every second!!

Conclusions:

Admittedly this is not like diving in the Red Sea and the scenery can be a little brown at times, but if you are looking for a reasonably priced holiday with some nice relaxed diving (not to mention the excellent après dive facilities) then you can't go far wrong. All of the club members who accompanied me have said they would happily go back there again!

Steve Wilkinson

O2 Sub Aqua Club

BSAC 2379