| I will always remember Cyprus as the
place I started my diving. (I nearly said "..where I learnt to dive"
but with diving you're always learning). Anyway, this is were I completed, like
many holiday makers do when they're on holiday and get tired off the beach; the
PADI Open Water course. I was lucky that through work, I had to spend a number
of weeks in Cyprus in the late Summer of 1997; and luckier that I was able to
complete both the PADI Open Water and Advanced Open Water courses during my
time off. All but one of these dives where off the South-eastern Coast of
Cyprus; around Protaras, Greko and Green Bay. |
 Tunnels & Caves - Greko bay, South-East Cyprus (Near Protaras/Ayia Napa) |
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| It was on a separate trip to Cyprus
that I humped all my gear to the Island for just one awesome wreck-dive on the
Zenobia, the Ro-Ro ferry that sank in 1980, just
1/2 mile from Larnaca harbour. You would not expect Cyprus to be included in a list of the world's hottest diving destinations as the eastern Mediterranean is not noted for its top-class diving. But Cyprus has one of the best dive sites in the world - the wreck of the Zenobia. Cypriot dive centres must still celebrate the day that the Zenobia, under tow and listing with a design fault in its buoyancy tanks, was allowed to sink (after all the passengers and crew had been safely evacuated) in 42m just 1/2 mile outside Larnaca harbour. Some say the Zenobia's problem lay with the ballast computer which "malfunctioned"; others say the computer was "switch-off" - accidently of course! No matter what story you wish to believe, a whole diving industry has been built around this fabulous wreck. The Zenobia was a roll-on, roll-off (Ro-Ro) ferry carrying trucks. More than 100 of these were still shackled in place when she went down. A monster displacing more than 10,000 tonnes, and superficially not unlike the familiar vessels that ply the route between Dover and Calais, the wreck is more than 178m in length, and now lying on its starboard. Nevertheless, it makes an outstandingly good dive and it is still possible to sit in the cabs of trucks and recognise the remains of some of their cargos. There are Volvos and DAFs, Scanias and Mercs. With a maximum depth of 42m to the sandy sea-bed, the top rail of the wreck is at 18m's. This provides an ideal range of dives from the newly-qualified to the very experienced wreck penetration teckie-diver. Saying that, divers should not swim along the undersides of vehicles, as they can weigh in at more than 40 tonnes and are held in place by chains that are gradually losing their strength. All the windows of the main superstructure have been broken for some years, since two divers were trapped inside. Even though this has added to diver safety, divers are advised not to enter the wreck, because much of the internal partitioning has collapsed. Nitrox is readily available in Cyprus and It makes an ideal dive for those using nitrox 32, and many technical divers use richer mixes of nitrox for deco. But do seek local advice before diving this wreck. This is available from most good dive-centres -so no excuses . Several divers have lost their lives on this wreck. A bit about Cyprus itself: Most of the land is made over to agriculture, although there are highland areas, the Troodos mountains, where in winter it is even possible to ski. Pafos was the ancient capital of Cyprus and it was here that St Paul stayed when he visited. However, the Roman army did not supply him with quite the level of luxury enjoyed by modern-day visitors. Pafos is a well-equipped modern Mediterranean holiday town with all manner of hotels, bars and restaurants, and well-known holiday beaches like that at Coral Bay. There are also many ancient historical places of interest. The pre-Christian Romans used to make pilgrimages to Mount Olympus and visit the shrine of Aphrodite, and they rebuilt the harbour originally established by Alexander the Great. You can dive on remnants of the harbour wall and visit the more recently established octopus habitats nearby. Other dive sites include some rather inauspicious wrecks like the remains of the Vera K and the upturned hull of the Achilleas. These nevertheless make excellent first wreck dives for budding divers. Cyprus can offer great family holidays. The local people are very friendly and have strong connections with Britain and although Cypriot Greek is the native language, most speak English. Most package holidays offered by British travel agents are centred on the Pafos area, which has its own airports for charter flights during the summer. |
 The Zenobia is located just 1/2mile out from Larnaca harbour. Watch for the planes sweeping across Larnaca Bay as they make their final approach to Larnaca airport.  The awesome Zenobia listing heavily before she
finally sank in 1980. More photos of the Zenobia before she sank... CYPRUS - Top-tips
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