Biodiversity - where is marine life the most abundant in Europe?

[black_sea]

I'm interested in dive sites with the most marine life in Europe.
I am planning my vacation and I do understand that I should not expect the richness of Thailand or the Red Sea, but what, in your opinion, is the place to go in Europe with the most species in the water? Not interested in wrecks, biology is my primary interest.

Ease of acess with RyanAir or other cheap airlines is great, just as public transport/buses or camping/cheap hotels. I will be traveling from Sweden.
I want to spend most of my money on diving.
Thank you.

 

[kaerius]

Heck you can stay in sweden and dive the west coast, lots of diversity there, anything from crabs and lobsters, to a lot of different fish, all the way up to basking sharks if you're lucky.

Might actually be cheaper to go to somewhere like turkey(mediteranian) or bulgaria/romania(black sea).

 

[black_sea]

kaerius, that might not be such a bad idea.... only dove around Stockholm and of course zero visibility... Thank You!

 

[divedreaming]

best diving in the Mediterranean is in Portofino Protected Marine Park. Biologists from all over the world travel there every year. Abundance of marine life, walls of red corals, violet gorgonian, margherita del mare - big grouper, barracuda, moonfish, scorpion fish, nudibranche..and The Christ of the Abyss - giant submerged statue. more than 20 dive sites 15 minutes from the port. Weather is lovely from April to end October. Dive with DWS Diving - fluent English spoken and help with accommodation
hope that helps! x

 

[divedreaming]

also, Ryan Air and Easy Jet fly to Genoa (45 mins) Pisa (90mins) and Milan (2 hrs) cheap trains direct to Santa Margherita

 

[black_sea]

Divedreaming, can you tell what your expenses were, how much do dives cost, how much is the food, hotel? Trying to figure out an average amount to spend to plan for. Thank you!

 

[divedreaming]

HI There, yes i can give you some average costs. Depending on time of year - avoid August - thats most expensive and also Easter in the hotels. September and October, May and June are lovely time to dive. You can get very good rates in hotels Sun - Thurs for example in September 70Euros for the room inc big breakfast. Also if you are on a tight budget/group there is an excellent hostel very clean each room of 4/5/6 beds has private bathroom. They supply towels and there is a shared kitchen. 22 euros per night all year round. Also a mobile home/campsite that is very good value is a 10 minute bus ride away - for group of 4 with kitchen, own toilet and air con works out around 25 euros per night. For restaurants - there are some great cafes - right close by to us you can eat an amazing lunch and have a drink for under 10 euros. There are other good value places as well. Of course, somewhere that attracts tourists always has the expensive end as well!
Dive costs depend on number of dives you do - for example - 4 dives = 150 euros going to 10 dives at 360 -
hope that helps x

 

[divedreaming]

HI There, yes i can give you some average costs. Depending on time of year - avoid August - thats most expensive and also Easter in the hotels. September and October, May and June are lovely time to dive. You can get very good rates in hotels Sun - Thurs for example in September 70Euros for the room inc big breakfast. Also if you are on a tight budget/group there is an excellent hostel very clean each room of 4/5/6 beds has private bathroom. They supply towels and there is a shared kitchen. 22 euros per night all year round. Also a mobile home/campsite that is very good value is a 10 minute bus ride away - for group of 4 with kitchen, own toilet and air con works out around 25 euros per night. For restaurants - there are some great cafes - right close by to us you can eat an amazing lunch and have a drink for under 10 euros. There are other good value places as well. Of course, somewhere that attracts tourists always has the expensive end as well!
Dive costs depend on number of dives you do - for example - 4 dives = 150 euros going to 10 dives at 360 -
hope that helps x

 

[sebach]

With Ryanair, you can go to Marseilles.
You can dive there, or go to Port Cros area. Port Cros is a Marine reserve with very abundant wildlife. Especially swarms of big groupers.
Port Cros is about 100km from Marseille.
There are several options to dive there.
Either you stay on the coast (Hyeres, Lavandou, la Londe les Maure, Bormes les mimosa, etc...) with any kind of accommodation you may choose and a dive club, or you go to the islands.
Most of the times, I stay on one of the islands, usually on the UCPA center of the levant.
UCPA is French union of outdoor sports centers, a non profit organisation for youg adults (up to 40). Depending of the dates, it can be as cheap as 415 € for one week (9 dives, accommodation, food and diving equipment included).
On the english version of their website, they don't show Ile du Levant, so I don't know whether it's easy for a non french speaker to go there. You might want to look at swedish partner or contact them.

I will go there for the 4th time in september.

 

[J Easy]

I have dove both Malta and Turkey. Both were spectacular but Turkey had much more diverse marine life. I hear that the diving on the north side of Sardinia is pretty good as it is part of a protected marine area. Good luck deciding!