Hello from South Dakota & Dreaming of Diving in Aqaba & Greece

[Jeff in SD]

Greetings from snow covered South Dakota.
I'm new to ScubaBoard and am here not to learn about options for diving in Aqaba and Greece.

Here in South Dakota I dive primarily in the Missouri River -- in Oahe as well as the tailraces below Oahe and Big Bend dams. Pactola in the Black Hills and Pickerel in northeastern SD are also fun places to dive. If you'd like to see a sample of diving in South Dakota, check out some videos I've put together: https://www.youtube.com/@jeffwhillock3108

 

[Tripp]

Welcome to ScubaBoard and Howdy! from Texas. Glad to have you aboard!

 

[drrich2]

Welcome. U.S.-based divers tend to head out to a range of places; Cozumel, Bonaire, Roatan, Belize the Caymans, etc... And with your dive count, some start venturing farther afield. But gotta say, I don't see Greece and Aqaba (which I had to Google) come up often. How did they make your 'to do' list?

Richard.

 

[Jeff in SD]

Welcome. U.S.-based divers tend to head out to a range of places; Cozumel, Bonaire, Roatan, Belize the Caymans, etc... And with your dive count, some start venturing farther afield. But gotta say, I don't see Greece and Aqaba (which I had to Google) come up often. How did they make your 'to do' list?

Richard.

Thanks for the welcome. We were introduced to diving in Cozumel. Got certified in South Dakota and since have been diving in Costa Rica, Grand Cayman & Key Largo. Diving in South Dakota is fun in and of itself (we can spearfish here) as well as a good way to keep diving when I can't get to the ocean.

I'm doing Aqaba as an extension to a trip to the Holy Land. I figured that being in Petra & so close to the Red Sea, I'd extend a few days and go to Aqaba.

 

[theDrExplorer]

We spent 2 days diving in Aqaba, and what we figured out is that all of the dive sites are close to the South Beach, which is about 20 mins south of the Aqaba city. These sites are all accessible from the beach, so there really is no need to take a dive boat for an hour (they mostly leave from the Aqaba port area) to dive the same sites unless you really enjoy boat rides. The boats that I saw were large and nice, and usually include a BBQ lunch of some sort on board as well, but are much more expensive for the same sites.

There are A LOT of operations both in the South Beach/Tala Bay area as well as in town, but the operators we talked to all pick up people for free from Aqaba if that's where you're staying.

We went with Aqaba Pro Divers, owned by Faisal and Ruta, and their dive manager is Maher. They were very responsive via WhatsApp and run a nice dive shop with a few rooms that are quite new and comfortable (with an amazing Arabic breakfast spread included). They typically have a fully kitted van plus caravan that they drive directly to the beach (3 mins away), so you can meet them there and get geared up. They were good about taking divers of different levels separately, and typically do 50 mins bottom time or if you want to stay longer, down to 50 bar. I was also happy that they were super accommodating and flexible with regards to dive sites and timing. We loved the Cedar Pride (lots of swimthroughs and a surprising air bubble in the wreck) wreck, C-130 Hercules plane wreck and the "Seven Sisters and the Tank" (the tank and the plane are actually very close, so we actually saw the tank again on our way swimming back from the plane). Easy beach entry and short swim to sites. Visibility was good (20-30m), water temp around 23-24 C in December, surface temp around 27 (but windy), no currents underwater, good corals and variety of fish (no pelagics).

Pricing is transparent on the website, 25 JD (about $35usd) per beach dive, includes all gear. If you stay with them, it was 45 JD with breakfast. We also checked out Arab Divers, which was mentioned by some folks here, but they were unresponsive via WhatsApp, and their dive times appear to be more set (9am, 11:30am and 2:00pm) and they have a specific dive site schedule each day of the week. Their pricing was 35JD for one dive or 50JD for two dives I think.

Sorry to takeover your thread with such a long report! Hope that this helps with your Aqaba diving aspirations... I recommend Aqaba Pro Divers and would go with them again if I happen to be in the area. However, I have not dived elsewhere in the Red Sea so can't compare, but I think Aqaba diving was probably better bang for the buck than my limited diving in the Greek Islands (Kalymnos and Naxos).

 

[Antonios (Holy Diver)]

Welcome to Scubaboard! I can't speak for Aqaba,but maybe I can offer my 2 cents for Greece: clear blue Mediterranean waters (warm between May and October, but during autumn and winter you ll' probably need a drysuit). There is not the abundance of big marine life that someone encounters in, say, Red Sea (unless you have an interest in macro photography - you will not be dissapointed!). Nevertheless, greek seas are home to some spectacular wrecks, and also many impressive caves and caverns (both salt and fresh water, as Sintzi springs), in case you want to follow that path.

 

[DavidFL]

I went diving in Aqaba in June as part of a trip to Jordan and it was great! PM if you want details of the dive shop / operator / boat. Will post a couple of photos when I'm back home!

 

[Antonios (Holy Diver)]

Welcome to Scubaboard! I can't speak for Aqaba,but maybe I can offer my 2 cents for Greece: clear blue Mediterranean waters (warm between May and October, but during autumn and winter you ll' probably need a drysuit). There is not the abundance of big marine life that someone encounters in, say, Red Sea (unless you have an interest in macro photography - you will not be dissapointed!). Nevertheless, greek seas are home to some spectacular wrecks, and also many impressive caves and caverns (both salt and fresh water, as Sintzi springs), in case you want to follow that path.

 

[Jeff in SD]

Welcome to Scubaboard! I can't speak for Aqaba,but maybe I can offer my 2 cents for Greece: clear blue Mediterranean waters (warm between May and October, but during autumn and winter you ll' probably need a drysuit). There is not the abundance of big marine life that someone encounters in, say, Red Sea (unless you have an interest in macro photography - you will not be dissapointed!). Nevertheless, greek seas are home to some spectacular wrecks, and also many impressive caves and caverns (both salt and fresh water, as Sintzi springs), in case you want to follow that path.

Do you have recommendations for specific places in Greece? To dive and also just to visit?

 

[Antonios (Holy Diver)]

Do you have recommendations for specific places in Greece? To dive and also just to visit?

----WARNING : LONG REPLY AHEAD!-----

Well,for a start, if you want to combine diving and tourism, I may suggest the islands of Kea and Leros. Both are nice Aegean islands with superb diving spots, but are not so overcrowded by tourists like 'top-tier' Mykonos and Santorini islands.
1) In Kea you can dive on the impressive paddle streamer 'Patris' sunk in 1868 (it sits at a depth of 39 meters/127 feet).

For hypoxic trimix technical diving there are the iconic WWI wrecks of HMHS Brittanic (sunk in 1917 at 120 meters/393 feet) and S/S Burdigala (76 meters/249 feet).

2) The seas around Leros are virtually an underwater depository of warships and warplanes, relics of the fierce battles between the German, Greek and British navies during 1943 (HRNS 'Queen Olga' a greek destroyer sunk by Luftwaffe at a depth of 28 meters/91 feet) german landing vessels, Heinkel and Arado bombers)

3) If you want to go back in antiquity, you may visit the underwater museum of Alonissos (an ancient wreck with its cargo of 3.000 wine amphorae at a depth of 28 meters). Alonissos is not your typical aegean island with whitewashed hamlets, but it boasts of nice beaches, pine forests and the nearby National Marine Park.

4) If you like caves and caverns, then you can visit the Elephant Cave at Chania, Crete (OW certified). On the other hand, if you are a certified cave diver, there are many choices, as the spectacular 'snowy' Amphitrite's Cave (Paros island),

Sintzi Springs ( fresh water cave, mountainous Arcadia, central Peloponesse)


and Vouliagmeni Cave (Athens).
5) If you are just a passer-by for a few days, there some nice diving spots around Athens: 'KYRA LENI' wreck,

the aforementioned Vouliagmeni cave (for certified cave divers, only!) Legrena (abundance of marine life) Devil's Well of Vouliagmeni

Prophitis Elias, Arzinta's Canyon, Pothitos Reef, and many others that I cannot remember right now.

Sorry for the long post. As for me, a lonesome cowboy somewhere in SW Greece, my sanctuary and diving home is Proti Island, its WWII wreck and its walls. Hope to see you there someday and dive together!