Kalamata (peloponnese) area, Greece diving

[dylanhayes]

Hi,

I'm off on holiday on the 22nd of August to a small village on the eastern central part of the Messinia peninsula, south of Kalamata in the Peloponnese for a week.

Any recommendations for diving in the area? Who arranges trips, and which sites are worthwhile? I'm still a newish diver, and I'd love to get some more dives in on this holiday, as warm clear water beats cold British quarries anyday. The holiday isn't primarily about diving, but my wife is OK if I slip away diving whilst she does the beach holiday thing, and we'll be renting a car so I can get around.

I found a dive centre in Pylos, but it looks like a fair old drive across the hills. There's also a centre in Kalamata. Any recommendations or experiences would be really handy, as there's not a lot of decent information online. Lots of holiday sites saying you can dive, but very little specifics.

 

[nikos81]

I've been doing some research myself and I must admit, I didn't find much. But check out DIVE- WAY MESSINIAN DIVING CENTER, but I've seen no web address,nevertheless I found the address. It is on FARON 207 street and the phone number is +30 2721 94330. Another one diving center is NAUTILUS DIVING CLUB. Phone number +30 2722 32120. Sorry fo not being able to find some more info for you. By the way welcome to the board too

 

[dylanhayes]

Nikos,
Thanks for the reply. I did try emailing Dive Way a few days ago but have had no reply. I might have to call them and see if there's anybody there. There's another dive centre on the otherside of the bay at Kardamili (where we wanted to stay but there was no vaccancies), but it's going to be a long drive.

If that doesn't work, it looks like I'll have to drive to Pylos. I refuse to believe that somewhere on the Med with such a promising coast line doesn't have a dive centre nearby ;-)

Once again thanks for the info. This is my first time on scubaboard and I'm impressed with the fast and friendly response.

 

[nikos81]

I'm pretty new to the board myself too,but it is a nice site.you can get fast info for almmost everywhere in the world, and about everything that has to do with diving. I'm stuck up with this web site and you'll see it yourself too. As for greece,well the situation is a bit peculiar. There are plenty of diving centers on islands but in the mainland is a bit different. I was born in a place called Katerini,which is a town 10 mins drive or less from the sea and it has only one diving center...Once you come here, you'll see what I mean,since the Greek government does nothing to promote diving tourism and as a consequence not as many diving centers exist as there could have been.All this coast line remains still much inexplored...

 

[dylanhayes]

To answer my own question, incase anybody else finds themselves wanting to dive in the area, there is a dive centre in Pylos called Pylos Marine, run by a chap called Niko, who arranges dive trips. I did 4 dives in the bay of Navarino. All were excellent.