I was about to start a thread about Crete as well so this comes in handy. I will be traveling there in July and stay about 10 days. I’ll be sure to follow stepfens advice!
So from what I gather I shouldn’t bring my 7mm semi-dry? It’ll be overkill for July right?
Yeap I think so. By July water near the surface is usually around 25oC. Around 18m there is usually a thermocline and further down the temperature can drop to around 20oC but generally people can do this with 5mm or even shorties (remember top side it is usually very hot by then hence some cool water feels very refreshing). Of course we are talking about rec dives. Extended bottom times and/or deeper than rec depths will require better insulation.
Here is an overview of dive sites around my home town (Chania / west part of Crete):
- The highlight is Elephant cave. It as big cave (125x25 or so meters) with only the first 10 or so meters of its' entrance underwater/overhead. Once inside the cave you can practically walk or surface swim all of it. Bring as many lights as possible because the rock formations are big and need strong lights to fully enjoy them.
- Agios Onoufrios area is the most visited area because it is nice and easily accessible. One can do several dives including a wall, few easy / OW caves, swim throughs and caverns (with 18 meters or less access to the surface), one a bit more advanced but easy cave etc
- Souda bay was a very busy port during WW1 and WW2 hence there are several shipwrecks. Unfortunately most of them are outside rec limits. Within rec limits there is only the leftovers or Minnewaska ship from WW1. The ship was 183m long but most of it was looted for scrap. Only some parts of it (still quite nice to see) remain in place today at around 20m. There is also a Messerschmitt Bf109 airplane at exactly 40m for more advanced divers. All that area has a bottom of quite steep sandy slope hence it has characteristics of muck diving including some macro life for those interested. Problem is the visibility is usually quite limited (for local standards) and the bottom can be very easily disturbed reducing it even more.
- There are other sites scattered around. Most of them include some easy caverns or swimtroughs and other nice rock formations. There are also dive sites on the south or west coast of the island but those are more remote and difficult to access.
More can be seen here:
Dive Sites | Chania Diving Center
Usually there is good visibility and no currents at all (we don't have noticeable tides). There is a lack of big fish life (due to overfishing). Occasionally there are some groupers , moray eels, octopuses, scorpion fish etc. Recently there is an increasing number of lion fish (they recently invaded Mediterranean sea through the Suez canal and they are spreading like the plague ). I've seen some tuna, amberjack and rays but those are rare sightings. There is also macro life for those who bother looking for it.
Unfortunately most nice sites are accessible only by boat and I don't have one. I only dive wherever I can access by my car and nowadays I dive mostly solo (I don't mind diving with others but I don't have buddies matching my strange hours off work).
As for dive stores there are several. As I said earlier only one (Chania diving) is open year long and also caters tec divers (on top of the usual rec stuff). It is the only one offering nitrox in the area. The other big dive store is Omega divers which mainly does elephant cave because it is the nearest one there. Other smaller dive stores are scattered around and each specializes around its' area. They all mostly do morning trips (2 dives) starting around 9am and returning around 2pm. Of course one can arrange afternoon and/or night dives as well.
I hope these help. Let me know if you need more info.
