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Crete Underwater Centre Aghios Nikolaos, Crete |
The Facilities:
I had found the Crete Underwater Centre through BSAC they are an approved resort centre and, as I found out later, are looking at becoming a BSAC School by next year. The deal is that you source your own flights and then let them know when you will arrive. The staff at the centre will arrange a hotel to your tastes and pocket and then pick you up from the airport.
Flying out from Manchester with MyTravel was a breeze; they happily give 10kgs extra each for sports equipment and check in automatically put diving equipment in to the fragile hold of the aeroplane. Four hours later we arrived at Heraklion on the isle of Crete where we were met by Gary McKeown, one of the staff instructors.
After the 45 minute drive from the airport we were dropped off at the hotel. We had opted for the basic package which put us in a typically Greek 3 star; clean and serviceable en-suit rooms with all the basics needed. The staff are friendly and open and will bend over backwards to help you out with any requests. Should you wish to go up market then 5 start all inclusive luxury can be arranged, although having looked into that hotel I found it somewhat impersonal.
The next morning, following the buffet breakfast, we lugged kit the 300 meters from the hotel to the dive centre. There is little to see from the outside as the centre is housed in rooms built into the sea wall of the Mirabello Bay Hotel. There is however plenty of sun beds, a small but sandy beach, and a bar serving food and drinks all day long (very handy for the non-divers and surface intervals) and water sports equipment for hire.
Inside the centre is a different matter; an Aladdin's cave of dive equipment ranging from the 30+ sets of BCD's, regs, shorties and steamers in all shapes and sizes, shelves of odds and sods like lamps, fins, masks you name it!! A wet area with dunk tanks for kit cleaning and drying, the compressor and a school room as well as storage for those of us bringing our own gear.
The Diving:
For the qualified diver there are normally two dives a day, the first at 10am and the second at 4pm. These are run from the centres RIB. Given the normally flat sea conditions and that the furthest site is only 15 minutes away; even the worst sailor will be fine. The water temperature varies from 20 degrees at the start of the season in May up to about 27 degrees by October. Visibility is excellent, rarely dropping below 20m and often 30+.
On each dive you will be accompanied by one or more of the three staff members, Pavlos (the owner), Gary, the resident ex-pat British commercial diver (and soon to be BSAC Advanced Instructor) and Richard who is a very experienced PADI Instructor. I found all the guys friendly, likeable and excellent divers to buddy up with. In the evening we would often all go to dinner together and visit the restaurants off the tourist routes, Greek cuisine is excellent!!
The dives vary from 10 to 30 meters in depth so there is something for everyone. The terrain is that of rocky terraced reefs with sandy patches, or nice big walls; a very similar topography to say Tenerife or Malta. Normally there is no current and tides in the Mediterranean are negligible. Whilst the seas off Crete are heavily fished, the area around Aghios Nikolaos is a no take zone and so abounds with life; plenty of octopus, cuttlefish, and numerous other fish species. On one of the shallower dives (around 12m) there are resident Groupers up to 1.5m long!!
The best dive of the week was I feel the night dive - it was my buddy Aimee's first and the creatures were out in force! Free swimming Green Morays, beautiful red and green octopus, Sea cucumbers and Nudibrancs. Even a baby Conger put in an apperance!
Admittedly this is not like diving in the Red Sea and the scenery can be a little brown at times, but if you are looking for a reasonably priced holiday with some nice relaxed diving (not to mention the excellent apr's dive facilities) then you can't go far wrong. All of the club members who accompanied me have said they would happily go back there again!
Would like to thank my buddies Aimee Barnes and Bev Hall for making it a really enjoyable week!!
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