Kefalonia ahoy!

[jimny14]

Ok, so booked a week in Kefalonia with my other half, who has promised me a days diving at some point in the week. Only thing is, i've got no idea about companies to dive with, or where to go diving preferably. Well basically I'm AOW looking to hire some kit, do mainly UK diving, got 60 odd dives n happy down to 30m area. So basically, has anyone got any companies they would recommend and some must see dives, considering i've got one day to hopefully see the best there is to offer.

[Jay_Benson]

I went last year and asked a very similar question. Here is the link

I did a bit of a write up -its at the end of the first page. We were in Agia Efimia which is on the right hand side about half way down. I dived with a local company there and they were pretty good and reasonably priced. I also went to Fiskardo in the north and went with another local organisation - there are links to both web sites at the end of my trip report.

Have fun - it is a great island.

[sharkius]

Kefalonia is really nice and the Ionian sea has crystal clear waters. Dont expect to see the same marine life as in Red Sea but there is still enough to see.
I cant comment on any dive centers since i havent used one of them but i think its worth to dive

a) The Mellisani cave










b) HMS Perseus a WWII British submarine (its at 50m though you can still see much of it at around 40m)

The Great Escape





Enjoy your dives

Photos and videos are not mine. There are more if you want though.

[String]

At lot of the diving will depend if the operators have bothered to get off their arses and dive the more interesting sites since the laws changed or not.

If they have bothered there's a lot of potential there. If they haven't - i hope you like bare rock.

You can expect very good visibility but not much in the way of marine life other than some striped bream and the odd moray.
There are wrecks around kefalonia that could be dived if the centres can be bothered so maybe best to email around and ask them specific questions before deciding.
You're likely to have some "cave" or cavern type dives.

Sadly HMS Perseus is illegal to dive without government permit (or at least was in January and they wont even give the exact location of it).

[Jay_Benson]

Originally Posted by String

At lot of the diving will depend if the operators have bothered to get off their arses and dive the more interesting sites since the laws changed or not.

If they have bothered there's a lot of potential there. If they haven't - i hope you like bare rock.

You can expect very good visibility but not much in the way of marine life other than some striped bream and the odd moray.
There are wrecks around kefalonia that could be dived if the centres can be bothered so maybe best to email around and ask them specific questions before deciding.
You're likely to have some "cave" or cavern type dives.

Sadly HMS Perseus is illegal to dive without government permit (or at least was in January and they wont even give the exact location of it).

The guy who runs the shop in Agia Efimia does do quite a bit of searching for new sites each year during the quiet season.

[sharkius]

Sadly HMS Perseus is illegal to dive without government permit (or at least was in January and they wont even give the exact location of it).

Most of the times there is a detour around laws in this corner of earth.
Location is not a secret. Its published on greek diving forums

[jimny14]

Thanks for the replys guys, most helpful. Shame the sub is a bit too deep for me, but the cave looks interesting.

[Jay_Benson]

Messalini cave is good - the water is bloody freezing after going in the sea - it sea 15C compared to 23C back in October but then I did dive it in a 5mm wet suit. The colours are beautiful and there is still a little live ammunition in there from the war - Agia Efimia lot will do a video for you as well for, I think, about E10.

[String]

Originally Posted by sharkius

Most of the times there is a detour around laws in this corner of earth.

Usually involves euros or other gifts to coastguard stations from my experience there.

Location is not a secret. Its published on greek diving forums

According to the greek government its a secret. Like most things, most people know it except officially "nobody knows".

[sharkius]

Originally Posted by String

Usually involves euros or other gifts to coastguard stations from my experience there.


According to the greek government its a secret. Like most things, most people know it except officially "nobody knows".

Well that can be a way amongst some others but only if you want to dive the wreck by yourself, if a dive center takes you there you dont have to worry about it. What he does with local regulation is his problem in the end of the day what you want is to dive the wreck right?

There is no law stating that you cant mention the location of a wreck. Believe me lots of stuff has changed with the new law governing recreational diving.

Excuse my poor english