Cyprus Dive Sites- The Chapel

Continuing on with our theme of local Dive Sites here in Protaras, we move a little further around Cape Greko, past Konnos Beach to a tiny white chapel on a cliff top. This Chapel is the marker for 2 potential dive Sites depending on how deep you wish to venture and how exciting you want our entry to be.

We will look at Dive one, which sees you walk down a windy path to a handful of steps at the waters edge, where you can slowly lower yourself into the water and put fins on.

As you drop below the surface, there is a slowly descending route marked out between the boulders that guide you to the masses of Amphora resting between 6 and 9 metres deep. Some say it is from ancient moored ships that would anchor in the small bay while others say there was a potters at the top of the cliff that came down with a landslide to deposit its wares into the water. Either way, you can still make out the handles and mouths of the old pieces of pot quite clearly.

Continuing around the headland, you will find the bottom gently slopes away, allowing you to go slightly deeper to around 24m or stay shallower at 18m or even 12metres, depending on your comfort and desires.

There are lots of little spaces for Octopus to hide and you will often find Starfish, nudibranchs and moray eels lurking in the dark recesses of the plentiful nooks and crannies. I have even seen a couple firework anenomes and Umbraculum Umbraculum at this dive site, which are pretty rare in Cyprus.

You can go treasure hunting at the furthest point of the dive, as this is where the locals and tourists like to come and do the cliff jump. On every dive, we will find flip flops and shorts, room keys and hairbands but if you are very lucky, sometimes you can find something of value like a nice pair of sunglasses. We were speaking to a diver here not so long ago that found a gold sovereign ring!!!

Follow your path back at a shallower depth to make your ascent and be aware of any boats that may be overhead and you will find that this is one of the most diverse dive sites we have for variety of fish.

Even on land, around the chapel, you will see tourists, divers and even brides, so there is definitely something for everyone. Will you enjoy it?

Well....eerrrrmmm!!!... I DO!!!

Cyprus Dive Sites-Cylops

Continuing our log of the Cyprus Sites for Scuba Diving, we come to our second most popular Dive Site, which is known by a couple different names depending on who you dive with!

We call this dive site Cyclops, as at the top of the cliff, you will find the cave that was once home to the one eyed monster and legend has it that he is still there deep within.

Others call it the Cliffs or Cape Awkward.

I have to admit that this is my Favourite shore based Dive Site, since you never know what you will see here. The fish life can vary from tiny little nudibrancs to large schools of amberjack and sometimes Tuna.

Somewhere in the middle, you can find Moray Eels and Octopus, the occasional seasonal Squid and Trigger Fish. If you are very lucky, turtles can be spotted here too!

The dive begins with a backward roll entry and underwater, the seabed gently drops away over rocks to about 3 metres where you will find a sandy runway that runs parallel to shore, sloping to 9 metres.

Once at this point you can choose to follow the rocks down and around to 25 metres then head off deeper (but be sure to take a compass, as the bottom turns to sand and it can become somewhat disorienting) to 40 metres +. Alternatively, you can start to ascend from 25 metres or remain shallow at a respectable 14 metres for the whole dive.

At the far turning point of the dive, there is a cliff wall stretching from the surface to the seabed at 14 metres, which looks spectacular in the morning light and all around you on the ground, are clam beds so be careful where you put your fins.

This dive site does have the potential for current but it is usually pretty mild and the current often signals there will be plenty of life to see.

All in all, this is a dive site that has a little bit of something for every level of diver in Cyprus.

So, come and Dive it!!

Cyprus Wreck Diving: The Lady Thetis

Diving the Lady Thetis Wreck in Limassol. This is the second of the new wrecks that have been sunk for scuba divers and is settled in just 18 metres of water. Perfect for all levels of scuba and a great second dive after the Costandis Wreck.

Ain't Going Down once the Sun Comes Up- Scuba Diving in a new light

When we start our diving lives, all our training and scuba dives take place during the day (for obvious reasons) but as we advance and get more comfortable in the water, why be limited by daylight hours.

Night Diving is one of my favourite types of scuba because you get to see many different creatures and critters that just don't come out in the daytime. Even a dive site that you may have dived a multitude of times during the day can seem completely new to you when dived at night.

The creatures you see during the night are often much braver at night than during daylight hours. In the daylight, many sea animals will flee before scuba divers where-as they tend to just go about their business in torchlight.

So what do you need for a Night Dive?

It not much different to diving during the day. You can use all your usual diving kit for a night dive as for a dive during the day but with a couple additions.

The first, and probably most obvious, is the need for a light. Most night divers will have 2 dive lights in the water so if the main light (primary) goes down for some reason, you have a back-up available to allow you to surface safely.

Strobes are also a good idea for night dives. These can be attached in various places but are generally used to mark your exit. We always leave at least one strobe to mark the mouth of the bay or the turning point for the dive site's exit.

If you are diving from a boat, you can mark your shot line with light sticks and, if needed, mark the depth of your safety stop with a different coloured light stick.

You should also, always choose a dive site that you have dived during the day, so you know the site and can navigate without getting dis oriented. 

You can learn more about Night Diving by taking a Night Diver Training Course where divers are trained to

plan and organise Night Dives, special night diving techniques, night time communications and how to deal with any potential problems when night diving.

Night Diving is worth the extra hours on the day. You will see a different world and different animal behaviours that you just won't see if you only go scuba diving during the day. So, charge those torch batteries and get ready for an adventure you won't forget!

4 things everyone should consider before diving a dry suit

It is that time of the year again! The water temperature has dropped to the low 20s and the drysuit comes back out of storage.

Drysuits are excellent pieces of equipment for scuba divers but you have to buy the right suit for you and have the correct training to use it safely.

So, when you dive with a drysuit, you need to consider a couple things

1. What Material is it made from?

Drysuits are usually either neoprene (sometimes crushed neoprene) or tri-laminate. Both have different properties and affect the way you dive.

2. Undersuits/ Thermals

Neoprene drysuits generally have more warmth than tri-laminate and so the diver doesn't need to wear the same amount of thermals as you would in tri-laminate. Be aware though that if the neoprene is not crushed, the buoyancy changes when changing depth can be quite severe.

Obviously the amount of thermals you wear and their thickness is also going to affect buoyancy, so be sure to complete a proper weight check when altering them



3. Fit & Flexibility

Generally speaking you do not want a drysuit that is restrictive at all but if you are a technical diver, you will want to consider your flexibility in a drysuit. This is particularly the case when diving open circuit, twin tanks. If you have not got the manouverability to reach your tank valves, you will be unable to complete the basic drills and skill sets.

On the other end of the scale, if you have a dry suit that is too big for you, it will be too easy for air to migrate around it while you dive.  This causes you to be less stable in the water and leads to an uncomfortable dive.

4. Buoyancy Control

I see many divers who come to dive in Cyprus in the winter in their drysuits trying to use the drysuit as their only means of buoyancy.  While I realise this is often the way divers are taught to dive in their drysuits, it is wrong.

You have a buoyancy control device (BCD) so use it!


As I said before, the more air in the suit, the more it migrates around and the less stable you are in the water. You will also find that you will get gas bubbling out of the neck seal when there is too much in there.

Divers should only use the drysuit to take off the squeeze and other buoyancy should come from the BCD or wing. This will make you a more controlled diver and give you a more comfortable experience.

While many divers say diving in a drysuit takes a lot of effort and is uncomfortable, I have to admit, it is my preferred way of diving especially at this time of year. With the correct training and weighting, I am sure you will love drysuit diving too.

5 Best Things about Trying Scuba Diving

So, I have been Scuba Diving for around 20 years now, which means I am obviously a big fan of the sport.

For those of you that have never tried scuba diving before, these are what I consider to be the 5 best things about Scuba.

1. It's a Whole New World

Scuba Diving is as different from the normal everyday life as you can possibly get.

We enter a different environment that requires specialised breathing equipment to see things that most people couldn't even dream about.

From beautiful coral reefs to ancient historical shipwrecks that are beyond the reach of all but those who dare to don a cylinder and regulators. Fish living in their natural habitat, behaving the way they should when left to their own devices and not cooped up in aquariums.

The underwater world is magical and it is ours to explore.

2. Meeting New Friends

Scuba Diving is an extremely sociable sport.

Although it is true that we cannot talk to each other underwater, we divers do like to get together after a day of diving and discuss where we have dived, how deep we went, what wrecks we have seen over a nice plate of Lamb Kleftiko and chips (maybe a little beer too :) ).

Whether you scuba dive from shore, on a day boat or a liveaboard, you will meet some fantastic people when you scuba dive, each with their own interesting stories to tell.

3. Going New Places

There are not many places in this world where you cannot go scuba diving. In fact, anywhere there is water, you can usually get in.

Scuba Diving can take you to some of the most fascinating destinations around the world; from right here in the balmy waters of Cyprus to under the Ice in Norway, diving the shipwrecks of Scapa Flow or Truk Lagoon (Chuuk Lagoon) or the place where it all meets at the equator in the Pacific Ocean, the Galapagos.

Just think about the wonders you can see as a Diver

4. Never Stop Learning

Scuba Diving is not one of those hobbies where you can do a course and you know everything there is to know about the sport. Even the experts have only just scratched the surface on this sport.

There is always something else to learn and another progression to make.

From a beginner diver, you can become an Advanced Diver, then progress to Technical Diving or rebreather diving. You could increase your depth limits to 100metres and you can look into the theoretical side of decompression, gas mixes, pressure effects etc.

With so much to learn, you will never get bored by Scuba Diving


5. A Hobby for Life

You can try Scuba Diving from the age of 8 years old and there is no limit to when you stop. Members of my diving club have continued to their 80s.

Scuba Diving can also be a family sport with parents and grandparents diving with the kids to make weekends and holidays fun for the whole family.

So, those are my 5 best reasons to try Scuba Diving.

20 years ago, I did my try dive in the UK and I have never looked back. Who knew where it would take me?

Sometimes I wonder what I would be doing if I hadn't tried Scuba Diving but when I am sitting on the top deck of a catamaran in the middle of the mediterranean at 11am on a Monday morning in the Cyprus Sun waiting to go back in the water for a second dive on one of the best wrecks in the world to dive, I have to admit, I am glad I tried Diving

 

I shot the Moray... but I did not shoot the Octopus

That's not really true to be honest.

When I am underwater, I tend to shoot everything and anything whether it moves or not!!

What can I say.... I just love underwater photography. Every opportunity I get (when I am not teaching or guiding) I like to take the camera and see what I can get.

My photos are not award winning but I do get many compliments for them and so, I would like to share my top 5 tips with you for taking underwater shots.

SORT OUT YOUR BUOYANCY

You will never... and I mean... ever... get a decent underwater photograph of anything if you cannot control your own buoyancy underwater.

We have enough problems with motion blur from that fast moving fish that will not pose for love nor money but add to the mix a photographer who is flailing around because their buoyancy control is none existent and all you will get is a blurred, out of focus nothing-ness.

Once you have control of your buoyancy and position underwater, you will find the results of your efforts much more appealing. Plus, you won't have lots of backscatter in your photographs from all the sand and silt you have kicked up and the photographers behind will be much more grateful because they can get a photo or two aswell.

This leads to my Second Tip

HOLD THE CAMERA WITH TWO HANDS

Again, this is about control and stability. You are more likely to get a sharp underwater photograph if you hold the camera with two hands, so when you depress the shutter button, the camera will not jerk underneath.

Obviously, this is much easier to do when you can control your buoyancy and have mastered finning techniques such as the back kick. In this way, you won't have to hold on to that rock or push yourself backwards, away from the subject with your finger on a ledge. Both hands will be free to keep the camera steady.


LEARN HOW TO USE THE MANUAL CONTROLS

You have invested in a nice camera system with strobes and housing and somewhere in the bundle of knobs and dials, there is a manual setting which gives you control over the camera.

Find it and Use it.

Manual white balance is a setting that is on most camera systems these days and if you are not already using it, well you should be (unless you are using a strobe then keep it in auto).

Middle range camera systems also offer a bit more control to the user. You will be suprised at the difference you can get in your underwater photographs if you can just learn to set the proper shutter speed, aperture and ISO.

You don't even need to be in the water to practice. Set about the house with camera in hand and get your family and friends to be the fish...ahem... I meant models!! You will soon pick it up and there is loads of information available on the web.

As a rough guide, here in Cyprus on dives down to around 20metres, I find that an ISO of 125, shutter speed no slower than 1/125th of a second and a middle of the road aperture of around 4.5 seems to work quite well. Sometimes I will adjust the aperture, depending on the effect I am looking for but generally I will adjust the amount of ambient light by changing the shutter speed.



STAY SHALLOW

The best life and colours are in the shallows, so if you are planning your dives for underwater photography stay within the first 15metres or so.

Of course, this isn't always possible. Sometimes the subject is found deeper or you are wanting to get images of a wreck down at 30-40metres and, if this is the case, my final tip is...



INVEST IN AN EXTERNAL STROBE AND WIDE ANGLE LENS

When you go deeper underwater, you lose ambient light and colours. Red is the first to go, then orange and yellow until finally, you are left with just blue.

The best way to put back lost colour at depth is to use a flash.

All cameras come with an internal flash, which can be used in underwater photography but, as soon as there are any particulates suspended in the water, you will find that you get a lot of backscatter. The further you can position the flash from the lens, the less noticable this effect is, which is why I recommend an external strobe.

Not only does it help reduce backscatter but you would usually mount the external strobe on a flexible arm, which means you can adjust the position of  the light to get numerous lighting effects on the subject.

Again, the external strobe offers more control for the underwater photographer.

With the Wide Angle lens, we can get closer to the subject, reducing the amount of blue water between us and giving better quality pictures and making the strobe more efficient.

So, from an amateur but extremely enthuaiastic Diving Photographer, these are my tips for better underwater photographs.

They are simple, common sense but I so often see people not applying them and wondering why the photos they take are not very good. Hopefully this will help you take better pictures.

Happy shooting everyone