Diving in Cyprus

Cyprus has long been a popular tourist destination for the British public and the third largest island in the Mediterranean has a lot to offer visitors, some stunning coastlines and beaches, a hot sunny climate, a beautiful mountain range and a some great historical sites including the fabled Aphrodite’s birthplace. Of less attraction to myself is the popular clubbing scene in Ayai Napa but what does attract me to the island is the great diving and in particular one dive site that of the wreck of the Zenobia but more of that later. Under British rule until 1960 there are still many remnants of the old rulers and many Brits have chosen Cyprus for their ...

The Popeye Diving Centre near Limasol is a disaster waiting to happen. I booked a dive with them one Christmas and was initially impressed when they picked me up from the hotel and took me to this all glass dive centre on a nearby harbour. That impression didn't last long. There were two of us diving and since I was an instructor the proprietor decided that he didn't need to dive. He would take us to Amathus Bay, drop us over the site, and I would escort the other diver who was a relative novice. Next came the gear, I fitted the regulator and turned the bottle on, it read half full. He gave me another bottle - half full, and another. He concluded that the bottles ...