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TURKEY: Excellent Mediterranean Diving Sites

  • TURKEY: Excellent Mediterranean Diving Sites
  • TURKEY: Excellent Mediterranean Diving Sites
  • TURKEY: Excellent Mediterranean Diving Sites
  • TURKEY: Excellent Mediterranean Diving Sites
  • TURKEY: Excellent Mediterranean Diving Sites
  • TURKEY: Excellent Mediterranean Diving Sites
TURKEY
 
Turkey is a very popular holiday destination and in recent years, it has taken off as a good place to go for a diving vacation. The appeal of diving in Turkey is the warm, clear waters, and the interesting underwater scenery, including tunnels, caverns and rocky pinnacles. There are some fascinating wrecks along the coast of Turkey, many of which are open for divers to explore. Beneath the surface of the water in Turkey, divers will find many historical artefacts left over from ancient civilizations. When diving in Turkey, you can expect to see stingrays, moray eels, seahorses, barracuda, amber jacks, bonito, grouper, parrot fish, octopi, sea bream and nudibranchs. The really luck diver might even catch a glimpse of dolphins, Mediterranean monk seals and loggerhead turtles. The diving in Turkey is suitable for all abilities, and there is a good range of excellent dive sites to discover, including areas for reef diving, wall diving, wreck diving and cave diving. The scuba diving season begins around April and runs through until November. During this time, sea temperatures tend to range between 18˚C and 30˚C. Divers can normally expect excellent visibility ranging from 20 to 40 metres.

Turkey Highlights

Kas is one of the best places to dive in the Mediterranean Sea, and has the top scuba sites in Turkey. This beautiful coastal town is perfect for a diving holiday, and offers over 25 excellent dive sites, including shipwrecks, caves, canyons, drop-offs, historical sites and much more. The marine life in this area of Turkey is diverse and interesting, including a variety of large groupers.
 
Ayvalık is home to many pretty islands and interesting dive sites. This area is known for Gorgonia, a type of red coral that is seen on most dives. Diving trips here are likely to reward visitors with sightings of conger eels, spiny lobsters, octopi, moray eels, grouper and sea bream.

The proximity of Saros Bay to Istanbul makes it a perfect place to escape the city for a scuba diving vacation. Divers can expect to see lots of lobsters, scorpion fish, whelks and moray eels.

Gökova is a great place to dive in Turkey, thanks to the amazing deep blue colour of the sea there. The diving here extends to fairly great depths, and the waters are home to tuna, groupers, sea anemones, spiny lobsters and sponges. There are some interesting caves that are just starting to be discovered by divers.
 
The pretty seaside town of Kalkan is a perfect place to start a diving vacation in Turkey. The charming holiday destination has a fantastic selection of restaurants and bars, and is well situated for exploring the Mediterranean coast. The many beach clubs around the town all have their own diving centres, where dive trips to the nearby sites can be arranged. There are also lots of dive schools offering SCUBA courses for all abilities. Diving excursions from Kalkan often go to one of the nearby wrecks, which have become home to an interesting diversity of underwater flora and fauna.

Bodrum, on the Aegean Sea, offers some excellent diving opportunities. The nearby dive sites include caverns, half caves, funnels, walls, reefs and even a meteorite hole. Signs of ancient civilization can be seen on nearly every dive. Divers can expect to see grouper, moray eels, barracuda, octopi, sea bream and rays.

The crystal clear turquoise waters around the Olu deniz and Fethiye area offer a variety of diving from calm shallow reefs to caverns, walls, drop offs and tunnels. This area is suitable for both beginners and expert divers, and has a good range of marine life. Species that exist in this region include moray eels, octopi, tuna, lobsters, barracudas and grouper, as well as a good selection of corals.