According to experts, the underwater world is the only place where we can feel the peace like in the mother’s womb. There are so many places in the Aegean and the Mediterranean where you can ‘dive into peace’! Deep blue with a lovingly bound for absolutely best diving can be done in Turkey. So, we have listed just top 5 dive areas, because Turkey is a paradise full of them!
Diving is extremely popular in Turkey and someone who lives this experience can never give up. Here are the most beautiful natural creation spots for divers:
1. Samandag – Hatay
One of the longest beaches in the world, 14.4 km long Samandag and Keldag (Cassius in mythology), which is next to this beach, has found their place in long history of ancient and modern civilizations in this region. With its 1,736 meters height and 12 km base length, those are the most important diving areas of Hatay.
Being on one of the most important fault lines in the world makes the region rich in underwater formations. This is the diving spot in Turkey which is the closest to the Red Sea. In this sense, Keldag and Samandag with its shores are like a paradise for underwater photographers, a laboratory for scientists. There are 8 types of stingrays in the region. We see them in large numbers in the stingray fields, where they gather to mate, especially between October and December. Sharks come to breed in the winter. Large fishes such as grouper, leer, and coral are found in the deep waters. In Keldag and Samandag, different excitement and adrenaline dives such as wall, chimney, cave, cavity, balcony, current diving, deep diving are available for divers at all levels. Keldağ Diving Center and Hatay Diving Center operate in the region.
2. Af Kule (Af Tower) and Turkish Bath – Fethiye
Af Kule, located 3 miles from Fethiye Harbor, the most beautiful diving spot in the region. This is a magnificent cave, 15 meters wide and 40-60 meters deep, resembling a half-cylinder. Suitable for experienced divers only.
In front of the steep walls, the diving begins from the wide mouth of the cave above the water. When you shine your lantern on the wall that descends 90 degrees day or night, you cannot get enough of the yellow hard corals in the pink-colored soft corals. When you turn your back to the wall and look at the deep blue, you fly away. On the walls, crosses, cupolas, antacids, black eyes, and groupers dance. When you descend to 25-30 meters and enter through the narrow crack in the left corner, the shrimps from the red cave begin to run away. Then you can enter the last open cave, whose entrance starts at depth of 10-12 meters. This place is like a cylinder. It is called the Turkish Bath.
3. Canyon – Seferihisar
The Canyon diving point in Sıgacık between Killik Cape and Hyena Capeis. It is a special ecosystem with blue-green algae, brown algae, sea meadows, and coral habitats. The walls covered with corals offer divers a magnificent dive in a riot of colors. For the coral habitat, it can be said that coral reefs are equivalent in the Aegean Sea and Mediterranean ecosystems. This habitat is formed over thousands of years by calcareous red algae on marine rocky grounds. The coral habitat offers unique biodiversity where many invertebrates and fish come together.
4. Deli Mehmet – Ayvalık
Ayvalık is the place where the red and yellow gorgon branches of the Mediterranean are most common in the Eastern Mediterranean. There are nearly 60 diving points in the region, including coral spots, and there is a diving site option suitable. The most popular diving spots include Deli Mehmet, Kerbela, Tokmaklar, Ezerbey Stones. When leaving from Ayvalık Port, you can come across many islands, large and small. Although the edges of these islands are suitable for divers of all levels, diving to corals is around 30 meters, so it is suitable for experienced divers.
5. Great Reef – Bodrum
The larger of the 2 underwater mountains standing at the midpoint of Bodrum Bay, between Karaada and Gumbet cape, is called the Great Reef. Great Reef , the epic landing from a steep wall on the side facing Karaada gives a feeling of free fall that divers love. What makes the place attractive is the plankton-rich waters dragged over the reef by the currents that constantly change direction throughout the season and the settled or wandering underwater creatures gathering around the rocks to benefit from this nutritious food source. Traveling hunters such as lahoz, grouper, cinarite, pike (local barracuda), plump (Mediterranean bonito), leer, and tuna hunt around the reef in small or crowded flocks as the seasons come. Sedentary fish such as moray eels, melanur, scorpionfish, bream and sarpa, and octopus, crab, and occasionally bugs and caravans live among the rocks throughout the year. In some periods sea rabbits also roam on the rocks. Sea turtles and Mediterranean monk seals are among the visitors of the region, though rarely. We also observe dolphins entering the bay after a school of fish in the region. The diving point, which has parts suitable for all levels of divers, with ease of transportation, richness, and magnificent panorama, will continue to be the number one of diver`s choice among Bodrum diving spots.