THE DIVE SITES

Snake Island & Mouse Island:

The Southern Wall of Snake Island goes down to depths of 80m in places, providing interesting dives between 20m-40m. The presence of a mild current brings with it a variety of marine life, from Groupers to vast shoals of Sardines. On the wall itself, a host of Nudibranchs can be found with crevices home to Moray Eels. The wall borders a wide reef, flat at 10-15m providing further interest for multi-level dives with Stingrays, Barracuda and even more Grouper a common sight.

The East & West sides of the islands are often subject to strong currents allowing some relaxed drift diving, as the warm Mediterranean sea takes you amongst a variety of marine life. Sightings of Turtles are common during the summer months.

The North Snake Island dive site is sheltered from any adverse weather conditions and, starting at only 2m depth, this site is ideal for beginners and Open Water training. For the more experienced, the gentle slope of the sea bed leads to a set of boulders at 18-25m which is home to a large selection of pelagic. Even further down, a large anchor at 37m provides another interesting area. The North Mouse Island site is also a sheltered location which proves to be a popular resting place for much marine life.

Heybeli Island:

The island has two bays, one on either side providing ample shelter from any breezy conditions. The island could have been purpose built for diving, both for beginners and experienced divers alike. The coastline of the island starts at only 2m depth, sloping gradually away to 10m, it provides ideal conditions as a training area for beginners and Open Water students.

At 15m in a northerly direction, a group of large rocks have been adopted as home to many fish and, crevices under these rocks can show some interesting inhabitants, the use of a torch is recommended!

In the opposite direction, again at around 15m, ancient amphora thought to be some 2000 years old, can be seen partly buried in the sea bed. Further along, at the southern end of the island, a small wall can be found at 20m where Stingrays and (yes more) Grouper are seen. In the same direction, a small distance away from the island, a small reef has been taken over by a large shoal of European Barracuda. They spend the summer months in 15-30m of water but have also been known to make the odd journey into the shallow 3m corner of the bay, this makes an impressive site for the beginners. If no Barracuda are seen, the ever present Sea Bream, Rainbow Wrasse and Damsel Fish always entertain.

Heybeli Reef:

Located some 100m from the island of the same name, the reef lays at 10m depth down to 40m at one end and 80m at the other. An abundance of macro fauna exists here and has been described by one diver as being, "as good as the Red Sea but without the coral".

Suitable for all levels of experienced divers, the southern end slopes away to 37m where it joins the island and, at the opposite end, there is an impressive wall where vast numbers of Dusky & White Grouper mix with Leerfish. Towards the top of the reef at the end of the summer, Mackerel darting amongst huge shoals of Sardines provide relaxing viewing on shallower dives and safety stops.

Panorama Reef:

This reef is located approximately 300m from Heybeli Reef and is similar in characteristics. However, to add to the excitement, both Dolphins and the odd Blue Shark have been seen here.

Öksüz Island:

South of Panorama Reef is the very small island of Öksüz. If the weather allows and, no strong currents are present, a complete circuit of the island can be made in 15-18m of water. Going deeper, a wall can be found where Stingrays are often seen in large numbers, both on the generally rocky substrate and, gliding gracefully past through the water.

Unnamed Sites:

On the way back to the coast a serioes of caves are to be found. Due to the sandy bottoms and cold water, these are only for experienced divers. The entrance to the caves are at between 20-25m.

Finally coming back in towrds Kalkan bay, the west coast of the mainland has a sandy bottom interspersed with sea grass beds showing a different set of fauna. These are relatively shallow dive sites with suitable diving available for both beginners and Open Water students. Relaxing shallow dives, for the extremely rare occasions when the winds drive us back into more sheltered areas for the afternoon. Standard visibility of 20-25m+ and warm seas of between 19-29C during the season are still available!

New Sites:

In 1998, a new reef was discovered close to Öksüz Island at a top secret location. This reef has, we believe, been dived exclusively by The Dolphin Scuba Team. The site has very different fauna to the other reef sites already mentioned including, large Basket Sponges and a relatively high abundance of corals, along with the usual fish life. The top of the reef starts at 25m and due to an emphasis on conservation, we hope to maintain this undisturbed site. Due to the position of this site in nearly open sea and, the relatively strong currents, this site is only for very experienced divers.

Note:

We are sure that the sites listed above are not all that the Kalkan area has to offer. Together with local fishermen who - knowing this part of the Mediterranean sea for generations - are always providing us with useful information, we are still discovering new sites each year.

Addendum: Just prior to the publication of this website, yet another reef has been discovered however, a proper description is unavailable at this time. Just more proof that...

The sea around Kalkan has much to explore - Dive in with The Dolphin Scuba Team!