Scuba diving for guests staying around Plakias

We have one centre, in Plakias, and we do not pretend otherwise. But most of the people who dive with us are not sleeping in the village itself. They are staying in a room above the bay in Myrthios, a family apartment near Damnoni, a village house in Lefkogia, a hotel in Agia Galini or a guesthouse up in Spili. This page is for them: which part of the south coast you are staying on, how you get to us, and what makes sense for you and the people you are travelling with.

Where our guests stay

The south coast around Plakias is not one resort. It is a chain of small places, each with its own character, strung along a coast road and the roads that climb inland from it.

• Lefkogia and Preveli. The villages and beaches east of Plakias, on the way to Preveli. Our dive sites at Damnoni and Schinaria are on this stretch of coast.
• Sellia and Myrthios. The hillside villages above the bay, with the views. The closest of all our guests, and a short way from the reef at Peristerovolakas near Souda.
• Spili. The mountain village on the main road between Rethymno and the south coast. Cooler, greener, and no sea of its own.
• Agia Galini. The harbour village further east along the south coast, a bigger resort with its own crowd.
• Rethymno. The town and the north coast resorts around it, on the other side of the island's mountains.

If you are staying somewhere not on this list, it does not mean we cannot help. Send us the name of the place on WhatsApp and we will tell you honestly whether coming to Plakias makes sense.

How getting here works

Everything starts at our centre in Plakias, in Agios Vasileios on the south coast of the Rethymno region. Every dive, course and boat day begins and ends there, so the one thing to plan is how you reach it. For most guests that means the drive to Plakias, and that is part of what makes this corner of Crete work: you can come for a morning dive and spend the afternoon somewhere else.

We would rather not guess how long the drive will take you. It depends on where exactly you are staying, the time of day and how comfortable you are on mountain bends. What we can do is plan the meeting time around you. When you message us, tell us where you are staying and what you would like to do, and we will give you a time to be at the centre that leaves room for the drive to Plakias. If the forecast looks wrong for what you have in mind, we will say so when we confirm the time.

What we offer, wherever you are staying

The programme is the same for every guest. What changes with distance is how you might want to arrange it.

• A first dive. Our try scuba diving session takes about four hours with the theory, starting in shallow water with Giannis beside you. No experience needed.
• A certification. The SSI Open Water Diver course runs over three to four days, with the theory done on your phone before you arrive. Guests staying further away often like this, because the drive is spent on dives, not in a classroom.
• Dives for certified divers. Guided shore dives, and boat dives to the sites you cannot walk to.
• A day on the boat. The full-day boat trip takes up to six guests along the coast for about eight hours, with lunch on board. Divers, first-timers and snorkellers can all come.
• Snorkelling, kids and refreshers. Guided snorkelling for the rest of the group, first dives for children, and a refresher for certified divers who have been out of the water for a while.

Why guests make the trip

There are other places to dive in Crete, and some of them are closer to where you are staying. Here is why people drive to us anyway.

• We are the only SSI centre in Plakias. The village is otherwise served by PADI centres. If you already hold a PADI card, you carry on with us without repeating anything.
• Six guests at most on the boat. It is a small boat on purpose. You are not one of a crowd on a mooring line.
• One instructor people remember by name. Guests mention Giannis in their reviews more often than any dive site. He has over ten years of diving experience, and he teaches in Greek, English and German.
• Water that stays clear. The south coast faces away from the prevailing wind that hits the north of the island, so the sea around Plakias is usually calm, and visibility often runs past thirty metres.

Planning around the drive

A few things make a longer drive easier.

1. Book the morning. The sea is usually calmest early, and a morning dive leaves the afternoon free for a beach or a village on the way back.
2. Combine it with a day out. Plakias sits between the Kourtaliotiko Gorge and the beaches towards Preveli. Our guide to things to do in Plakias has ideas for the rest of the day.
3. Bring the whole group. If only one of you dives, the others can snorkel, come on the boat or spend the time on the beach.
4. Tell us early if the weather worries you. We choose the site on the morning based on the wind, and we will say so if a day is better spent elsewhere.