Scuba diving for guests staying in Agia Galini

Agia Galini is one of the best-known resorts on the south coast of Crete: a harbour village of terraced houses stacked above the water, with tavernas along the port and a steady summer crowd. If you are staying there and want to dive, you have a choice to make. This page explains what diving with us in Plakias looks like from Agia Galini, what the drive involves, and which of our trips are worth it when you are coming from further along the coast.

Who stays in Agia Galini

Agia Galini draws a mix: families who want a resort with everything in walking distance, couples who like an evening by the harbour, and travellers who use it as a base for the south of the Rethymno region. Many of the people who message us from there have never dived, or dived once years ago on another holiday. Others are certified divers who have looked at the map, seen that Plakias is on the same coast, and want to know whether the drive is worth it.

It is a reasonable question, and the honest answer is: it depends on what you want from the day.

Getting from Agia Galini to our centre

Our centre is in Plakias, in Agios Vasileios, further west along the south coast. The drive to Plakias goes inland: the usual route runs north from Agia Galini on the main road towards Spili and Rethymno, then turns off towards the south coast through the Kourtaliotiko Gorge and down to Plakias. It is a mountain drive with bends, but a well-used one, and the gorge itself is one of the most striking roads in the region. Check the route on a map before you set off.

We will not give you a drive time, because it varies with the traffic, the season and where exactly you are staying. What we do instead is plan the meeting time around you. Send us a message on WhatsApp with your dates, where you are staying and what you want to do, and we will tell you when to be at the centre so the day starts relaxed rather than rushed.

What makes the drive worth it

For a guest in Agia Galini, the question is less "can I dive" and more "what is worth driving for". These are the trips that people coming from further east tend to choose.

A full day on the boat

The trip that works best from Agia Galini is the one that fills the day. Our full-day boat trip is about eight hours on the water for two to six guests, with lunch on board and all equipment included. Divers, first-timers and snorkellers share the same boat, so a family where only one person dives can still spend the whole day together. You make the drive once and get a whole day out of it.

Boat dives for certified divers

If you hold a certification, from SSI, PADI or another agency, our guided boat dives go to the sites you cannot walk to: deeper walls, caves and water with nobody else in it that morning. One or two dives, with the sites chosen for the day's conditions, and six guests at most on the boat.

Learning to dive

The SSI Open Water Diver course takes three to four days. That sounds like a lot of driving, but the theory is done on your phone before you arrive, so the days you spend with us are spent in the water. Some guests in Agia Galini choose to split their holiday, with a few nights near Plakias for the course and the rest by the harbour.

A first dive, or snorkelling

A try dive takes about four hours including the theory, which makes it an easy half-day from Agia Galini. For anyone who would rather stay at the surface, guided snorkelling runs about two hours with mask, snorkel and fins provided.

Our dive sites, seen from Agia Galini

We dive three sites along the coast around Plakias, all of which suit guests arriving from the east.

• Schinaria. A shore site with rugged rock formations, a large cave, reef, natural channels and deeper wall sections. Octopus and moray eels are regulars. The profile can be kept gentle for a first-timer or taken deeper for an experienced diver.
• The old harbour of Damnoni. A gentle, shallow slope with no sudden drop-offs, which is why we use it for training. Further out there are steeper sections, caves and underwater gorges. Reached from the shore or by boat, depending on conditions.
• Peristerovolakas. A reef near Souda, on the west side of Plakias bay, where an extended shallow reef slopes into deeper blue.

Which one we dive depends on the wind and on the people on the day. You can read more about each on our dive sites page.

Why guests from Agia Galini choose us

• Six guests at most. Our boat is small on purpose. You are not one of a crowd on a shared mooring.
• An instructor who takes his time. Guests name Giannis in their reviews more often than anything else. He has over ten years of diving experience and teaches in Greek, English and German.
• The only SSI centre in Plakias. SSI and PADI certifications are both recognised worldwide, and a PADI card carries on with us without repeating anything.
• A calm coast. The south coast faces away from the prevailing wind that hits the north of the island, so the water around Plakias is usually calm and clear.

A simple day from Agia Galini

1. Early start. Leave after breakfast, with time for the drive to Plakias. The sea is usually calmest in the morning.
2. The dive or the boat. Meet at the centre at the time we agreed on WhatsApp, kit up and get in the water.
3. Afternoon on the way back. Stop at the Kourtaliotiko Gorge or have a late lunch in Spili before returning to Agia Galini.

If you want to see how other guests arrange their stay, our areas we serve page covers the other villages around Plakias.