Zenobia. Journeys to sunken ships. Ferry "Zenobia" Ship of zenobia
An attraction that stands out from the row of centuries-old churches and fortresses is the Zenobia ship, which is popular for visiting.
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An attraction that stands out from the row of centuries-old churches and fortresses is the Zenobia ship, which is popular for visiting. This sunken object is of interest to divers from all over the world. A 170-meter cargo ship lies near the coast of Larnaca at a depth of more than 40 m. The Zenobia found its last refuge in 1980, halfway between Syria and Greece.
Today, the wreck is called the "Mediterranean Titanic". The view of the ship is really impressive. Daring divers have the opportunity to inspect it in its entirety, including the engine room, corridors and holds. Since the Zenobia sank with her cargo (numerous trucks), they also became an object of inspection.
In Cyprus, dive companies offer different options for visiting Zenobia. But those who have not yet decided to swim to a serious depth can inspect the vessel on the surface with a mask and snorkel - excellent visibility on clear days allows you to do this without problems.
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The island of Cyprus is located in the Mediterranean Sea. Clear water, specific bottom topography, species diversity of fish and marine animals, sunken and flooded ships and statues specially for divers. In Cyprus, there are dive sites available for beginners and sites where only experienced recreational and professional divers dive.
The diving season in Cyprus lasts from May to November, the best time for active diving is from July to September. In winter, the water temperature is 16 degrees, in summer it warms up to 29.
Diving center RuDIVE offers diving tours to Cyprus, which include dives on popular diving sites.
Popular diving spots in Cyprus
Diving in Cyprus is offered from a boat and from the shore. The peculiarity of diving in Cyprus is that the dive sites are located close to each other and are accessible from any place where active travelers stop to rest. Therefore, choose the places where to dive, based on the level of diving training.
- Cape Greco - six dive sites. Caves, wrecks, sea animals popular in Cyprus;
- Protaras, Ayia Napa - six to seven dive sites. Underwater grottoes, caves, marine fauna;
- Larnaca - seven sites. Wreckage, including ferry "Zenobia";
- Limassol - ten points for diving. Caves, grottoes, fish, marine animals and two or three wrecks;
- Paphos - eight places for diving with a traditional set for Cyprus: underwater caves, reef walls, tunnels, wrecks;
- Latchi - twelve dive sites are offered, one of which is likely to meet with sea turtles;
- Polis - six dive sites. Vertical walls, sunken objects, reefs with marine life.
The “visiting card” of diving in Cyprus is the Zenobia wreck.
Cape Greco
A popular diving spot in Cyprus, thanks to good visibility and underwater caves, where diving beginners, experienced amateur divers, and professionals dive.
- Canyon at Cape Greco. Diving starts from the shore, passes along the underwater rocky walls, then the divers swim to the sandy bottom. There are octopuses, moray eels, rays. The dive is available for experienced divers, depth 17-30 meters.
- Rack "Liberty". A ship specially sunk for divers lies on a sandy bottom. Due to the depth of 27 m, diving on the wreck is available to recreational divers with a minimum level of AOWD. Delivery to the diving site by boat.
- Konnos bey. Dive site offering diving for beginners and experienced divers. Depth 40 meters, diving is available from the shore or from a boat. Underwater boulders, reef walls, clearings covered with sea grass. There are groupers, starfish, moray eels, young barracudas, and other fish species. Experienced and technical divers can descend to a depth of 40 m on a steep slope.
- Caves. The most popular diving spot in Cyprus. A labyrinth of underwater caves pierced by rays of light penetrating through cracks, numerous entrances and exits. The maximum depth is 12 meters, entry into the water from the shore, so the caves are accessible to beginners. Soldier fish, chromis, flutes, groupers, and nudibranch mollusks live in them. In June-July, tuna come here. During night diving in the caves you can meet octopus.
Protaras village and Ayia Napa city
Protaras and Ayia Napa are close, so there is no strict separation between them, and diving sites are suitable for those who like swimming in tunnels and caves.
- Green bay. Green Bay is located between Ayia Napa and Protaras and diving is available from the shore. The place is suitable for children's diving, for beginners, for a test dive for experienced divers - check-dive. The maximum depth is 11 m. While swimming, you can see flocks of baited fish, sometimes turtles swim up. Underwater "antique" statues remind of ancient history Cyprus and have become a popular destination for divers to take underwater photographs.
- Fishing vessel "Nemesis III" on Protaras. The "young" wreck is flooded specifically for diving, the depth is 24 m. It is available to advanced level divers, the dive is available from the boat.
- The sunken boat "Kerinia". In Ayia Napa, at a depth of 20 meters, there is a wreck - a police boat, sunk in 2015 off the coast to create an artificial reef. Available for beginner divers.
Larnaca city
- The sunken ferry Zenobia. The Swedish ferry is one of the ten most popular wrecks. First of all, for the sake of diving on the Zenobia, divers go to Cyprus. Sunk on June 7, 1980 near Larnaca Bay. Along with the ferry, cargo went to the bottom - trucks, army equipment, Lego toys and more. "Zenobia" lies at a depth of 17-42 meters. The ferry is in good condition, it has become an artificial reef, it was inhabited by marine life. Amateur divers inspect it from the outside, deep-sea professionals swim inside. In the second hold there is a car "Zhiguli" "kopek". Penetrations into the second hold and the engine room - decompression.
- The sunken ship "Alexandria". A small wooden fishing boat sank a few years ago, lying at a depth of 25-30 meters. One dive is enough for its active inspection. Tunas, barracudas, and other types of fish come here. The dive is available from a boat, the recommended level of diving training is Advanced Open Water Diver + Enriched Air Diver.
- Other dive sites Other diving spots have been noted in the Larnaca area. For beginners who have just started scuba diving or divers who have little diving experience, dive sites are available: octopus reef, the British Jetty armored personnel carrier, Sheep Dip, a place rich in marine life. Cape Pyla reefs at Cape Pyla, accessible from the shore, can be offered to beginner recreational divers to experienced divers. For professional and technical divers, we recommend the Cricket cruiser that sank at 33 meters of depth and a dive to the Mushrooms rock underwater rock-mushroom at 50 meters, inhabited by marine life.
Limassol city
A place for active lovers of diving on sunken objects. The wrecks lie at different depths, so some are accessible to beginners, for example, the British "Cooper" at 9 meters of depth, Three Star at 7 meters. Others recommend only experienced divers, such as the vertically sunken yacht Diana. Right there, among the wrecks, dive sites inhabited by fish and animals: a complex of caverns and caves at 14 meters, an arch at 20 meters, etc.
Estimated prices for diving in Cyprus
- two dives in one day - from 87 euros;
- night dive - from 45 euros;
- five days of diving, two dives per day - from 380 euros.
orientation program
1 day
Departure from Moscow airport Sheremetyevo, flight SU-2070 a / c "Aeroflot", at 20:00, arrival in Larnaca at 23:50. Meeting at the airport with the host, transfer to the selected hotel.
2 day
In the morning, arrival at the dive center, collection of equipment, paperwork. Departure to Cape Greco: diving in the Green Bay area and in the grottoes.
Green Bay is a convenient place for test dives (check dives), the maximum depth is 11 meters.
3-6 day
Diving on the Zenobia wreck.
The Swedish ferry is one of the top ten wrecks of interest to divers. The length of the ferry is 172 m, the width is 23.4 m. Due to technical malfunctions, the ferry sank on June 7, 1980 near Larnaca Bay during its first trip to Syria. In order not to interfere with navigation, it, which had not yet sunk, but was already filling with water, was towed 1.5 kilometers from the coast. Along with the ferry went to the bottom and its cargo - 108 trucks, electrical appliances, military equipment, Lego toys, food and more. Zenobia lies at a depth of 17-42 meters. The ferry is in excellent condition and is a fascinating sight both for those wishing to swim outside, and for technical divers making penetrations inside the captain's bridge, restaurant, upper loading deck, saloon, etc. At present, the ferry is an artificial reef inhabited a variety of marine life.
Day 7
Free day, you can get together for a sightseeing tour of the island.
Day 8
Transfer to the airport. check-in SU-2075 Larnaca - Moscow, departure at 19:20. Arrival to Moscow Sheremetyevo, at 23:05.
The route of the trip and the diving program are indicative, and can be changed by the organizers depending on weather conditions and in the interests of the safety of the participants of the trip.
Estimated cost of the tour
Accommodation at San Remo 2* hotel:
- ½ DBL - 1050 euros
- Single occupancy - 1215 euros
Accommodation at Lardos 4* hotel:
- ½ DBL - 1335 euros
- Single occupancy - 1560 euros
Accommodation at Golden Bay 5* hotel:
- ½ DBL - 1375 euros
- Single occupancy - 1675 euros
Included in cost:
- air flight Moscow - Larnaca - Moscow, a / c Aeroflot, economy class *;
- accommodation in a hotel of the selected category for 7 nights, breakfast, dinner;
- group transfer airport - hotel - airport.
*Package price may vary depending on availability and airline fares
The price does not include:
- diving program: 5 days of 2 recreational dives (rental of weights, cylinders, RuDIVE instructor services) - 480 euros. Organization of technical diving is possible;
- nitrox, trimix, equipment rental;
- tips;
- tour of the island;
- visa support - 40 euros;
- insurance policy "Medicine + diving", up to 20 days - 40 euros.
Often Ferry Zenobia- called the Titanic of the Mediterranean. This ferry has really amazing dimensions of 172 meters long and 23 meters wide. In addition, the ship repeated the sad fate of the Titanic - it sank on its maiden voyage.
Zenobia is one of the first most popular dive sites in Cyprus. In addition, it is one of the five most interesting and revered sites among divers on the planet.
The picture of a huge ship overturned on board, around which trucks are scattered like toys, is fascinating. Such a picture is already impressive at first approximation, in addition, it is possible to get into all the interior of the ferry.
History of the ferry Zenobia
ferry " Zenobia” was built in Sweden in 1979, was equipped with first-class technology of its time. After launching in June 80, he set off on his first passage from Syria to Greece. At the entrance to the harbor of the city of Larnaca, for unknown reasons, the ship began to roll to the port side. At the moment, there are several versions of the death of the ferry. One of the named reasons is a malfunction in the ship's computer systems, as a result of which the work of the ferry's ballasts was disrupted, it received a large roll to the port side. Another version is the intentional flooding of the ferry in order to obtain insurance. I am glad in this whole story that there were no human casualties - the crew managed to evacuate in time.
Later, so that the ferry would not interfere with the movement of ships, it was decided to tow it to a deeper place, where it is now at a depth of 42 meters.
Description of the dive site
The site is located at a distance of 1500 meters from the coast in the harbor of the city of Larnaca (you can get there by boat in 10 minutes). The length of the ferry is 170 meters, the width is 23 meters, the draft is 13 meters, the displacement is 12 thousand tons, the maximum speed is 12.5 knots.
The ferry lies on the left side on the seabed at a depth of 42 meters, the highest point is from the surface at a depth of 16-18 meters. Such a spread of depths allows divers of different certification levels to inspect the ferry.
The ferry deck is located almost perpendicular to the ground plane. On the deck you can see a stunning picture - trucks chained to the deck with chains. The cars are very well preserved, the cargo transported by this transport is perfectly visible - sleeping bags, medicines.
The position of the ferry Zenobia on the seabed
The interior of the ferry is very interesting. It is possible to get to the captain's bridge, see the restaurant (well preserved: coffee machine, dishes, bottles), upper and lower cargo decks, the most daring can get into the engine room. The bottom around the ship is interesting - all sorts of cargo is scattered at a great distance.
For inspection from medium depths, it is recommended to use nitrox mixtures - this will allow you to extend the time spent under water.
The ferry is huge in size, so many divers make a huge number of dives on it, while discovering something new all the time. The ship has a large number of rooms, corridors, compartments.
Additional Information
Care must be taken when near trucks hanging from chains on the main deck. Chains lose their strength over time in sea water and may not support the weight of the vehicle. In addition, any penetration into the internal compartments of the ferry must be carefully planned.
