The ultimate guide to diving in Crete

If you prefer your cave dives to come with a smidge more sea life, join Divers Club Crete on their Blue Cave dive. Suitable for both beginners and advanced divers – depending on the depths you reach, the dive mixes wall, reef and cave diving to great effect. Snapper and jack fish watch you warily as you enter the deep blue, where torchlight reveals coral and sponges vibing with the gentle current. In early summer, lobsters like to hang out in the cave when food is plentiful. Otherwise, it’s all about the micro-organisms and shrimps – who keep the cave in order ready for divers to drop in. An ideal option if you’re diving Crete’s waters with a group of mixed ability diving buddies. 

In Crete, shore dives aren’t just cracking places for beginners to figure out how to frog kick. They come with top notch visibility, caves to explore and a reasonable amount of sea life to spot. Pick of the bunch has to be Skinaria – which is why you’ll likely be sharing the water here with snorkelers. More on that below. But on a dive with Evelin Divers, the action starts right from the shore. You’ll swim out over a rocky sea bed, where small fish and shrimps dart into the shadows. As the waters deepen, caves big enough to swim through give newbies a taste of what’s to come in the deeper ocean. With depths of up to 33m reachable from shore, Skinaria’s also an option for advanced divers looking for a relaxing holiday dive to sharpen some skills or just enjoy Crete’s warm waters.

We’re back with Evelin Divers for another chance to slip into the sea from the beach. This time, you’ll be heading to Kalivaki beach on the north coast. And, as soon as you take your first flippered steps into the shallows, you’ll feel the cooler waters lapping around your ankles. Still perfectly dive-able – but not as balmy as waters to the south, the waters are chilled from the mountain run off from nearby rivers and streams. Fair warning, sea life isn’t the focus here. It’s very much a spot for beginners to learn their craft and take a peer at the crumbling Venetian harbour hidden beneath the surface.  

To get in the water, free from tanks and limits on your exploring time, slip on a snorkel and fins at Skinaria. Great visibility pairs with a rocky seabed to giver snorkelers plenty to look at. You might not spot any big winners – though turtles do come ashore to lay their eggs around the island. You’re far more likely to see small fish darting between the rocks – along with anemones making a home on the sea floor – and, perhaps, an octopus or two. 

Not all snorkel spots need come with a coastal postcode. For this one we’re sending you inland to Crete’s unique freshwater pool that’s – surprisingly, a hit with snorkelers. Though, you’ll need to be prepared for temperatures more associated with wild swimming than a dip in the warmer ocean waters. Braced for a goosebump or two? Hop into spy water snakes, terrapins and eels going about their daily lives in Crete’s only freshwater lake. Definitely a view through the snorkel mask with a difference, it makes a refreshing change to swap coral and sponges for reeds and mosses. 

Elafonsi crops up in so many best snorkelling in Crete guides. And, we’re usually keen to steer clear of an obvious pick. But, if you can snorkel away from the busier stretches of sand, Elafonsi is worth your time. Over 100 species of rare plants – and a smattering of scampering wildlife, welcome you almost as soon as you set foot on the nature reserve. In the water, you can swim in the shallows and marvel at the coloured sand – but the sea life gets far more interesting if you can swim around 50 metres from the shore. You’ll be swimming away from the smaller fish that live in the shallows and mingling with octopus, lobster, banded bream, rays, snapper and – if you’re lucky, a turtle.