Limassol scuba diving offers first dives for beginners, boat dives to artificial reefs and wreck trips for certified divers. Find more trip ideas on Greece Tours. Below you find the dive options, centres, sites, session steps, water temperatures and booking terms.
What is Limassol scuba diving?
Limassol is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus, and its dive centres run guided dives along that shore. Limassol scuba diving offers shallow reefs for beginners and caves, arches and narrow channels for advanced divers, says Scubago.
Wikipedia says the city grew up between two ancient cities, Amathus and Kourion. Its suburbs stretch along the coast to Amathus. Limassol scuba diving reaches that ancient site too, as the sections below show.
Limassol scuba diving splits into three kinds of dive. A try dive gives a beginner a first breath underwater in shallow water. A boat dive reaches the artificial reefs offshore. A guided wreck dive is for certified divers only.
Divernet says marine life along this coast is rising thanks to artificial reef projects. It calls the guided dives across these reefs accessible and calm.
Our Cyprus tours page lists the island’s boat trips, day trips and wine routes for the days between dives.
Which Limassol scuba diving experiences can you book?
Seven listings sell Limassol scuba diving on GetYourGuide and Viator. Four are first dives for beginners. The other three are a wreck dive, guided boat dives and a private tour. Each one sits on this page as a widget or a card.
- GetYourGuide: “Limassol: Discover Scuba Diving Experience for Beginners” runs 2.5 hours with a small group.
- GetYourGuide: “Limassol: Try Scuba Diving Experience” takes 1.5 hours, the shortest of the three.
- GetYourGuide: “Limassol: Shipwreck Dive with Guide” takes 2.5 hours and is a guided dive for certified divers.
- Viator: “Scuba Diving for Beginners in Limassol Amathus Ruins” is a beginner dive at the Amathus ruins.
- Viator: a first dive with the Pissouri Bay centre carries the title “Discover SCUBA Diving with Pissouri Bay Divers”.
- Viator: “Jubilee Shoals guided boat dives” takes divers out to the offshore reef.
- Viator: “Private Diving Tour with Pissouri Bay Divers” is a private tour with the same centre.
GetYourGuide labels all three of its dives as small group. The Discover listing leads them with a five-star score from 10 reviews. The Try and Shipwreck listings hold 4 reviews each.
So Limassol scuba diving experiences split at one line. The Discover and Try listings are first dives. The Shipwreck listing asks for a certificate.
Where does Limassol scuba diving start?
Dives start from the marinas, the seafront and the hotels of Limassol, plus one village centre in Pissouri. Crest Dive sits in St Raphael Marina, and TD Diving moors its boat at Limassol Marina.
Crest Dive is a family-run centre at the edge of Limassol, inside St Raphael Marina. Its site says the spot gives easy access to the house dive sites around the marina wall. The directory of Cyprus dive centres lists Crest as a PADI 5 Star centre.
The SDI and TDI centre TD Diving stands in west Limassol. Its dive boat, The Kraken, moors at Limassol Marina. The centre says the boat reaches the Akrotiri Peninsula and Jubilee Shoals.
The same directory lists these Limassol centres:
- Aloha: on the main seafront road, with direct access to the beach.
- Blue Thunder: a family-run NAUI Platinum Pro centre at Griva Digeni 110.
- Buddy Divers: the longest established PADI centre in Limassol, by its own claim.
- Dive-In Limassol: a PADI 5 Star centre, based in the Four Seasons, Mediterranean and Amathus hotels.
Pissouri Bay Divers also covers Limassol scuba diving, from a base in Pissouri. Pissouri lies to the west, between Limassol and Paphos, about 30 kilometres from the city centre, says Wikipedia. The shop stands 100 metres from the sea. Its packages cover shore dives, boat dives or a mix of both.
None of the three GetYourGuide dive listings carries a pickup label. Ask the centre for the meeting point and any transfer when you book Limassol scuba diving.
Which dive sites does Limassol scuba diving reach?
The sites include the two sunk vessels of the Limassol marine park and the sunken port of Amathus. Akrotiri and Jubilee Shoals follow, and Scubago adds Shark Cove and Aphrodite’s Bay. Beginners and certified divers each have a site to match.
The Limassol marine park lies about 1 kilometre offshore, between the Crowne Plaza Hotel and Dasoudi beach. Two vessels were sunk there as artificial reefs, and divers visit both.
The two spots lie 300 to 400 metres apart. Boats take Limassol scuba diving groups to both, and a dive lasts up to 30 to 35 minutes. Fishing of any kind is banned across the park. Groupers, small amberjacks, seabream, rudd fish, perch and turtles live there.
The official Limassol guide calls the reefs a good place for beginners to train. Pissouri Bay Divers describes the Lady Thetis as a passenger vessel built in Germany. She lies upright in 18 metres of water, within reach of an Open Water diver.
The Costandis is a 30-metre Russian trawler in 23 metres, with her top deck uppermost. A huge grouper nicknamed George regularly accompanies divers there, says Pissouri Bay Divers.
The ancient port of Amathus lies under the sea off Limassol. Cyprus Mail says its construction began around the end of the 4th century BC. The base stones of its three piers survive. A minister called it one of the rare well-preserved Hellenistic ports of the eastern Mediterranean.
Scubago lists three more Limassol scuba diving sites. Shark Cove has a submerged tunnel and suits advanced divers. Akrotiri is an easy dive with moray eels, octopuses and groupers. Aphrodite’s Bay is easy too, with seahorses, cuttlefish and octopuses.
Jubilee Shoals is a natural reef 5 kilometres from Pissouri Bay. Pissouri Bay Divers puts its length at about 1.3 kilometres. Ayia Napa has its own centres and sites, which our Ayia Napa scuba diving page lists.
What does a first-time Limassol scuba diving session include?
A first-time session includes the full kit, a certified instructor and a lesson in the basics before the dive. No certificate is needed. The Amathus ruins dive lasts 3 hours, and the Pissouri Bay Divers dive lasts 4 hours.
The Pissouri Bay Divers dive follows the PADI Discover Scuba Diving programme, and PADI lists its steps in order. You learn safety guidelines and basic skills under a PADI professional. You then practise more skills in shallow water. Last, you check the gear, breathe underwater and swim around.
For beginner Limassol scuba diving on GetYourGuide, the dive teaches you to use the equipment with a certified instructor. You then swim through calm, clear, shallow water beside schools of fish.
The Amathus ruins listing includes scuba and snorkelling gear, a PADI instructor or dive master, and coffee or tea. The Pissouri Bay Divers listing includes scuba and snorkelling gear, bottled water and a PADI professional guide.
Both Viator listings ask for at least a moderate level of fitness. They advise against the dive for pregnant travellers and for people with poor cardiovascular health. Those rules apply to a first Limassol scuba diving session on both listings.
Which Limassol scuba diving trips suit certified divers?
Two trips fit: a guided wreck dive and a boat trip to Jubilee Shoals. The Jubilee trip needs an Open Water certificate and makes two dives. It includes the full rental set and the marine park fees.
Certified Limassol scuba diving includes a half-day wreck package that PADI Adventures lists for Pissouri Bay Divers. It also needs an Open Water certificate. Its notes advise a DSMB, a delayed surface marker buoy, because currents run strong at times. They warn of sharp edges on both wrecks from corrosion.
The Jubilee Shoals half-day trip is a Limassol scuba diving option from Pissouri. It meets at the Pissouri Bay Divers centre at 7:30 am. After kit prep, the group walks to the beach and boards the boat Barbossa. The ride to the reef takes 15 minutes. Two dives follow, and the group is back by 1:00 pm.
Pissouri Bay Divers gives the reef depths as 16 to 60 metres and more. Elephant Rock is the shallowest point at 16 metres, and a wall falls from it to about 45 metres. The reef takes drift dives, and the centre calls visibility good at worst.
Jubilee Cavern lies beneath Elephant Rock and is for qualified, experienced divers. Its west entrance sits at 38 metres, and the tunnel runs 70 metres to a 42-metre exit. PADI Adventures asks Advanced Open Water and Deep divers to complete a check-out dive first. On the same reef, a Canberra aircraft wing lies wedged in the wall at 37 metres.
Viator also lists a 4-hour private dive tour from the same Pissouri centre. Its options go by group size, up to 7 passengers. TD Diving adds technical diving with trimix and CCR rebreather dives. East-coast divers can compare our Protaras scuba diving page.
Which months and water temperatures suit Limassol scuba diving?
Late spring to early autumn gives the calmest sea and the warmest water. Scubago puts warm-season water at 23°C to 28°C and lists visibility of more than 20 metres. The Aquatic Centre quotes 15°C to 27°C across the whole year.
The sea table on Wikipedia, built on seatemperature.org data, gives monthly figures for Limassol scuba diving. It lists 17.8°C in January and 17.3°C in March. It reaches 27.2°C in September and falls to 19.6°C in December. The yearly average is 22.0°C.
Winter brings rougher water for Limassol scuba diving. Scubago says winter storms and strong winds can roughen the sea and cut visibility. TD Diving points to mild winter weather and keeps its facility open all year. The Aquatic Centre also runs all year.
The Aquatic Centre and Pissouri Bay Divers both rent wetsuits in shorty, 3 mm, 5 mm and 7 mm cuts. Match the thickness to the month when you book.
Scubago ties turtle sightings to the breeding season from Month five to October. It adds that rays glide over the sandy seabed in those months. Limassol scuba diving in summer pairs the warmest water with the turtle season.
How do you pay for and cancel this Limassol scuba diving trip?
Pick a date and pay online. The three GetYourGuide dives show free cancellation and close three hours before the start. The Amathus ruins and Pissouri Bay Divers beginner dives on Viator refund in full up to 24 hours ahead. The private tour does not refund.
On Viator, you get your money back in full by cancelling at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure. That rule appears on the Amathus ruins listing and the Pissouri Bay Divers listing. The private diving tour listing says all sales are final, so confirm the date before you pay.
PADI Adventures lists free cancellation on 24 hours’ notice for the Pissouri Bay Divers trips. It accepts a mobile or printed voucher. The Viator listings accept mobile or paper tickets too.
Booking Limassol scuba diving direct is another route. Pissouri Bay Divers takes Visa, Mastercard, AMEX, debit cards, bank transfer and cash in local currency. The Aquatic Centre takes Visa, Mastercard, debit cards, bank transfer and cash. Plan the tip for your instructor separately, because the Amathus ruins listing excludes gratuities.
Which questions do divers ask about this Limassol scuba diving?
How old must a child be to dive in Limassol?
For Limassol scuba diving with children, Pissouri Bay Divers runs Bubblemaker for ages 8 and 9. It runs in flat calm sea only and needs a minimum of 2 people. Its Discover SCUBA Diving starts at 10 years. TD Diving says anyone from age 8 can join.
Can divers with a disability join a dive?
Pissouri Bay Divers lists adaptive diving with accessible trips, adaptive equipment and staff trained in adaptive support. TD Diving runs DDI programmes that add modified training and equipment on top of a standard course.
Where do certified divers fill nitrox tanks?
Blue Thunder fills air and nitrox from 21% to 100%. TD Diving fills air, nitrox up to 100%, helium and tanks up to 300 bar. Both centres sit in Limassol.
What sea life do Limassol dive centres list?
The Aquatic Centre lists turtles, nudibranchs, amberjack, octopus and stingrays. It adds a visit from its resident monk seal for a lucky group.
What can a non-diver in the group do meanwhile?
Divernet says small leisure boats can be hired without a licence. A non-diver can take the helm along the coast. Our Limassol boat trip page compares crewed cruises as well.