Diving
Fun starts here
About Diving
Geographically speaking, one thirds of Albania’s surface is coastally positioned which is ideal to organize underwater adventures. Albania’s coastline occupies a length of nearly 316 km. The best diving places are: Vlora Bay, Sazan Island and Karaburun Peninsula (this depending on sea conditions). We offer multilevel diving activities, from beginner to professional. The Albanian seas consist of a rich underwater world along tens of kilometers of coastline. It is abundant in fish, corals and other different marine animals like sea turtles, lobster and underwater reliefs.
Wonderful landscapes are unavoidable throughout the boat trip as well as mountains rising on cliffs with an altitude up to 1200 m above the sea level. At the cliffs’ bottom you will be marveled by bays and beaches unspoiled by men, of which only few can be reached by land. This magnificent and unusual place will be explored by diving. It is a virgin region on the edge of Ionian and Adriatic Sea, near Haxhi Ali’s cave. This cave is named after a famous sea captain, who defended Albania from sea pirates who aimed the Albanian coasts in the fifteenth century. We will finish the day’s tour by returning to Vlora in the late afternoon where we will spend the night.
We reach the island of Sazan by boat. This area used to be a military zone during communism and because of 70 years of protection these waters have remained unexplored. Sazan is Albania’s largest island with a coastline which stretches 15 km. This is a rugged coastline with rocky components. We will dive twice this day, one in the outer part of the island and the other one in its inner part. Since 2002, the year in which the National marine park was created, the island can be reached only by special permission. More than 300 types of common species are found here, of which 60 are international ones. For more experienced divers, we will dive 30 – 35 meters in depth to discover shipwrecks of military ships. Return to Vlora city in the late afternoon. Diving here is remarkable as you will admire the magnificent corals and aquatic plants. An outstanding diving experience through mollusks and crustaceans on the way to the underwater cave. After visiting this underwater wonder we will later return by boat to move to another part of the island to accomplish our second dive. Finally, it is high time we enjoyed the beach and the splendid sunrays. We finish the day by going back to Vlora in the afternoon.
In the Bay of Vlora, resting at a depth of 35m, lies one of the largest and most impressive wrecks in the whole Adriatic, that of the Italian hospital ship Po, sunk by British torpedo bombers on 14 March 1941. In the darkness of the night, the pilots were not aware that the ship was a hospital ship. In the attack that ensued, 21 on board the ship died, including three nurses; one of whom was Mussolini’s daughter, Edda Ciano, who was working for the Red Cross. The tip of the shipwreck is 18 meters diving to a depth of 33 meters. It is in a protected position and away from currents.It is a 150 meter long and 2-3 dives are enough to visit whole the shipwreck.