Chania, Crete, Greece

Chania Old Harbour Wrecks

Around the entrance to the Venetian harbour of Chania, on the northwest coast of Crete, lies a scattered cluster of small wrecks and debris fields dating mainly to the German occupation and the Battle of Crete in 1941. The remains include barge hulls, landing craft fragments and miscellaneous metal structure spread across a soft-bottom plain at 10 to 18 metres. Because many of these objects are formally classified as antiquities of the period of war, the sites are accessible only through licensed Cretan dive operators who hold the appropriate permits, and removal of any artefact is strictly forbidden under Greek law. The dive itself is well suited to intermediate divers: depths are moderate, currents minimal in the lee of the harbour, and the wrecks form artificial reefs that attract dusky grouper, comber, painted comber, Mediterranean moray, common octopus, and seasonal schools of bogue and salema. Visibility varies between 8 and 15 metres depending on harbour traffic and recent weather. Because of the historical sensitivity, briefings emphasise look-but-do-not-touch etiquette.