Our Diving Holiday in Turkey

Exploring Kas Underwater

Our diving holiday in Turkey found us in the town of Kas (pronounced "Kahsh"). This area of the Turkish coast is considered to be one of the best places to dive in the Mediterranean Sea. The diving in Kas Turkey is so good, it is among the Top 100 dive destinations world wide.

Diving in Kas

The diving conditions during our diving holiday in Turkey were excellent. We were there the first week of October. The seas were flat with a mild current and a water temperature of 23-25 degrees C (76-80 degrees F). The visibility was well over 100 ft (33 m) on almost every dive. The depth of our dives ranged from 0-40 meters (130 ft).

Underwater there are some amazing landscapes. Like most diving in Turkey, there are walls, caves, canyons and some pretty nice wrecks. On many of the dives we saw evidence of ancient relics like very old amphora dating back over 2000 years.

Kas Marine Life

When scuba diving Turkey, the waters around Kas offer some amazing marine life encounters. During our dives we saw barracuda, stingrays, sea-turtles, soldier fish, eels, octopus and an assortment of grouper. There was a good selection of nudibranchs and other unique underwater life.

One reason for the abundance of marine life is the nutrients and plankton brought in by the currents that always seem to be present in this area. The amount of sea life here depends on the amount of food carried by the currents. When the small fish like silversides, sardines and damselfish leave the safety of the reef to chase the food carried by the currents, they often become a meal themselves for larger fish like bonitos, amberjack, barracuda and grouper.

Wrecks

There are some very cool wrecks in Kas area. Some of these wrecks are old and some are very old. The most famous ship wreck was found off the Cape of Uluburan. This is the oldest intact ship wreck ever excavated. This area is now an underwater archaeology park known as the "Arkeopark".

Another great wreck to see is in the waters just east of Kas. The wreck is an Italian fighter plane that lies at a depth of 175-210 feet (58-70 meters). Because of the depth this is a technical dive.

The diving in Kas offers 25 to 30 dive sites. During our diving holiday in Turkey, we were able to dive ten of these sites. Our favorites are The Canyon, The Tunnel, 2 Brothers and Flying Fish Reef.

Dive Operations and Operators in Kas

There are several dive centers that service the Kas area. Most of the dive boats operate out of the harbor of Kas. The majority of the dive centers do two dives a day. The boat will return to the harbor between dives for those who only want to do two dives.

While on our diving holiday in Turkey we went diving with Kas Diving and found them to be very good. Their staff was friendly and helpful. Their facility and equipment was well maintained and conformed to the highest safety standards. They have offered Nitrox as a breathing gas since 2004.

Kas Diving Center has a great boat for diving. The Abyss is 18 meters (60 ft) long and 5.5 meters (17 ft) wide. It can comfortably carry 30 divers. The boat has a large sun deck on top so you can work on you tan when not in the water.

Dive Centers and Diving Schools in Kas, Turkey

• Barracuda Queen Diving Center, Barracuda Queen Boat Harbor 07580 Antalya, Kas, Turkey, +90 532 6136584



• Naturablue, Likya Cad. No: 1/A 07580 Kas, Turkey, +90 242 836 2580



• Kas Explorers Diving Center, Kucukcakil Mah, No:55, Nur Hotel, 07580 Antalya, Kas, Turkey, +90 242 8363216+90 535 3893765



• Island Divers Kalkan, Pirat Hotel 07960 Kalkan, Kas, Turkey, +90 242 844 1267+90 242 844 2757



• Sundiving, Hastane Cad 07580 Kas, Turkey, +90 242 836 26 37



• Kas Diving, Kas, Turkey, +90 242 836 4045



• Barracuda Diving Center, Gabi Eichfeld Anke Brinkmann 07580 Antalya, Kas, Turkey, +90 242 8362996



• Mavi Diving, Kas / T, Kas, Turkey, +90 242 836 3141



• Barracuda Dive Center, Kalkan Limani Nr: 5 07960 Kalkan - Antalya, Kas, Turkey, +90 242 8443955



• Apollo Diving Liveaboard, Kas 0700 Antalya, Kas, Turkey, +90 533 7171909+46 708 432212

Traveling to Kas

While on your diving holiday in Turkey, you will not find big crowds of tourist in Kas. One of the reasons is because this is one of those out of the way dive destinations. The town is located between two major airports, Dalaman (150km away) and Antalya (180km away). The bus ride from Dalaman takes about two hours and from Antalya the ride is about three hours. Both trips are on a winding road, cut out of the mountainous southern Turkish coast.

You can find more Turkey travel information on our Diving in Turkey page.

Despite the long bus rides, more and more divers are discovering the beauty of the deep blue Mediterranean Sea around Kas. Diving here offers some great experiences for divers of all levels. On the days that you might not want to dive, there are other great outdoor sports you can try like paragliding or sea kayaking.

Exploring what Kas has to offer below and above the surface made our diving holiday in Turkey an unforgettable experience. You can check out some of the underwater scuba photos we took on our Diving in Kas Turkey page.