Amorgos · Greece · Wall · Cave & cavern
Nikouria Northern Wall
A cavern at around 25 m on the islet's northern wall
Area photo: Kondephy · CC BY-SA 4.0
Nikouria Northern Wall is a second dive off Nikouria islet, a short boat ride from the Amorgos Diving Center base at Aegiali. The wall is the frame and a cavern at around 25 m is the feature the dive is planned around. Sightings run to stingrays at the bottom below the face, and barracuda and tuna passing along it.
Where it is and how deep
36.8864° N, 25.9297° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
It is a short run by boat from Aegiali out to Nikouria, the largest of the sixteen islets that make up the municipality along with Amorgos itself. You descend onto the wall and follow it, rock face on one shoulder and open water on the other, which keeps the navigation simple even though nothing about the terrain repeats.
The cavern sits at around 25 m and is the feature the dive is planned around. It is a deep wall dive, so agree a maximum depth before you descend and keep the rest of your gas for the shallower wall on the way back. Stingrays are the bottom sighting, at the sea floor below the face, and barracuda and tuna pass along the wall; neither is a given, and the wall itself is what the dive is built on rather than any one animal.
Marine life and season
- Stingrays
- Barracuda
- Tuna
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Good | Good | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Amorgos: Courses and testimonials cluster June to October, with October unpredictable. The meltemi unsettles late summer; winter winds and currents put some sites out of reach without closing the island.
Know before you go
- The cavern is an overhead at 25 m: go in with a light, one diver at a time, and only with the training to turn around in a passage without silting it out.
Sources
- Nikouria Northern Wall — Scubago / Amorgos Diving Center
- Amorgos — Wikipedia
More dive sites in Amorgos
Flat reef to 18 m, then a wall to about 40 m
Wreck
A wartime debris trail from 13 m past recreational depth
A pocketed wall sloping to 40 m off Nikouria islet
Wall
Bauxite loading gear on an 18 m plateau below the mines
Cave & cavern
A narrow passage under fallen rock, entered at about 18 m
Similar dives elsewhere
A cavern shaped like a three-aisled building
Wall
St. George's Island
Akamas Peninsula & Latchi · Cyprus
16th-century stone anchors among amphora shards off the island
Tunnels, canyons and walls down to a plateau facing open water
Wall
Canyon
Lefkada & Meganisi · Greece
A small cave at 9 m, a haven for large anemones and cardinal fish