Reefwander
Reefwander
Full calendar

Destinations at their peak each month

  1. Jan167
  2. Feb183
  3. Mar192
  4. Apr216
  5. May186
  6. Jun272
  7. Jul307
  8. Aug313
  9. Sep296
  10. Oct180
  11. Nov119
  12. Dec145

Americas

Europe, Africa & Middle East

Indo-Pacific

Rough reddish-brown rocks running into clear blue-green water, with a low rocky islet and distant hills under a clear sky — Gavur Limanı, Ayvalık & Cunda Islands

Ayvalık & Cunda Islands · Turkey · Wall · Reef

Gavur Limanı

Sea bunny nudibranchs on a wall that gives way to eelgrass meadows

Photo: collage bird's eye v… · CC BY-SA 3.0

Gavur Limanı is a bay on Büyük İlyosta and the most popular dive site on the island. A wall runs from the shore into meadows of eelgrass that turn back to rock deeper down, and small nudibranchs such as the sea bunny live alongside morays and plenty of seabream.

Also known as Gavur Port, Büyük İlyosta, İlyosta, Büyük Güneş Adası.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Gavur Limanı: typical dive 3–35 m (10–115 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit3 m35 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

39.3268° N, 26.5371° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.

The dive

The wall starts at the shoreline and runs down to 20 m, with moray eels, brown meagre, two-banded bream and white seabream all along it. Around 20 m the wall meets meadows of eelgrass, and near 30 m the grass gives way to rock again, with the site reaching from 3 to 35 m in all.

Among the smaller residents are sea bunnies (Jorunna parva), tiny nudibranchs that share the site with the moray eels, so a torch is worth carrying on this dive to pick them out.

Marine life and season

  • Nudibranchs
Month-by-month season rating for Gavur Limanı
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
FairFairFairFairFairGoodPrimePrimePrimeGoodFairFair

Season follows Ayvalık & Cunda Islands: The high season ends in September, and boats keep diving until the end of October.

Dive videos

Güneş Adası Ve Gavur Limanı Dalış Noktaları · Gezgin Aile 10 on YouTube

Sources

  1. Ayvalık 3 Sea dive sites — Ayvalık 3 Sea dive centre
  2. Aegean diving - GoTürkiye — Türkiye tourism board
  3. Ayvalık Islands - Wikipedia — Wikipedia
  4. OpenStreetMap — OpenStreetMap

Photo credits

More dive sites in Ayvalık & Cunda Islands

Pinnacle

Deli Mehmet

Twin hills ringed with red coral between Kız Adası and Burhaniye

19–45 m · max 70 madvanced

Reef

İncirli Ada

Unbroken amphorae and an old iron anchor from a lost wreck

to 28 m · max 38 mintermediate

Pinnacle

Kerbela

Red coral and a gorgonian forest found nowhere else in Turkey

30–65 madvanced

Reef

Melina Adası

Ayvalık's biggest groupers on an island face divable in any weather

3–19 m · max 37 mintermediate

Similar dives elsewhere

Wall

Capo Stella / Isola Corbella

Elba & the Tuscan Archipelago · Italy

Two dives in one: an easier south side to 35 m, a deep north side past 40 m

to 35 m · max 41 madvanced

Wall

Malibu Bay

Kvarner · Croatia

Overgrown wall from 20 to 40 m, scorpionfish and frequent octopus

to 40 madvanced

Wall

Scoglio del Medico

Ustica · Italy

Tunnels, canyons and walls down to a plateau facing open water

10–40 mintermediate

Wall

Big Canyon

Kemer & Tekirova · Turkey

Amphorae up to 2000 years old along a drop-off to 38 m

9–38 madvanced