Corfu, the area around The Anchor

Corfu · Greece · Reef · Cave & cavern

The Anchor

A lost steamer's anchor and chain at 26 m, plus two big caves

Area photo: Dietmar Rabich · CC BY-SA 4.0

The Anchor combines two big caves with a piece of history: a huge ship's anchor with its chain still attached, all that remains of a wartime shipwreck, lying at 26 m. The site averages around 18 m with normally no current and visibility usually beyond 30 m, reached on a boat run of under 30 minutes.

Also known as Anker.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of The Anchor: typical dive to 26 m (to 85 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit26 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

39.6244° N, 19.7403° EPublished position for this site.

The dive

The dive is planned around the anchor: descend to 26 m, where the huge anchor lies with its chain still attached — the only trace of a lost ship whose story is unsettled: one catalogue calls it a steamer lost in the First World War, another a Second World War ammunition vessel torpedoed by a submarine. There is normally no current, and with visibility typically better than 30 m the artefact and the rock around it are easy to take in from a distance before you move in close.

The rest of the dive belongs to the caves — the site is dived as the big caves, and there are two of them cut into the reef. Work them at the mid-depths after the anchor, keeping the average around 18 m so the deeper start does not use up the whole dive. Depth and boat traffic are the flagged hazards, so surface close to the reef or under a marker at the end.

Marine life and season

The sources we used don't single out particular species here.

Month-by-month season rating for The Anchor
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Off-seasonOff-seasonOff-seasonFairFairGoodPrimePrimePrimeGoodFairOff-season

Season follows Corfu: No operator publishes opening months; ratings follow seatemperature.info's Corfu monthlies (below 18°C Nov-Mar, 26.4°C peak in August), with April kept open on operators' own spring dive reports.

Know before you go

  • Depth — the anchor is at 26 m and the site averages 18 m, so no-deco time runs down early in the dive.
  • Boat traffic overhead — make your ascent close to the reef or under a surface marker.

Sources

  1. The Anchor dive site — Scubago
  2. Anker (Anchor) dive site — Wannadive.net

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