A shore dive on the pebble beach at Spilies, about 15 km east of Rethymno, where the rocky coast is cut with caverns and swim-throughs. The profile is shallow, 8 to 15 m, and the visibility is good, so the site works both as a first cavern dive and as training ground. Octopus and moray eels turn up in the cracks.
Where it is and how deep
35.4106° N, 24.6383° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
You enter off the pebble beach and follow the rock out until the bottom settles between 8 and 15 m, which is where the dive stays. There is no depth to manage and no crossing to make, so the whole tank goes on the rock itself: the ledges, the cracks and the openings cut into it.
The caverns and swim-throughs are the reason to come, and the site is dived at every level. An overhead is still an overhead, so settle your buoyancy before you commit to one and carry a torch: the interest is in the shaded cracks, where octopus sit out the day and moray eels show as a head in a hole. Good visibility and the shallow profile make it a long, unhurried dive.
Marine life and season
- Octopus & cuttlefish
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair |
Season follows Crete: April to November is the season, warmest from July to September; the summer meltemi can blow out the exposed north-coast sites for a day or two at a time.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the dive at Spilies Beach?+
The dive runs between 8 and 15 m, well inside Open Water limits and shallow enough for long bottom times. It is a shore entry from the pebble beach, about 15 km east of Rethymno.
Sources
- Spilies Beach — Scubago — Scubago
More dive sites in Crete
Reef
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Wreck
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Reef
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Wall
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Reef
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