Rocky reefs between and around the four small islands off Ksamil, in shallow turquoise water. Seagrass meadows ring the islands, and loggerhead turtles turn up now and then in the channels. The reefs give the best easy-access snorkelling and discovery diving in southern Albania.
Also known as Ksamil Islands reef, Four Islands.
Where it is and how deep
39.7701° N, 20.0038° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
Most of the diving is at 5 to 15 m, over rock formations with sandy channels running between them. Posidonia meadows surround the islands and hold juvenile fish, seahorses and cuttlefish. Loggerhead turtles are spotted in the channels between the islands from time to time, though a sighting is never guaranteed.
Marine life and season
- Sea turtles
- Octopus & cuttlefish
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Good | Good | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Sarandë & Ksamil: Diving runs all year with the right wetsuit; June and September pair warm water with fewer divers than July and August.
Dive videos
Nurkowanie Albania - Ksamil 2017 · The77mariano on YouTube
Sources
- Albania Diving: Best Sites from Karaburun to Ksamil — Himara.net
- OpenStreetMap geocoding — OpenStreetMap
Photo credits
- A low wooded islet across calm green-blue water, seen from an empty white sand beach with a concrete jetty by ImogenX, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Sarandë & Ksamil
Wreck
Two cars that fell off a broken ferry, resting on the seabed
Reef
A bay named for the red rock that rings it, dived every day from Sarandë
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Moray eels and lionfish in the rock formations near Gjiri i Hartës
Cave & cavern
Rock arches that frame the open blue on the way through
Ex-navy ships still carrying their machine guns and cannons
A Second World War cargo ship so shallow that part of it shows above the water
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Steps from the lighthouse car park into the cape's main shore dive
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Octopuses mating on the granite each May
Gorgonians on the vertical north wall of a submerged island