Dive The Zenobia In Cyprus
This report was posted on the original board in 2003. I am reposting for the new board due to the unusual dive location. Pictures are here http://homepage.mac.com/jetlife2/diving/.
On a family vacation to Cyprus in June of 2003 I took all my dive gear specifically to do this dive. I stayed in Paphos on the west side of the island.
Cyprus has many dive operators and I was easily able to arrange to do some warm up diving each day. The diving in the eastern Mediterranean is fun but not that visually inspiring. I had previously dived in Bodrum Turkey and knew what to expect...warm water, good times, but little marine life by Caribbean standards. Bottom is sand, rock and grass. But I'd rather be diving than just about anything else! Getting a morning dive in and then sitting in the sun at a sidewalk bar with a cold beer at lunch time is a great way to start the day, regardless.
I used a dive operator called Cydive located in Paphos. Many of the dive operators in the Eastern Med. are run by Brits - this was no exception. What this usually means is that there is a high degree of professionalism and safety. I was impressed with their attention to detail - as an example the divemaster insisted on a careful buddy to buddy check before entering the water, which he watched each buddy pair complete. After the dive they took data on max depth and dive time from each diver.
I selected Cydive based on their web site, and the fact that they offered Nitrox, which I wanted to use on the Zenobia. Offering Nitrox is also a good indicator of the size of the operation because of the additional complexity in equipment needed. The Zenobia is in Larnaca , about a 90 minute drive from Paphos, and they run one trip a week: more on that later.
Much of Cydives business is resort-course for tourists, but they also run daily trips for certified divers. The morning trips are for AOW certified folk and the afternoon for less experienced people. This was a nice touch as it provided a screen so that people were roughly grouped by ability.
Some notes here for other US divers planning on traveling to Europe. Be sure to call ahead and find out what tank valves are in use. Of course in the US, Mexico and Caribbean the standard is the yoke-type - but DIN fittings can be used in Europe. Both in Turkey and Cyprus, however, I found that US-style valves were in use. I therefore was able to use my regulator with no problem however, the tanks themselves were different shape and volume, being metric. The tanks tended to be greater diameter and shorter than I am used to so I had to completely readjust my BC strap. If you are like me you rarely have to do this! Another obvious point worth mentioning is that in Europe the divers use meters and bar, not feet and psi. Be sure to show your divemaster and buddy that your gages are in feet and psi and explain to them what that means. A full tank is 200bar (3000 psi), half a tank is 100 bar (1500 psi), etc. You dont want any confusion while on the dive so get this out of the way on the surface. One other tip, there is a common sign in use in Europe that I wasnt familiar with. To indicate 100 bar (half a tank), use what in the US would look like a time-out signal from football, i.e. a T made with your palms flat. I think this derives from the UK slang ton meaning 100, as in I was doing a ton meaning 100mph. anyway, there you go. I also saw this in use in the BVI by British divemasters, even though they were diving psi, to indicate half a tank.
So off to the Zenobia at 0700 one morning. Cydive runs this once a week on Thursdays and rents a large comfortable bus. About 20 divers. Load all the tanks, including spares, drop tanks, count the Nitrox tanks, everbodys gear, off we go. Were doing two dives on the Zenobia so thats some 50 tanks altogether. About 1.5-2 hr drive to Larnaca harbor and unload all the tanks and gear onto the boat.
The Zenobia went down in 1980, near the harbor, over a couple of days when the automatic balancing system went nuts and pumped too much water to one side. She rolled slowly on her side and went to the bottom with a complete cargo of semi-trailers on deck. Its all still there as there was no legal agreement reached on salvage. Consequently there is a lot to see. Since she went down so close to harbor, the boat ride from the dock is literally 10 minutes or so and quickly we are getting ready to dive. We are moored on a buoy above the wreck. There is a line straight down to the wreck at midships. Top of the wreck is about 70 feet if I recall.
Another nice safety touch, Cydive send down a divemaster who ties off two drop tanks each with a regulator at the bottom of the line. Im diving Nitrox and they watch carefully as I analyze before the dive. These guys are making me feel good.
First dive is down the line at midships then descend to about 110 and make our way back to the stern and propellers. Wow, this things are huge! Then circling around the stern to the other side we see the semi-trailers laying on their side on the bottom, still full of their cargo, still with glass in the windows. Ive put just a couple of pictures here, but you can find many more at my website, link is below. I had bought a wide angle lens for this trip, Im glad I did!
Gradually we ascend back up as we make our way around so we end up again back at around 70, then back up the line, or near it anyway, for a careful ascent and stop. Back on the boat the divemaster goes around asking for max depth. 35.3 38.4 115! That gets a laugh because I report mine in feet. Cydive gives us a full lunch between dives, and we hang out in the sunshine on deck eating.
Second dive, same drill. Down the line, group up and head off this time forwards to the bow. Were above it but you can see the bulb shape that is below the waterline at the bow. We do a 5 minute penetration of the wreck into the restaurant. Since the ship is on its side, this feels like a tall space but very narrow left to right. Were not wreck diving technically because all the windows have been removed so its not an overhead environment. This wreck has claimed several lives of people who did stupid penetrations without training and equipment. Thats not happening to us today.
All too soon were back on the boat and our dives are over. Haul all the gear back and snooze on the bus ride back to Paphos. If you are ever on the island of Cyprus, this is an absolute must. I recommend Cydive highly if you happen to be in Paphos. As you can see they impressed me. The Zenobia is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of dive. If I had more time, I would have gone back over and over, theres so much to see.
Cheers Gareth Richards Cincinnati
This report was posted on the original board in 2003. I am reposting for the new board due to the unusual dive location. Pictures are here http://homepage.mac.com/jetlife2/diving/.
On a family vacation to Cyprus in June of 2003 I took all my dive gear specifically to do this dive. I stayed in Paphos on the west side of the island.
Cyprus has many dive operators and I was easily able to arrange to do some warm up diving each day. The diving in the eastern Mediterranean is fun but not that visually inspiring. I had previously dived in Bodrum Turkey and knew what to expect...warm water, good times, but little marine life by Caribbean standards. Bottom is sand, rock and grass. But I'd rather be diving than just about anything else! Getting a morning dive in and then sitting in the sun at a sidewalk bar with a cold beer at lunch time is a great way to start the day, regardless.
I used a dive operator called Cydive located in Paphos. Many of the dive operators in the Eastern Med. are run by Brits - this was no exception. What this usually means is that there is a high degree of professionalism and safety. I was impressed with their attention to detail - as an example the divemaster insisted on a careful buddy to buddy check before entering the water, which he watched each buddy pair complete. After the dive they took data on max depth and dive time from each diver.
I selected Cydive based on their web site, and the fact that they offered Nitrox, which I wanted to use on the Zenobia. Offering Nitrox is also a good indicator of the size of the operation because of the additional complexity in equipment needed. The Zenobia is in Larnaca , about a 90 minute drive from Paphos, and they run one trip a week: more on that later.
Much of Cydives business is resort-course for tourists, but they also run daily trips for certified divers. The morning trips are for AOW certified folk and the afternoon for less experienced people. This was a nice touch as it provided a screen so that people were roughly grouped by ability.
Some notes here for other US divers planning on traveling to Europe. Be sure to call ahead and find out what tank valves are in use. Of course in the US, Mexico and Caribbean the standard is the yoke-type - but DIN fittings can be used in Europe. Both in Turkey and Cyprus, however, I found that US-style valves were in use. I therefore was able to use my regulator with no problem however, the tanks themselves were different shape and volume, being metric. The tanks tended to be greater diameter and shorter than I am used to so I had to completely readjust my BC strap. If you are like me you rarely have to do this! Another obvious point worth mentioning is that in Europe the divers use meters and bar, not feet and psi. Be sure to show your divemaster and buddy that your gages are in feet and psi and explain to them what that means. A full tank is 200bar (3000 psi), half a tank is 100 bar (1500 psi), etc. You dont want any confusion while on the dive so get this out of the way on the surface. One other tip, there is a common sign in use in Europe that I wasnt familiar with. To indicate 100 bar (half a tank), use what in the US would look like a time-out signal from football, i.e. a T made with your palms flat. I think this derives from the UK slang ton meaning 100, as in I was doing a ton meaning 100mph. anyway, there you go. I also saw this in use in the BVI by British divemasters, even though they were diving psi, to indicate half a tank.
So off to the Zenobia at 0700 one morning. Cydive runs this once a week on Thursdays and rents a large comfortable bus. About 20 divers. Load all the tanks, including spares, drop tanks, count the Nitrox tanks, everbodys gear, off we go. Were doing two dives on the Zenobia so thats some 50 tanks altogether. About 1.5-2 hr drive to Larnaca harbor and unload all the tanks and gear onto the boat.
The Zenobia went down in 1980, near the harbor, over a couple of days when the automatic balancing system went nuts and pumped too much water to one side. She rolled slowly on her side and went to the bottom with a complete cargo of semi-trailers on deck. Its all still there as there was no legal agreement reached on salvage. Consequently there is a lot to see. Since she went down so close to harbor, the boat ride from the dock is literally 10 minutes or so and quickly we are getting ready to dive. We are moored on a buoy above the wreck. There is a line straight down to the wreck at midships. Top of the wreck is about 70 feet if I recall.
Another nice safety touch, Cydive send down a divemaster who ties off two drop tanks each with a regulator at the bottom of the line. Im diving Nitrox and they watch carefully as I analyze before the dive. These guys are making me feel good.
First dive is down the line at midships then descend to about 110 and make our way back to the stern and propellers. Wow, this things are huge! Then circling around the stern to the other side we see the semi-trailers laying on their side on the bottom, still full of their cargo, still with glass in the windows. Ive put just a couple of pictures here, but you can find many more at my website, link is below. I had bought a wide angle lens for this trip, Im glad I did!
Gradually we ascend back up as we make our way around so we end up again back at around 70, then back up the line, or near it anyway, for a careful ascent and stop. Back on the boat the divemaster goes around asking for max depth. 35.3 38.4 115! That gets a laugh because I report mine in feet. Cydive gives us a full lunch between dives, and we hang out in the sunshine on deck eating.
Second dive, same drill. Down the line, group up and head off this time forwards to the bow. Were above it but you can see the bulb shape that is below the waterline at the bow. We do a 5 minute penetration of the wreck into the restaurant. Since the ship is on its side, this feels like a tall space but very narrow left to right. Were not wreck diving technically because all the windows have been removed so its not an overhead environment. This wreck has claimed several lives of people who did stupid penetrations without training and equipment. Thats not happening to us today.
All too soon were back on the boat and our dives are over. Haul all the gear back and snooze on the bus ride back to Paphos. If you are ever on the island of Cyprus, this is an absolute must. I recommend Cydive highly if you happen to be in Paphos. As you can see they impressed me. The Zenobia is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of dive. If I had more time, I would have gone back over and over, theres so much to see.
Cheers Gareth Richards Cincinnati
