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I am looking at going diving in Greece and weighing the options of diving off the mainland (near Dimitrios) or Santorini. Are there any recommendations on this, comments on the differences to be expected in the diving experience/aquatic life/dive sites, or suggestions on why one may be a better location experience than the other?
I have previously visited the mainland (not diving), but not Santorini, and have not dived in Greece before.

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I am not a diver but have browsed so many Greek Forums, that I have learned that scuba diving is disappointing to divers who are used to the Caribbean or the Pacific with its coral, and abundant colorful fish schools. I certainly have talked to snorkelers who had expected to find a lot of undersea life near ports and of course found almost nothing. The Mediterranean/Aegean was seriously overfished in 3-4 decades following WW II due to hardship in countries like Greece ...and the fish stock never has recovered, and coral is not largely present. Further, Greece banned diving until 2004 or so, due to dangers of pilfering undersea ancient artifacts for illegal sail. However it is now legal in all but a few areas such as Delos: This website tells about facilities found in Santorini : http://greece.greekreporter.com/2014/06/13/a-complete-guide-to-scuba-diving-in-greece/ This excellent website has descriptions of MANY rewarding dive sites: http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/europe/greece-diving.html It stresses the different underwater experiences (caves, wrecks) and also where fish are more abundant.

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Where is Dimitrios? Do you mean the shipwreck on Valtaki beach?

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Dimitrios seems to be located about 1hr south of Athens on the western coast. I am not very familiar with the area, aside from that.
While I know not to expect abundant sea life, I am hoping to find a place to dive that interesting, perhaps based on rock formations, etc. My primary objective is to get my AOWD certification while in Greece, so a great dive location isn't the main focus but it would be a nice bonus. Based on certified instructors locations, the peninsula south of Athens area and Santorini showed up on my searches, but any other dive shop location recommendations would be welcome.

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