Jumping Back In

My wife and I realized it had been far too long since our last dive — back in October 2021! Wanting to ease back into it the right way, we booked refresher dives with Omega Divers, a PADI 5-star Instructor Development Center.

After filling out the usual paperwork and waiting for the Discover Scuba Diving briefing to wrap up, we loaded our gear onto the pickup truck and hopped into the minibus. A short 10-minute drive brought us to Koutalas Beach, down a steep, narrow, and winding road. Thankfully, no goats were harmed in the making of this trip!

The beach is in a charming bay, well-protected from the breeze and a definite suntrap. The shore is covered with large, round pebbles and stones, sloping gently into the water. Like many of Crete’s hidden gems, it’s mostly frequented by locals and those in the know — small families with children, couples, and of course, divers like us.

Eager to escape the sun, we quickly suited up. Once in the refreshing water, we ran through a few skill checks, including mask clearing and regulator recovery. Then, we set off for an underwater tour of the bay. Along the right side, we swam around and over large boulders before crossing the sparse entrance to the bay, eventually reaching a deep trench at the base of the wall. We swam up the trench, navigating over massive boulders until we reached about 5 meters. A leisurely swim towards our exit point took care of our safety stop, and soon we were back on the beach, facing the sweltering heat once again.

Throughout the dive, we saw an abundance of fish — more marine life than we’ve encountered on previous dives at nearby Elephant Cave/Lighthouse Wall or Marathi/Minnewaska Wreck over the past three years.

Now it’s time to book some more dives, both for us and for family who will be joining us in a couple of weeks!