Diving in Sicily

[WDiver78]

Hi there, I am planning to get my Nitrox license in the summer and am wondering if there are any good dive stores in Palermo that someone can vouch for. How is the diving there in general? Is it worth it?

 

[CarstenS]

Hi there, I am planning to get my Nitrox license in the summer and am wondering if there are any good dive stores in Palermo that someone can vouch for. How is the diving there in general? Is it worth it?

I love diving around Sicily, and Palermo is wonderful, but while there are serviceable dives not too far from the city, I wouldn‘t go out of my way for them. There‘s a good spot about 30-40 mins due East by car off Porticello (Secca della Formica); there‘s a good diveshop in Porticello that has Nitrox. But anything on the coast gets pretty crowded in summer; don‘t expect untouched nature…
Far better to take a ferry to Ustica (90 mins, with several daily connections) where there‘s some of the best diving in the Med IMHO. Nitrox isn‘t very common, but often available upon request, so I‘d phone ahead to make sure.
Otherwise, in the area the Egadi are lovely (I really like Marettimo - La Cattedrale is one of the coolest sites I have done, and Davide at Blu Tek is great), but that‘s 90 mins by car to Trapani plus ferry times - perhaps a bit far, and not sure who does Nitrox there.

Have fun!