Diving near Roma? 7/27-7/30/12???

T. Bix · Jul 27, 2012

I'm in Roma for a few days and have my gear along for the ride (sans tanks and weights). Can anybody direct me to an operator to dive this weekend or early next week (July 27-30)? I have been trying to find operators on my own but have not been able to get responses. Any help is much appreciated.

Oldbear · Jul 27, 2012

T. Bix,

If you have the time and means to make it down to the Napoli region I suggets Centro Sub Campi Flegrei

They dive the north end of Naples' Bay and are the only dive opertor I know of who is allowed into the the underwater Park of Baiae. The underwater Park of Baiae is a Roman archilogical site that sunk when Mt. Vesuvious erupted. Most people visit Pompai, but how cool is it to dive in an underwater Roman village.

The dives are easy...5m and a truly life time adventure.

Whether you make the dives or not I hope you enjoy Roma...

Caio,

~Me~

T. Bix · Jul 27, 2012

I am currently in Roma and it is difficult finding an operator that is in the business of actually diving near Roma.... most of what I'm finding is geared toward tourist operations in the red sea. I have my gear sans tanks and weights and want to dive but am at a dead end at this point. I'm open to suggestions but cannot leave the area as I'm tied to work.

1bubbleoff · Jul 28, 2012

Bix...this any good??

scubish.com: Scuba diving Roma - Italy - Europe

bubble

ElChe · Jul 29, 2012

It's easy to go Ostia from Rome where you can find some dive operators. I dived with Sabrina from the Blue Marlin, they usually go to the Tor Paterno national park, plenty of life there.
Blue Marlin Sport

T. Bix · Jul 31, 2012

I ended up going with the hotel's recommendation of Argentario Divers ( www.argentariodivers.it ) although they were one of the shops that didn't reply to my messages the hotel staff was key to communicating with the dive op.

The day started out early as I had to take a train ride from Roma to Argentario........ After writing three paragraphs about just getting to the marina I decided to edit for brevity......
Eleven of us and our gear were crammed into.... maybe onto a 24 foot RIB for a 40 minute ride out to the isle of Giannutri for a two splash charter. The dives were briefed in Italian but as luck would have it the important hand signals are similar enough that it works out okay. The first dive was on more of a rocky mound than a coral reef but it did have some decent life but not much color. I've never dived the Med before so I'm not sure what it should look like but it is pretty drab compared to the Indian or Pacific Oceans. First dive was 113 feet and 46 min run time with no deco obligation and water temps of 63 F at depth to 75 f near the surface viz was easily 100+ feet with some particulates but no haze or algae to obscure vision the sandy bottom is reported to be down around 240 and I could easily make out detail down there from 100 feet after moving out away from the reef. There were some nice smaller corals and sea grasses some decent sized crabs and smaller lobster here and there stuffed into the nooks and crannies and lots of smaller schooling fish hugging the reef. Second dive was much better! This was a wall and I'd have to say even though it was only a few minutes from the other site it has tons more life maybe it's not as molested.... who knows? Depth was 105 feet and a run time of 50 mins with similar temps and again no deco obligation. There were lots of very fragile looking elkhorn and very dainty looking corals and some pretty good sized fans with lots of crab and lobster jammed in just about every available space. Again I could easily make out detail down on the sandy bottom with the most important detail being what I didn't see...... A great White shark looking to taste some scuba divers! I kept an eye on the bottom just to be sure!

All in all I suppose it was a pretty typical experience for a European dive operator as it was pretty similar to my trip to Portugal earlier this year Maybe we are spoiled maybe we are too demanding but in both cases I found the people to be warm and welcoming and immediately felt comfortable. The only negative I would say about the whole thing would be a critique of some of the other "local" divers. I was appalled by a lack of consideration for the reef and an apparent lack of basic skills even among some supposedly "highly experienced" divers...... sadly shameful.

bruges00 · Jul 31, 2012

if you do not mind doing a couple of hrs drive, you can head to abruzzo (the region next to lazio) and do some diving at the Lago di Capo d'Acqua (a mountain artifical lake which they created decades ago to make electricity)
They submerged among other things a small ghost village and one can still dive to see what is left of that ruins (among which, 3 windmills from the middle age, quite well kept)

if you google it you can find all the infoi and also the name of the dive centre which runs the place (cant remember it right now)

Oldbear · Jul 31, 2012

T. Bix,

At least you got to go diving, that is what is important. Actually blowing bubbles sure does beat reading about it any day.

Diving near Roma? 7/27-7/30/12???

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