Hello,
I lived in Athens from 2002 to 2006 and have been an instructor since 1975. I love diving and while I lived there and worked at the US Embassy, I taught classes and dove throughout the year. So, I have a pretty good idea about what you can expect in that area.
The water is crystal clear and you can see forever, but there is nothing to see. There are very few fish and no coral. I dove around Athens and we did find a nice ship wreck nearby, but even there, the fish were not to be found. I dove out of a shop in a suburb of Athens called Papagou. The owner was named Theophyllis. His phone number was 210-654-0254. Tell him that Alan from the US Embassy told you to contact him. He knows how to get to the one wreck we found. It is a ship that was loading cement and it split in half and sunk in about 50 feet of water. The Crow's nest is sticking out of the water still. There isn't much to penetrate, but you can swim around it and check it out. The ship was called the Euro Bulker and it sunk in the early 2000's.
Other than that, there is very little to see around Athens. A lot of places are off-limits because of the archeological artifacts in the water and the SCUBA police patrol the areas and will take all your gear if they catch you diving there.
The islands are a little better. A few fish to see. My favorite is the island of Santorini. I tell people that it is where Atlantis was. The entire end of the island was blown off centuries ago and you can now dive in the caldera and with a little imagination you can see the road signs pointing to Atlantis on the bottom.
Another interesting dive I made there was on the island of Corfu. Again, not much to see, but we were making a wreck dive and when we got to the bottom, the wreck looked just like the dive boat we had just jumper off of. There are more fish to see around the islands, but still not a lot. Some of the islands prohibit diving and all of them that do allow diving have places that are off-limits.
Overall, with your trip planned for February, you would have to love diving as much as I do, to go to the bother of bringing your own stuff to dive around Athens. To be a good dive, I ask for three things 1. Clear water 2. warm water and 3. Something to see. Well, there in Athens in February you will have number 1 and no number 2 or 3. But again, as bad a picture as I am painting, I still was diving 3 to 4 weekends a month while I was there.
Good luck and let me know if you decide to do it and let me know what you thought of it. Oh, by the way, I found all three of my desires at Sharm El-Sheikh in the Red Sea. I have been there twice while living in Athens and would go back again tomorrow, if I had the chance.
Talk to you later. You can send me a note at my yahoo address....alanmayfield@yahoo.com
Later.
Alan