Normally in late October we have our annual trip to Cumbrae/Largs on the west coast of Scotland. This year we decided to have a change and treat ourselves to a little more sun and warmth. After considering the Red Sea and many other possibilities we agreed to fly to Cyprus to dive. The main attraction being the chance to dive the Zenobia, a wreck lying outside of Larnaca harbour which is rated by many divers to be in the top 10 wreck dives of the world.
The Zenobia was a Swedish roll-on roll off ferry which in June of 1980 was traveling from Sweden to Syria. She reached Cyprus at the of port Larnaca, where here she developed a problem with the ballast computer, which led to water being pumped to the port tanks which in turn became the main cause in her sinking.
She was carrying 104 articulated trucks valued at £200,000,000 the salvage rights to the wreck have never been agreed.
The Zenobia lies on a sandy sea bed on her port side at approximately 42 metres fully intact, including the main propellers, all her cargo as well as the Captains Blue Skoda car!
We arranged an inclusive dive package holiday with Alpha Divers based in Larnaca, this included flights from Manchester/Lanaca, Accommodation in city centre apartments close to the harbour and 6 days diving with between 2/3 dives a day. The dives were all carried out using 28% EAN x gas mix for safety purposes.
Our diving started the morning after our arrival with the warm (24 degree C) Mediterranean Sea awaiting, everyone was 
expectant and excited at the same time of how good the diving would be.
Arriving at the site of the Zenobia wreck we received a full dive briefing, which occurred for all the dives throughout the week. We were assigned Dive guides who would lead us on all our dives.
The first dive of the trip was to be a familiarisation dive on the Zenobia. The decent/assent to and from the wreck was always via the fixed shot line which is securely fixed mid ship to the wreck allowing divers to carry out safety stops using the shot line
The first dive included a trip across the hull to the stern of the ship to visit and swim around the twin propellers of the ship, on the return trip to the shot line the local resident turtle made a short appearance which was a great bonus for a fantastic first dive.
The following day due to windier conditions we went shore Diving to the Greko caves and the underwater sculpture park (MUSAN) at Ayia Napa https://musan.com.cy/about
The next day with the wind having abated we spent our time diving on the Zenobia and also on the wreck of the Elpida. A ship sunk on purpose to create an artificial reef.
The following morning was to be our last dive of the week on the Zenobia, and Alpha Divers had left the best dive of the week to the last, a penetration dive into the main engine room at the stern of the wreck at around 35-40 m.
Everyone agreed a most memorable and enjoyable last dive to round off a fantastic week’s diving.
A big thank you goes to the APLHA Divers team, especially to the dive guides who were extremely professional,
approachable and good natured and made the week extremely pleasurable.
Bill Ritchie
Preston Divers
