MS Zenobia Wreck
Name: Zenobia
Location: Larnaca [1.5km from shore]
Depth: 42m
Sank: 7th June 1980
Level: Open Water Diver +
Temperature: 16c [Winter] to 27c [Summer]
Visibility: 10m – 40m
At 10,000 tonnes, 172m long and 28m wide; the World famous ‘MS Zenobia Wreck’ now lies on her portside at 42m on a bed of sand and rocks just 10minutes from Larnaca Marina. The Zenobia is a versatile dive site and can be enjoyed as an open water diver along the starboard side of the ship at 16m; moving up to a more advanced dive inside the upper car deck and accommodation block for experienced Advanced Open Water divers and above.
Rated as one of the top 10 shipwrecks in the World, and hailed the most penetrable wreck in the Mediterranean, the Zenobia, a Swedish roll-on-roll-off ferry; sank on her maiden voyage off Larnaca’s fishing harbour on 7th June 1980 due to a ballast problem.
Surrounding the ship and scattered through the cargo decks are 104 articulated lorries, cars, military equipment, games, food and telecommunication systems which all went down when the ship sank in 1980. There was also a truckload of frozen animals on board when the ship went down so the bones of the animals can be seen on the second car deck.
Elpida Wreck
Name: Elpida
Location: Larnaca
Depth: 30m
Sank: 7th December 2019
Level: Advanced Open Water Diver +
Temperature: 16c [Winter] to 27c [Summer]
Visibility: 10m – 40m
Elpida [meaning ‘hope’ in Greek] is a commercial vessel from Greece that is 63 metres long and sank on 7th December 2019 as an artificial reef in Larnaca, a short 25minute boat ride from the Marina.
She sits upright on a sandy seabed at 30m, making it a great site for Advanced Open Water divers. As she was purposely sank; there has been a thorough cleaning inside making her ideal for penetration and for Wreck speciality courses.
