In the summer of 2025, it is estimated that the first diving park in Crete will be open to visitors, which is located in the sea area of Ombrosgyalos, in the municipality of Apokoronas in the prefecture of Chania. Speaking to Athens News Agency, the mayor of Apokoronas, Charalambos Koukianakis, spoke of a dream that is becoming a reality, since as he explained, this is a project a project that faced many problems. In order for the first licensed diving park in Greece to become a reality, 10 years of efforts and 46 approvals from the competent ministries as well as dozens of government gazettes that canceled each other out, as the Mayor explained.
After this, the municipality of Apokoronas can now serve as a guide for other municipalities in the country regarding the way it emerged victorious from the bureaucratic procedures, noted Mr. Koukianakis. Focusing on the next steps of the implementation of the diving park, the technical work for its implementation has now progressed.
Specifically, on October 9, 37 artificial reefs were sunk in the sea area of Ombrosgyalos, with the aim of revitalizing marine life, as well as 7 special buoys (4 photobuoys) will be placed with the aim of attracting vessels by sea. In the meantime, two decommissioned naval ships are expected to be moored in the near future, enriching the diving park under construction.
In any case, in the summer of 2025, Mr. Koukianakis estimates that the diving park will be ready for diving enthusiasts. In fact, for this purpose, 3 diving routes for advanced and beginners will be created. At the same time, accessibility projects in the Ombrosgyalos area will soon be underway, as well as infrastructure projects for divers.
The municipality of Apokoronas is the second largest tourist destination for visitors to the prefecture of Chania as a whole. Every day during the tourist season, 70,000 thousand people visit it and for this reason the municipality is betting on enriching the tourist product with alternative forms of tourism.
Focusing on the importance of diving tourism for Greece, it is recalled that Deputy Minister of Tourism Elena Rapti had emphasized to the Athens News Agency that diving tourism as a dynamically developing special form of tourism in our country that is addressed to amateur divers but also to entire families contributes positively to the expansion of the tourist season.
Furthermore, every diver who visits Greece is a quality visitor who spends multiple amounts. The diving public are high-value visitors, as their tourist expenditure must also include the cost of practicing their activity, i.e. an additional 50% of the average tourist expenditure. Diving, therefore, can primarily attract visitors, benefiting different from the usual sectors of tourism instead of simply generating revenue from classic tourist traffic, explains Mrs. Rapti.
Source: newmoney.gr
