Discover Scuba Diving Experience Protaras

The dive centre and your theory lesson

Your experience begins at the dive centre in Protaras, where an instructor runs a 20- to 30-minute lesson in plain language. You learn how the regulator and buoyancy jacket work, how to equalise the pressure in your ears, the simple hand signals divers use and what to do if your mask lets in a little water. Everyone completes a short medical questionnaire here, which is standard for any try dive in Cyprus.

Then you are fitted with a wetsuit, mask, fins, buoyancy jacket and tank. Many people ask whether scuba diving in Protaras is safe for beginners: the combination of a calm briefing, small groups and a shallow site makes this one of the gentlest ways to try. After the dive you come back here to relax with light refreshments and watch the photos from your dive on screen.

Shallow-water practice at the beach

A short drive takes you to a local beach where the water is calm and only waist to chest deep. Here you put your face in the water and take your first breaths through the regulator while standing, so the feeling becomes natural before you swim off. Your instructor then practises a few key skills with you, such as clearing water from your mask and recovering your regulator.

This part is unhurried. The east coast of Cyprus is known for clear, sheltered water and sandy entries, which is why so many divers learn here. Only when you feel comfortable does your instructor lead you deeper, so nervous first-timers and confident swimmers can both enjoy the dive at their own pace.

Blue Bay, your first dive site

Blue Bay is a sheltered rocky cove on the Protaras coast with pale sand patches, boulders and clear turquoise water. Your guided dive here goes to a maximum depth of 6 metres, deep enough to feel truly underwater, shallow enough for complete beginners. Visibility on this coast is often excellent, and the water ranges from cool in spring to bath-warm in late summer.

Typical sightings include shoals of bream, damselfish, colourful wrasse, rainbow-coloured parrotfish and, with luck, an octopus hiding in the rocks. Your instructor gives you some fish food so the shoals gather around you, a favourite moment of every dive in Protaras. Photos are taken during the dive and can be bought afterwards if you wish.

Protaras, a beginner's diving coast

Protaras lies on the south-east coast of Cyprus, between Ayia Napa and Famagusta, and is best known for Fig Tree Bay and the rocky shoreline that runs south towards Cape Greco. Its sheltered coves, warm water and gentle seabed make it one of the most popular places on the island for a first dive and for beginner scuba diving near Ayia Napa.

The best time to try scuba diving in Protaras is from May to November, when the sea is warmest; summer brings water around the high twenties Celsius. Because divers should not fly within 18 hours after diving, plan this experience early in your holiday rather than on your last day. Pickup and drop-off make it easy to fit into a beach morning.