Scuba diving in Kea Island

Kea (also known as Gia or Tzia, Zea, and, in antiquity, Keos) is a Greek island in the Cyclades Archipelago in the Aegean Sea. The island is famous for scuba diving, with excellent visibility, rich marine life. There is awesome wall diving and the world-famous HMHS Britannic shipwreck, the sister ship of the RMS Titanic (at a depth of 120m/393ft, first discovered and explored by Jacques Cousteau, for technical divers only). There are also more wrecks that are easy to access, like the 1860 steamer Patris. The French cargo ship SS Burdigala is a recently discovered wreck, located 800m/2625ft from the island's harbor. Next to it there is a World War II airplane, the German Junker 52 that is also mainly for technical divers. In the southwestern part of the island lies the famous Koundouros Reef, one of the best diving spots in Greece. The other best sites in Kea are Treis Ammoudies, Spanopoula Rock, Platys Gialos, and Xyla Cape. There are two spots where scuba diving is prohibited due to underwater archaeological sites: Otzias Bay and Karthea Bay. Therefore, visitors can only swim or snorkel in these two areas.