From a divers perspective this can be exciting and since the Mediterranean has very little to offer in terms of marinebiology allthough with an amazing visibility,wreckdiving appears an exciting alternative.

Subsequently we did our research and found a Heinkel bomberplane our first alternative. Situated on the northeast coast of Leros on 16m depth it was reasonably easy to find with our fishfinder. Not knowing the rules though concerning diving in Greece we contacted one of the divecenters on the island.

To our dismay though we were told that all diving on wrecks older than 50 years is forbidden in Greece if not organised by a divecenter !

I can understand wrecks from antique times but to have all wreckdiving under the wings of the divingindustry must be due to economical reasons from a commercialised divingworld (in this case PADI) and strong lobby (in the name of security and preserving antiques).

The same development (allthough not to the same extent) can be seen in the cruisingworld were the nautical schoolindustry is lobbying for different levels of certifications to be allowed to drive boats.

After more than 40 years on the seas I have met many remarkably skillfull and experienced cruisers with many hundreds of thousands of nautical miles behind them but with no certifications what so ever. Their skills and experience goes beyond any nautical book out there and many times they handle critical situations with a great deal of intuition that can never be found in a book.

(The uw-pictures from the Heinkel is from internet )