The Italian coast is famous for its picturesque villages, windy roads, tunnels and good cuisine. But what is not known by everybody is that it is a wreck diver’s paradise as well. The water temperature in May was 17 degrees Celsius, air temperature between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius. Current is minimal also no tidal waters.
The environment of Portofino is expensive, but very beautiful. For non-divers it offers a lot of sight seeing opportunities. But don’t lend out your creditcard to the non-diving partner…
The Italian diving industry is now discovering the benefits of trimix diving and more and more diving stations are providing trimix fillings even up to 300 bar. Also rebreather diving is becoming more popular. Although quite a lot of Italians stick to their favorite way of diving: OC deep Air dives up to 70 meters…, I expect a strong growth of technical diving.
Just of the coast of Liguria at Santa Margharita Ligure the technical diver can find a dozen of wrecks in depths varying from 35 meters to 100 meters. And that in the relatively clear and warm waters of the Mediterranean Sea visibility is usually between 10 and 25 meters. An average boat ride to the wrecks takes between 10 and 40 minutes. One can make wreck dives all day long, since there is no tide.
In the week from May 5th until May 9th the team from PTD (Pims Tek Diving: www.tekdiving.nl) "did" several wrecks. Monday and Tuesday were for wrecks in the 60 meter range, Wednesday a wreck in the 70 meter range, Thursday a wreck in the 80 meter range and Friday a wreck in the 90 meter range. In December last year the team made a few dives on the "famous" Haven with a maximum depth of 82 meters. Most of the wrecks were sunk during WWI or WWII. Some of the wrecks are sunk by heavy weather or accidents.
GENOVA
Only ten minutes by boat of the harbor of Santa Margharita di Liguria, just at the entrance of the port of Portofino, lays in 60 meters of water the wreck of the GENOVA. The depth and close reach of the wreck makes it relatively easy to dive. It’s an ideal wreck for normoxic dives and as warming up dive for the deeper wrecks later on. A German U-boat sank the GENOVA in WWI (1917). The GENOVA was transporting war equipment. The GENOVA is a cargo ship of 3500 tons and is 100 meters long. The bow points in the direction of Chiavari. The wreck is still in good condition. The anchors have been taken away. The diver can look through the portholes into the cabins. One can still find some "memorabilia" in the wreck. It makes a nice dive which can be made almost every day, because it is protected against strong winds by the cliffs of Portofino. Visibility can be poor, due to the fact that the harbor of Portofino is quite close and bigger cruiseships tend to anchor close to Portofino, close to the wreck. The position of the wreck is upright. Although the wreck can be penetrated it is advised to take care since a lot of silt and mud is inside the wreck. At the stern the diver can see part of the propeller a big part is sunk in the mud.
MOHAWK DEER
Another wreck is that of a CARGOSHIP which ran into the cliffs of Portofino. She lays in 45 meters of water. This wreck is quite funny to dive as a second dive on the day, because the broken bow starts at 18 meters and the open stern stops at 42 meters. One can completely swim through the wreck and come out at 42 meters in a forest of gorgones. The wreck lays in the protected Underwater Reserve of Portofino.
KT
One of the nicest wrecks to div is the KT (max depth 59 meters, min depth 45 meters). She is a private ship from French origins. The Germans transformed the ship into a warship in WWII. This time the British torpedoed her. She lays in the large of Sestri Levante. She is in upright position. One can still see both anchors at the bow. The wreck is in good condition and has historical value. From the bow one can penetrate the wreck. The KT was provided with two anti-aircraft guns and 4 machine guns. The KT has 2 bridges of which one is fortified. The mast is still in place and rises op to 35 meters. Two machineguns are still in their original position. They remained uncovered for a long time because a fishnet kept them out of sight. In the engine room the diver finds two engines. From that point of the wreck is mainly destroyed. However one can still see the big canon. Again: penetration can be dangerous, since the structure of the wreck is instable and the pass ways are quite narrow.
MARCELLA
The MARCELLA (max depth 67 meters, min depth 44 meters) is the wreck of an originally French fishing boat. She was transformed during WOII into a torpedo boat hunter. The boatride takes about 30 minutes. She lays in front of Framura. The wreck has been broken into two pieces. The bow is pointing upwards: it looks like if the ship is wanting to ascent. The front part lays partly over the back part of the wreck which is in upright position. The anchors are still there. It is fascinating to look inside the wreck’s structure through the entrance of the back part. The ammunition racks are still in place but empty. Around the wreck depth charges are laying around. The slides for the depth charges are on 65 meters. And also the place where two machine guns were attached is still a sign of the war ambitions of the ship. Also the big canon can be found on the bottom. The ship has three castles. The biggest one is the Command Bridge, which could be penetrated. But the structure of the wreck makes that a rather hazerdous project.
LA FOCE
LA FOCE (maximum depth 82 meters, min depth 69 meters) which means "estuary" in Italian, is the wreck of a merchant ship. She was transporting ammunition and steel. She was torpedoed during WWII in front of Sestri Levante. The bows points in the direction of the North. She lays parallel of the coast. Because of the weight of the cargo, only part of the wreck sticks out of the mud, of which the three castles are the most significant part. She is also in upright position with a slight inclination to the left. The propellers are covered by fishnets. Since the holds are opened by the explosion, ammunition can be found around the wreck (with the size of a 7 ltr tank…). The crane jibs are still impressive there are two of them.
One is not sure that it really is the wreck of LA FOCE. LA FOCE has been torpedoed and divers discovered that the ship could probably be sunk by a collision: the bow shows signs of a big impact. The hole made by the torpedo has not been discovered (could be somewhere below the "mud-line"). Maybe that penetrating the wreck and discovering some clues on the origin can give more certainty.
ISCHIA
The ISCHIA (max depth 92 meters, min depth 78 meters) (the name of an Island off Napels) is from the beginning of the nineteenth century. She was a liner passenger ship. It was torpedoed in WWII just before the coast of Portofino. Only recently have technical divers explored the wreck. However in the forties of last century, helm divers tried to penetrate the wreck and salvage goods. Therefore they mad a hole in the ship to be able to go inside. Of course the hole is still there, but we didn’t go inside. The bow points in the direction of Genova. She lays on her larboard side. The part of the bow is the most beautiful part of the wreck, although it is disappointing that the anchors aren’t in place anymore. The command bridge in the front of the wreck can be penetrated easily: the wooden structures make access without big danger possible. The place where the lifeboats were hung up are still in place. The ISCHIA makes an impressive dive.
ITALIAN DIVING
Italian diving rules can be quite "misty". Like in France divers are required to have local standby divers in the water and/or on the boat. Depending on the diving school several options are available… Also one Certified technical Instructor needs to be in the water with every three technical divers. The Instructor can be of any recognized association. The accompanying diver from the Italian diving school needs to be certified by an Italian Government approved association. Local diving schools have the details on any regulations which can change frequently. So you are advised to check hem out before you go there.
Divers are now looking for the wreck of the U455 in 110 meters of water. When it’s found and dived, I’ll let you know…
GASSES
Helium and Oxygen are available through Portofinodivers (www.portofinodivers.com). Probably in the future also Sofnalime for FCCR divers will be available (I’m planning to give a (trimix) Inspiration course in September).
