Santorini Dive Center

Who they are

Santorini Dive Center is a dive centre with an office in Perissa, at the start of the beach promenade, between the Campings Beach Bar and the Yazz bar, and a dive station at Caldera Beach, a small, secluded beach below the Akrotiri cliffs, under the Remezzo taverna. It is a PADI Dive Resort, a member of the Greek association of professional dive centres and of ANDI. The website gives no names of the owners or instructors, nor the year of founding; the website's copyright notice starts in 2003.

What they offer

They work with two audiences. For those without a certification: the Discover Scuba Diving introductory dive, snorkelling trips and the Open Water Diver course. For certified divers: single- or double-tank dives, private dives and multi-day packs. The ladder of PADI courses continues with Advanced Open Water, specialities in deep, night and underwater photography, Rescue Diver, EFR first aid and Divemaster internships. They also hire their 9 m boat with a skipper for half a day, and offer apartments near the sea and private excursions round the island.

The introductory dive lasts about two hours: a classroom session with the instructor on physics, physiology and signals, equipment handling, a walk-in entry from the beach, exercises in shallow water and, if all goes well, a swim to the reef at a maximum of 6 or 7 m.

Where they dive

From the small jetty at Caldera Beach a 9 m fibreglass fast boat leaves, for up to 20 people, with a 300 hp engine, emergency oxygen, first-aid kit and radio. The volcanic sites are a few minutes away. Their list includes the house reef, Mansell reef, Aspronisi and the new and old volcanoes, that is, Nea and Palea Kameni, in the middle of the caldera.

Equipment and safety

Prices include the full equipment, from Cressi or Scubapro brands, serviced annually: 5 mm suits, 3 mm shorties, booties and adjustable fins. The tanks are inspected every year and hydrostatically tested every five, and the air comes from a Bauer compressor maintained by a technician from the brand. At the station there are sun loungers and shade for the briefing, lockers, a toilet and a shower.

The website does not publish a minimum age; PADI's for the introductory dive is 10 years. Nor does it state group sizes or season, although in the Cyclades diving is concentrated between spring and autumn.

How to book

You book from the Book now section of its website or by phone on +30 22860 83190 and +30 693 264 9035. For several activities they ask for a small deposit when booking and the rest is paid afterwards. The website does not publish cancellation terms or the team's languages; the website is in English. To get from Perissa to the Akrotiri station you have to cross the island: ask whether there is a pick-up.