Operating on Kea since 1995, Kea Divers is a PADI 5-Star centre that has spent almost three
decades charting every reef, wall and current around the island . From its main base beside
picturesque Vourkari harbour—and a summer satellite station at the One&Only Kea Island
Resort—the team runs daily RIB charters to more than 25 dive sites, tailoring programmes for first-time explorers through to mixed-gas CCR expeditions.
The centre holds the rare licence required to guide within the Kea Underwater Historic Site,
granting privileged access to three legendary wrecks:
All staff are experienced technical (OC & CCR) instructors. Safety is non-negotiable: Kea Divers
follows PADI and DAN protocols, is certified by the Greek Port Authority & Coastguard, and has all cylinders, compressors and RIBs inspected by Bureau Veritas. Four fast, purpose-built RIBs (8.6-9.3 m, 250-300 hp) shorten transit times to both recreational reefs and deep-water targets .
Above water, Kea’s warm climate, boutique accommodation and short 70-minute ferry hop from Athens make it an easy long-weekend destination for families and tech teams alike. Private-ratio courses, multilingual instructors (English, Greek, Italian, French, German) and à-la-carte dive packs ensure every visitor gets a custom itinerary .
It is essentially a unique thematic underwater park which consists of three protected marine areas, within an area of 360 acres each, above the three great historic shipwrecks – contemporary monuments located at the bottom of Kea:
HMHS Britannic, the mighty ocean liner Burdigala and the beautiful paddle wheeled steamer Patris, sunk 1868. The area of the fourth wreck, the Junkers 52 aircraft, will be added soon.
Usually we set up a trip for about 10 days, targeting 5-7 dives, considering that weather conditions are not always calm enough.
Patris : Paddle wheeled steamer , sunk 1868, total length 80m, depth 28-54 m, located 8nm from our dive center. This wreck is located by a reef/rock, so there is no need to use a line to descend and ascend. We neither need deco stations.
Burdigala: Ocean liner, sunk 1916, total length 183m, depth 59-75 m. Located out in the open ocean, just 1 nm from our dive center. We need line and deco station.
Britannic: Ocean liner, sunk 1916, total length 276m, depth 84-118m Located out in the open ocean, just 3 nm from our dive center. We need line and deco station.
We do the dives when true wind speed is less than 16 knots. It is highly recommended to use scooters at Britannic and Burdigala. They are big, long wrecks and the area may have too strong currents.
First we dive Patris, then Burdigala and finally Britannic. It’s easier, to familiarize with local conditions, current etc.
We can support CCR divers that have the certificates and the capability to do such dives. Each diver has to provide the diving certificate, dive insurance and medical certificate that he is capable and fit for such dives. Divers need to be guided underwater from a properly certified guide for each wreck respectively. We need to know the age, height, and weight of each diver. It’s really nice to have references about qualifications and capability of the divers. Certificates are mandatory, but sometimes not enough.
We need to know how many dives each diver has done within the last 12 months, what kind of dives (depth, ocean or lake, strong currents or not, etc.) We need a thorough recent cardiac exam of each diver, especially for divers over 50 y.o. Divers should be prepared for such dives before coming here. Recent practice is important. We make check dives before visiting the wrecks, to make sure that each diver is ready to do such dives.
According to the new legal framework that was completed in June 2022, the dives at Britannic-Burdigala-Patris (Kea underwater Historic Park) can be conducted only by officially licensed greek dive centers. Individual divers cannot have access to the wrecks. The Greek dive centers are liable to meet the requirements of the new law. Dives need to be guided by underwater guides, representing the dive center (Keadivers in this case). Dives will be strictly non penetration. The guide has to be responsible to ensure that the divers will not penetrate within the wreck, and the maximum depth will be 100 meters, which is the depth that the CCR divers are certified to dive (CCR 100).
All wrecks are located close to our harbor in Kea, but they are out in the open ocean, in an area with strong currents and marine traffic (cargo ships). Especially Britannic. It’s important to avoid drifting deco. To be able to conduct dives we need to have wind speed less than 16 knots. When we have stronger winds, waves are getting big, creating risk for injuries and damages.
Statistically in a period of 10 days, you will be able to do 5-7 dives on average. For such expeditions we use 2 boats at least, having a third one standing by. We don’t do such open ocean – deco dives (Burdigala-Britannic) using only one boat, for safety reasons. Minimum 5 persons support team provided by Keαdivers.
It is not allowed to remove anything from the wrecks. Penetration is not allowed. Strictly.
The photos/videos can be published in social media, but not for commercial use (documentaries, movies, ads, commercials etc).
Operation
The dive centre is located 150 meters from the dock, where our boats are located. We use cars and trailers to move the gear back and forth. The diving gear can be stored at the dive centre during the expedition. At the dive centre we can fill tanks up to 300 bars and we blend gases with a Nardi TTmix/PRO, using boosters for gases that contain O2 more than 40%. Our support team has experienced tec/ccr divers and crew
Accommodation
Usually the rooms, villas or hotels are located walking distance from the dive
centre, but it’s much better to have cars during your stay on the island. (rental or yours). There are many options, from simple rooms, to upscale hotels or villas. Let me know what you prefer. Obviously you can have a first look at the main accommodation platforms ( Airbnb, booking.com etc).
Transportation
There are 2 ways to reach the island:
1. Fly to Athens int. airport, then 25 minutes drive to Lavrio harbour, and from there, the local ferry takes 70 minutes to Kea’s harbour. Our dive centre is located 4 minutes drive from Kea’s main harbour.
2. Drive to Greece with your own car (or van, to carry equipment), head to Lavrio harbour etc….In this case, usually you drive through Italy (Ancona for example) take the ferry to Patra, and from there you drive to Lavrio (3h drive).
