In this ongoing series, we speak to the people who run snorkel centres, resorts and liveaboards from around the world about their businesses and the snorkeling they have to offer…

What is your name?

Makis Beriatos

What is the name of your business?

Blue Manta Diving & Aquanautic Club, Skala Kefalonia, Greece

What is your role within the business?

Managing Director

How long has the business operated for?

Since 2016.

How long have you snorkeled for, and what do you enjoy most about it?

Being a snorkeler (and free diver) for more than 30 years. Apart from freedom from bulky gear, snorkeling offers the opportunity not only to explore the best and most colourful parts of the coastline, but also you can share these underwater wonders with novice u/w adventurers with minimal experience, training or gear.

If you could tell people one thing about your business (or maybe more!) to make them want to visit you what would it be?

The Ionian Sea around Kefalonia is crystal clear and has huge biodiversity.

Close to our base, there are some extended offshore shoals and reefs that serve as a natural sanctuary but also are shallow enough for snorkelers to explore and perhaps spot a rare Loggerhead turtle or even an endangered Monk seal. And either within a group or in a private chartered snorkeling tour, the focus of our certified and experienced snorkeling guides is always the safety, comfort and enjoyment of our guests.

What is your favourite snorkel spot and why?

Our favourite snorkel spot is called Tilemachos’ Cave. In the heart of infamous Kakava Shoals, an offshore reef one mile from the SE tip of Kefalonia.  The site combines everything that the Mediterranean has to offer.

Within seagrass meadows (“Posidonia oceanica”) a rocky ridge rises, a death trap to ancient vessels passing through the area. At least two of those wooden merchant ships once roaming the Mediterranean, have found their final resting place here, scattering their ballast stones, lead and bronze parts of their hull and rigging and scores of amphorae – their primary cargo, proving the area a puzzle to seamen through the ages. But scuttled relics of more modern ships and boats can be seen around.

The full range of Mediterranean fish can be seen, with lots of colorful parrotfish and schools of damselfish and breams.  Quite often Loggerhead sea turtles and occasionally Monk seals are visitors to the site.

On the underside of a long shallow rocky ridge, a small yet impressive underwater cave where the dark chamber in the rock features two side-openings and one on the top acting as a skylight shedding ample light into the interior, awaits to be explored by scuba or free divers, giving the site its name.

The minimum depth of the site is 3m, while the max is 8m and, along with the crystal visibility of more than 20m, this means that snorkelers will enjoy all colorful fauna and flora. The temperature ranges between 22-27 °C in summer months and only occasionally a weak surface current may be encountered.

What is the main focus of your snorkeling trips?

We love to discover and observe marine life, but also it is hard to miss the evidence of the ancient and modern wrecks scattered around our sites. So our trips often turn into wildlife or u/w archaeology documentaries for snorkelers wanting to know more; so there is a bit of education involved. Needless to say, the visibility in the water provides great opportunities for our guests to test their u/w photography or video skills or become u/w models themselves!

What do you find most rewarding about your current role?

The chance to introduce visitors and novice underwater explorers to the marine world. This provides a chance to create new snorkelers or ambitious divers but also helps raise awareness for the ocean and underwater environment.

What is your favorite underwater creature?

I would say Mediterranean Monk Seals. Not only they are so graceful underwater, but also, they tend to interact with snorkelers when feeling not threatened. Encounters are not quite often but this adds to the excitement as one feels privileged to see such a rare and endangered marine mammal.

As a center what is the biggest problem you face at the moment?

The Global pandemic has shifted the focus from tourism, outdoor and fun activities but hopefully this will improve soon.

Is your center involved in any environmental work?

We collect and monitor plastic and other debris.

We provide monitoring for Loggerhead sea turtles and invasive species such as lionfish to environmental groups, university researchers and NGOs.

We are also involved members and certified by Green Fins / Reef World Foundation

Are there any exciting changes / developments coming up in the near future?

We constantly try to explore new sites and discover more underwater life to show our guests. Soon we’ll have another fast RHIB designated for snorkeling that will grant access to nearby islands. Also, we are designing the “U/W paths of Kefalonia”; snorkeling (and diving) itineraries, signposted not only as for route but also as for sights and u/w flora and fauna one could discover. So, visitors of the island will be able to snorkel and explore on their own in sites well explored and designed to be comfortable and safe.

How do you see the Snorkeling / Freediving / SCUBA industry overall? What changes would you make?

Scuba Diving has stood still for some years, but Freediving and Snorkeling blows a wind of change into the u/w activities. Much more progress and publicity has been achieved in the last 10 years by freedivers and snorkelers carrying their action cameras than from the dive industry in the past decades. So, I see u/w activities becoming more widespread, more athletic and popular. If I could do anything it would be to promote snorkeling further and start designing services, sites and attractions more suitable for snorkelers.

Finally, what would you say to our visitors to promote the snorkeling you have to offer?

We like to consider ourselves underwater explorers rather than snorkeling and diving operators. So, for us it is a genuine pleasure to share with our guests all the u/w discoveries we make, and as we explore more and more it means that every visit will have something new to offer, for all and always with a focus on safety and comfort.

Where can our visitors find out more about your business?

Kefalonia Snorkeling

by Blue Manta Diving & Aquanautic Club

Skala Kefalonia

Greece GR28086

www.bluemantadiving.gr    info@bluemantadiving.gr  +306981449295 

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