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Scuba diving at Elephant Cave in Crete
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Elephant Cave

GREAT
CreteBoat
About This Site
Widely cited as the finest dive in Crete and one of the most famous in Greece, the Elephant Cave is a submerged cavern on the open coast of Cape Drapano, just outside Souda Bay. Discovered by a spearfisher in 1999, its entrance lies at about 10 m and opens into a roughly 40 m tunnel that leads to an immense 125 m hall hung with red-and-white stalactites and stalagmites. The cave is named for the fossilised bones of an extinct dwarf elephant (Elephas chaniensis), found here alongside deer remains dated to 50,000-60,000 years ago. Striking light effects near the entrance and the unique geology make it the signature Chania boat dive.

Difficulty

Intermediate

Max Depth

12m

Type

Boat

Typical Visibility

24m

Conditions Summary

Best time today

6AM - 12PM

GREAT

Best day in forecast

Tomorrow

GREAT

2026-07-12

Community-reported visibility

n/a

Warnings for today

None

The cavern sits on the open north-east face of Cape Drapano, just outside Souda Bay and looking out across the Sea of Crete, so it takes the full reach of the summer Meltemi (N-NW) and any wind-wave fetch from the N through E. The peninsula and Souda Bay behind it (S-SW-W) shelter those landward sectors completely. There is no real tide or ocean swell, but on Meltemi days surge can build at the 10 m entrance even though the long tunnel keeps the interior hall calm.

NNEESESSWWNW
Protected
Partially Exposed
Exposed
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Nearby Dive Sites
The Cathedral (Cathedral Cave)SS Minnewaska WreckDia Island (Petalidi)Chania Diving Park (Nestor Tugboat Wreck)El Greco CaveMesserschmitt Bf-109 Wreck (Agia Pelagia)Sunken City of OlousShinaria (Shinaria Bay)