Marine life
Turkey is not known as a scuba diving country, but this country has coastlines of great beauty , especially in the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Turkish Riviera. Archaeological remains are the No. 1 asset of diving in this country. But you can also enjoy wreck diving on the Uçan Balik site or drop offs at Afkule Fethiye. Less experienced divers would prefer the amazing dive site of Büyük RESIF.
Best time to go diving in Turkey?
The perfect time to dive in Turkey is between April and November, the water temperature is above 21°. If possible avoid the months of July and August, they are the months with the highest concentration of tourists.
Scuba Diving conditions
Visibility : Visibility is quite good,with 20 to 40 meters vis at all depth.
Current : There is not so much current in Turkey, beginners will enjoy it.
Difficulty : Turkey is the perfect place for beginners divers, watter is even clearer as the rest of the Mediterranean sea and you won’t have to worry about current.
Water temperature: From mars to movember water is warm, you can expect 19 to 29° and the rest of year water is colder with temperature from 11 to 13°.
What to see while diving?
The aquatic fauna of Turkey includes the typical fish of the Red Sea and Mediterranean fish :
The parrot fish feeds on reef organisms, its teeth grow all his life to correct wear due to his diet.
The grouper can be, depending on the specie, protogynous hermaphrodites. In other words, this fish can change sex if this is necessary.
The moray, contrary to its bad reputation of vicious and aggressive animal, is an excessively shy fish that perfers to hide than attack.
The octopus whose blood is not red but blue because of the absence of hemoglobin.
Rays that is, depending on the species oviparous egg laying or ovoviviparous the eggs incubate and hatch in the womb.
The barracudais harvested for trade but it can be toxic because its flesh may contain a toxin: the “ciguatera”, so be careful.
Bream it name come from the Spanish verb “dorar” meaning “to brown”
Nudibranchs or also called sea slug.
Sea horselives usually attached by its tail to seaweed.
You can also see turtles in the Fethiye district, and even swim with monk seals in the Kemer and Cesme area.
Sometimes if you are lucky enought you will encounter dolphins and sharks.
