Zenobia Wreck Diving

The Zenobia Wreck

The MS Zenobia Wreck in Cyprus is consistently voted within the top ten of wrecks in the world to dive. Chosen for Divers by Divers, she is affectionately known as “The Zen”.

Sitting in 42 metres of seawater, just 1,500 metres from the Larnaca Coastline, Zenobia's place in the diveable wrecks Hall of Fame has been sealed. With excellent visibility, minimal current and a wide range of depths, the Zenobia offers outstanding diving opportunities for both recreational and technical divers.

The History

Zenobia is a roll on roll off ferry that sank on her maiden voyage from Sweden to Syria in June, 1980.

She never reached her destination, as the new computer system was causing problems with the ballast system. Each time the Ship's captain tried to compensate for the listing, she would begin to over-correct and list to the other side.

Eventually, close to Cyprus, a distress call was placed to the port authorities. Zenobia was not in good shape! The response was not quick enough coming and bit by bit, the crew worked to remove the Computer Systems and the Passengers from the ship as Zenobia continued to list, firstly to the bow then to port side.

The last time Zenobia began to list to port side all passengers and the crew finally had been evacuated. Unfortunately, a Port side door had been left open and water crept into the ship. There was no hope left for Zenobia now, she was sinking and her only hope was to be towed into shallow water in the port of Larnaca, Cyprus. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view) by the time the authorisation to dock in Larnaca arrived, there was nothing but bits of ship floating on the surface.

What is all the Fuss about?

Zenobia is the perfect wreck dive.

You can start diving this wreck with a minimum of 30m certification, which is only the 2nd training level with most diver training agencies.

At 28 metres wide, the top of the wreck sits at 18m, she stretches down to the sea-bed at 42 metres and is partially buried in it. The bulk of attractions can be found between 23m and 35m.

Diving the outside of the wreck, there is plenty to see. The articulated trucks that went down with Zenobia are scattered at varying depths from 25 metres to the sea floor and there are still 2 trucks hanging on chains from Zenobia's deck.

The propellers of Zenobia are found at the stern of the wreck. The first is at 23 metres while the second is down at around 38 metres. Visibility is usually good enough to see both from around 25m.

The canteen and the Bridge are both found at around 27 metres and are nice little swim-through penetrations for all levels of diver.

For more advanced Divers, there is the possibility of penetrating the Zenobia Wreck through the main lorry deck. This is a 72 metre swim through the upper cargo Deck of the wreck, allowing divers to see the wreckage of the trucks and cargo by torchlight.

For Divers who have technical diver training, there are multiple additional routes available including the second lorry deck that runs beneath the main cargo deck on Zenobia. Running the entire length of the wreck, this is a 172 metre penetration dive, where you can see the only car and a Forklift Truck. Don't forget your torches for this dive.

Scuba-Tech Diving Centre offers our divers a choice between one long decompression dive (around 90 minutes) on the Zenobia or two recreational dives, depending on the experience and qualification level of the divers.

Our charter boat offers plenty of shaded deck space and solid kitting-up benches, leaving port at 9am. Generally, we are back at the dive centre by 3pm, after enjoying a free BBQ lunch, courtesy of the dive boat.

Requirements & Considerations

All divers must hold appropriate certification for planned depth and penetration.
A check dive is required before any Zenobia dives.
Technical dives require recent experience and suitable equipment.
Penetration dives require wreck or technical certification.
Guided dives are conducted in small groups.
Final dive profiles remain subject to weather, conditions and guide discretion.