Submarine Trip to Xenobia Shipwreck

I must make a mention that the submarine I am talking about is the actual one which goes underwater, because in this part of the world, the mention of the word submarine/sub would conjure up images of mouth-watering footlongs and burgers.

I do not know to swim. I do not know even to float. I am not exactly hydrophobic, but I strongly believe a few feet of water is enough to drown me. So, when people go to bathe in the Mediterranean, here in Cyprus, I just about manage to step into the domain of the sea, maybe about a few feet inside, until i realise that I am far away (anything >5 feet) from the shore for anyone to come and rescue me, in case I start to drown. When Vidhya and I go for kayaking trips, a small wave (maybe a few cms high) is enough to rattle me and make me turn the kayak around and head for the shore. Even Vidhya pointing out that there are people standing next to me (while I am on the kayak) with water only until their tummys is not enough to convince me that I will not drown if the kayak overturns.

That pretty much sums up my experiences over-water. As regards underwater experiences, I have been brave enough on few occasions to try snorkeling. Unfortunately, since I limit my snorkeling experiences to a few feet from the shore, the only sights i have managed to see underwater are the legs of the bathers nearby and not any corals or other sea creatures!

This time, I decided to hand over my safety to a professional crew and went on a submarine excursion to the sunken shipwreck of Xenobia. This trip was from the coastal city of Larnaka and the wreck was at a distance of 2 kms from the shore. We were taken on a boat from the harbour and then were transferred to the submarine. When we first went into the submarine, the whole world looked upside down. We were looking at the surface of the sea above , from beneath its waters. This view took some time to "sink" in!

The sub started to descend to a depth of 12 meters, where the shipwreck was located. It looked like Titanic, straight out of the movie. The ruins of the ship, hundreds of fishes floating around and the divers exploring the wreck, the sight was awesome. At the end of the 45 minutes trip, i was very reluctant to leave the underwater world behind. Next time, I shall definitely try scuba diving to get a closer experience with the world underwater!