wreck

Log This Dive

HMS YORK

The HMS York off Crete isn’t your typical deep, intact wreck. She’s shallow, spread out, and tells a story of naval history right there in the Mediterranean sun. We love it because it’s a living museum, accessible to pretty much anyone with an Open Water cert. You’re swimming over the remnants of a heavy cruiser, a beast of a ship at 175 metres long, scuttled after taking a beating from dive bombers in 1941. We’d suggest going early, before the thermocline really sets in and the visibility gets hazy. You’ll find yourself finning over a vast debris field. Twisted metal plates, sections of hull, and scattered machinery lie across the sandy bottom at just 11 metres. Look for the big anchors, they’re still mostly whole, and the stern section often has schooling damselfish darting through it. Keep an eye out for octopus tucked into crevices and the occasional moray eel peeking from behind a collapsed bulkhead. It’s not about penetration here, it’s about appreciating the scale of the destruction and the resilience of the marine life that’s made a home of it.