The good news is that in Alonissos, the mayor of the island married a couple yesterday…. under water caused surprise as well as the curiosity of the public. How cool did it happen?

“It was a wedding that was carried out with all the details, the process actually lasted as long as a civil wedding on land – about 30 minutes,” the mayor of the island tells K. Petros Vafinis and begins to explain how the municipality decided to organize an underwater wedding: “Since I became mayor in 2011, I have never delegated my wedding authority. I really like the process. Civil weddings in beautiful and original locations is what I have been doing since I took over. We celebrated weddings on the beaches, in chapels, in windmills and even on the sea. Well, now we said, let’s make submarines.”

It should be noted that underwater weddings are not charged, nor are the lessons required for a couple who do not know diving but want to learn on the occasion of their wedding. “The couple you see in the video, Mirto and Petros, took 4 to 5 lessons before diving. We, as a municipality, benefit from advertising the island,” says Mr. Vafinis, describing how, while the underwater wedding was “running” at a depth of 5 meters, relatives and friends of the couple were sitting on the beach pier and watching the mystery on the installed video wall, while they themselves were sitting under sun umbrellas.

“At the same time, below the sea surface, I was showing the wedding texts on laminated cards,” he continues, adding: “Roussoom Gialos Beach was chosen because it has space to create the above infrastructure for guests. but also because its bottom is beautiful.”

In fact, an underwater wedding is one of dozens of diving options offered by Alonissos, which this year topped the list of 25 recommended Greek islands according to the London Times for this reason.

First of all, this is diving in the first underwater museum of our country, on the ancient wreck of Peristera, which is of great interest to the world diving community. “This is the second year running and it has helped us a lot from a tourist point of view,” says Mr. Vafinis and explains: “Here, of course, diving requires specialists in this sport, since we are talking about visiting a depth of 30 meters. Interest has also increased in the protected areas of the Alonissos Marine Park, in places where the general public has free access.

»There, visitors can enjoy freediving, wildlife watching and amateur photography. The park has 15 different dive sites, each beautiful in its own way, and there are 3 schools/private centers on the island that teach and guide the public. I should note that this marine park is the largest marine protected area in Europe (about 2220 km2). FROMin fact, the protection and rules of the park provided both the context and the occasion for an ecologically well-protected, but attractive and important diving tourism for us..

Somehow, in the last decade, we have promoted the island as best we can as a diving destination that will offer you not just one, but many experiences. Now tourists from all over the world come here. Please note that thanks to diving, our season this year will last at least until the first decade of October.”

Three more new underwater museums opened at the end of July in Pagasitikos Bay.

In turn, the regional governor of Thessaly Kostas Agorastos he told us about the efforts being made to include the three new underwater museums that were opened a month ago in the Pagasitikos Gulf in the dance of tourism promotion and development. The reason is the underwater museums in Amaliapoli, which are actually easy to access, as the visit starts from a depth of 3 meters and goes up to 25.

“They started, albeit timidly so far, their work and there is still no organized diving center in Almiros,” explains Mr. Agorastos and adds: “For now, the public is served by diving centers in Volos and Trikeri, but we hope that soon private individuals will show a business interest in Amaliapoli.”

These are shipwrecks at Cape Glaros (in the bay of ancient Nyos, where, according to legend, the Achaean fleet sailed to Troy), on the island of Kikinth and in Telegrafos Bay. “It should be noted that in the Sporades there is also the wreck of Agios Christopheros in Panormos, Skopelos, which is suitable for advanced divers, as it is located at a depth of 26 meters,” adds Mr. Agorastos and concludes: “All of the above constitute a whole cultural route of shipwrecks in the wider region of Pagasitikos, which is an example for many other regions of Greece that have similar treasures in their seas.”

The truth is that her success story Get rid of it recently paved the way for the elimination of secondary thoughts and prohibitions often held by members of the ephorate. nautical antiquities, but also the Ministry of Culture in relation to visiting sunken submarines. Somehow, a few months ago, we arrived at a Joint Decision of the Ministers of National Defence, Culture and Maritime and Island Policy, which sets out the conditions for holding recreational diving in 91, recognized by the Ministry of Culture and Sports as monuments, sunken ships and aircraft.

These are 91 fragments of metal ships and aircraft that sank from 1868 to 1970. – more than during World War II. The wreckage is found at depths of 10 to 120 meters. meters.