Aegina, Attica, Greece

Moni Island Reef

Moni Island is a small rocky islet just off the southwest coast of Aegina in the Saronic Gulf, easily reached by boat from Athens. The whole island is a protected wildlife refuge famous for the Cretan wild goat (kri-kri) introduced for conservation, and underwater the site is one of the more accessible reef dives near the capital. The substrate descends from a shallow shoreline at 4 metres through a stepped rocky reef to a sandy interface at around 25 metres, broken by boulders and small overhangs. Resident species include dusky grouper, Mediterranean moray, common octopus, two-banded sea bream, painted comber, ornate wrasse, scorpionfish and damselfish, with seasonal schools of salema and bogue. The Saronic Gulf has slightly lower visibility than the open Aegean because of the proximity to Athens and the shallow, semi-enclosed basin, typically 12 to 18 metres, but the dive is calm, accessible and a popular weekend choice for Athens-based divers.