Rhodes, Dodecanese, Greece

Anthony Quinn Bay

Anthony Quinn Bay is a small protected cove on the east coast of Rhodes, immediately south of Faliraki, named after the Mexican-American actor who reportedly purchased land in the area while filming The Guns of Navarone in 1961. The bay is dived from shore or by boat: a shallow rocky shoreline drops gently into a sandy and rocky bottom that descends in stages to about 22 metres at the mouth of the bay. The geometry of two enclosing headlands keeps surface conditions calm and currents weak even when the meltemi blows from the north, making this one of the most reliable training and check-out sites in the Dodecanese. Marine life is rich and varied: dusky grouper, Mediterranean moray, common octopus, two-banded sea bream, damselfish, painted comber, scorpionfish, ornate wrasse and seasonal schools of salema are all routinely seen. Patches of seagrass on the sandy floor host pipefish and the occasional razorfish. Visibility regularly exceeds 25 metres in summer and autumn.