Cyprus has one of the best dive sites in the world - the wreck of the Zenobia. Cypriot dive centres must still celebrate the day that the Zenobia, under tow and listing with a design fault in its buoyancy tanks, was allowed to sink (after all the passengers and crew had been safely evacuated) in 42m just 1/2 mile outside Larnaca harbour.

Some say the Zenobia's problem lay with the ballast computer which "malfunctioned"; others say the computer was "switch-off" - accidently of course! No matter what story you wish to believe, a whole diving industry has been built around this fabulous wreck.

The Zenobia was a roll-on, roll-off (Ro-Ro) ferry carrying trucks. More than 100 of these were still shackled in place when she went down. A monster displacing more than 10,000 tonnes, and superficially not unlike the familiar vessels that ply the route between Dover and Calais, the wreck is more than 178m in length, and now lying on its starboard. Nevertheless, it makes an outstandingly good dive and it is still possible to sit in the cabs of trucks and recognise the remains of some of their cargos. There are Volvos and DAFs, Scanias and Mercs. With a maximum depth of 42m to the sandy sea-bed,
the top rail of the wreck is at 18m's. This provides an ideal range of dives from the newly-qualified to the very experienced wreck penetration teckie-diver.

Saying that, divers should not swim along the undersides of vehicles, as they can weigh in at more than 40 tonnes and are held in place by chains that are gradually losing their strength. All the windows of the main superstructure have been broken for some years, since two divers were trapped inside. Even though this has added to diver safety, divers are advised not to enter the wreck, because much of the internal partitioning has collapsed.

Nitrox is readily available in Cyprus and It makes an ideal dive for those using nitrox 32, and many technical divers use richer mixes of nitrox for deco. But do seek local advice before diving this wreck. This is available from most good dive-centres -so no excuses .