Autumn, dive season

As I live in Europe, September seems the best season for diving. The families and holidaymakers rule the summer and let us conquering the seas in the early Autumn. The water is still warm but the air isn't that hot, it's much more comfortable to wear our wetsuits during boat rides. The accommodations' and sometimes the dives' prices are more attracting, so September is the perfect month for a budget dive trip.

Where to go? I always start browsing last minute offers in August if I want to book a trip to September. Greece was very cheap this year (isn't surprising if you think about their economical problems), and there are Bulgaria, Turkey, Tunisia, Cyprus, Spain, Italy, Malta as well. A week long trip to a 3-4 stars hotel can be as cheap as 300 euros with airfare. Egypt is inviting too. The temperature of the Red Sea is 27-28 degrees, and there are plenty of great liveaboard offers. If I want to do a shorter trip September is great in Croatia and it's perfect for a long weekend to the nearby Austrian freshwater lakes.

This year Croatia was the chosen destination for us but I'm still hesitating if it was a good choice or not because there were so much another possibilities. We had a great time at the Adriatic so I'm not unhappy at all but I'd like to see new places. There are some interesting dive spots in Tunisia which I want to dive someday. I've already heard a lot about the new artificial reefs of Bodrum in Turkey (one of them is a C47 plane), and I have nice memories from my latest trip. Or there is the Black Sea: the visibility is worse, but it'd be something new and different for me at the Bulgarian shoreline. I could mention my old favorite, the Canary Islands with its huge rays, angel sharks, groupers or morays which I haven't met since 2009... And what about a second liveaboard trip this year to Egypt but maybe to the wrecks in the north?

So many choices, so many dreams, so many plans- and only one or two destinations. The ideal season isn't that long because from October the water temperature decreases fast in the Northern Mediterranean and you can expect cold rains as well. In a few days I can forget all my September plans but until then I enjoy planning and virtual diving- maybe it will be useful next autumn...