Rhodes, Greece
Night snorkeling in Rhodes
The island of Rhodes lacks the spectacular scenery of the Ionian islands, but it does have beautiful beaches, good food, affordable prices and an interesting sea life.
The city of Rhodes is crowded. In the city one can find all-inclusive resorts, but for lovers of quietness the island offers kilometers long sandy beaches.
Since my priority is snorkeling, we stayed near Stegna Beach, which proved to be a good choice.
I met species I didn't previously know (a long sea cucumber) or that I had not seen in the Mediterranean (lionfish); the visibility was very good and the water relatively calm.
Sea cucumber - Synaptula reciprocans
Halocordyle disticha (Hydrozoa)
We went snorkeling at night for the first time and we had the chance to see a sea hare, beside octopuses, cuttlefish and various sea cucumbers.
Sea Hare - Aplysia dactylomela
An excellent place for snorkeling is the Anthony Quinn Bay, with exceptional visibility and an abundant sea life.
Anthony Quinn Bay
1 meter long sea cucumbers, cornetfish, huge schools of various small fish, different kinds of worms, jellyfish and small squid. Unfortunately the beach there is very crowded starting with 11 A.M., so we went there only for snorkeling, betwen 7:30 and 10:30 A.M.
Bigfin reef squid - Sepioteuthis lessoniana
Various species of tube worms
Comb Jellyfish (Ctenophora)
Mauve Stinger Jellyfish - Pelagia noctiluca
The fauna is very similar to that of Cyprus, including species who got here from the Red Sea via the Suez Channel (a phenomenon called Lessepsian migration) - cornetfish, lionfish, pufferfish.
Silverstripe blaasop- Lagocephalus sceleratus
Regarding invertebrates, I saw three species of jellyfish (Pelagia noctiluca, Ctenophora and Geryonia proboscidalis), octopuses, cuttlefish and small squid and a very weird ribbon-like jellyfish.
Ribbon jellyfish - Cestum veneris (Ctenophora)
I also saw again, and this time I managed to photograph, some very small (3mm-30mm), pink-translucent formations, which are actually colonies of Radiolaria (unicellular organisms) trapped in a transparent matrix. They are components of plankton.
Collozoum inerme
Rhodes island is easily reached by plane, many tourist companies offering charters, and the Greek ones have regular flights from both Athens and Thessaloniki.
The island of Rhodes lacks the spectacular scenery of the Ionian islands, but it does have beautiful beaches, good food, affordable prices and an interesting sea life.
The city of Rhodes is crowded. In the city one can find all-inclusive resorts, but for lovers of quietness the island offers kilometers long sandy beaches.
Since my priority is snorkeling, we stayed near Stegna Beach, which proved to be a good choice.
I met species I didn't previously know (a long sea cucumber) or that I had not seen in the Mediterranean (lionfish); the visibility was very good and the water relatively calm.
Sea cucumber - Synaptula reciprocans
Halocordyle disticha (Hydrozoa)
We went snorkeling at night for the first time and we had the chance to see a sea hare, beside octopuses, cuttlefish and various sea cucumbers.
Sea Hare - Aplysia dactylomela
An excellent place for snorkeling is the Anthony Quinn Bay, with exceptional visibility and an abundant sea life.
Anthony Quinn Bay
1 meter long sea cucumbers, cornetfish, huge schools of various small fish, different kinds of worms, jellyfish and small squid. Unfortunately the beach there is very crowded starting with 11 A.M., so we went there only for snorkeling, betwen 7:30 and 10:30 A.M.
Bigfin reef squid - Sepioteuthis lessoniana
Various species of tube worms
Comb Jellyfish (Ctenophora)
Mauve Stinger Jellyfish - Pelagia noctiluca
The fauna is very similar to that of Cyprus, including species who got here from the Red Sea via the Suez Channel (a phenomenon called Lessepsian migration) - cornetfish, lionfish, pufferfish.
Silverstripe blaasop- Lagocephalus sceleratus
Regarding invertebrates, I saw three species of jellyfish (Pelagia noctiluca, Ctenophora and Geryonia proboscidalis), octopuses, cuttlefish and small squid and a very weird ribbon-like jellyfish.
Ribbon jellyfish - Cestum veneris (Ctenophora)
I also saw again, and this time I managed to photograph, some very small (3mm-30mm), pink-translucent formations, which are actually colonies of Radiolaria (unicellular organisms) trapped in a transparent matrix. They are components of plankton.
Collozoum inerme
Rhodes island is easily reached by plane, many tourist companies offering charters, and the Greek ones have regular flights from both Athens and Thessaloniki.
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