We chat to the technical and rebreather instructor about his quest to explore the Aegean Sea, and some of his most exciting finds as he scours the deeper parts of this often-overlooked body of water in search of wartime casualties.
Photographs courtesy of Aegeantec
How Marinos Giourgas Got Into Scuba Diving
Q: As we always do with these Questions and Answer sessions, how did you first get into scuba diving?
A: Of course, with the help of French oceanographer Jacques Yves Cousteau! Inspired by his expeditions and keen on watching all his documentaries and reading his books back in the 1980s. During my school years, all my summer holidays were dedicated to scuba diving, spearfishing and freediving when I was making my first steps as a diver.
From Recreational to Technical Diving
Q: When did you discover technical diving, and what was it about this form of diving that attracted you initially?
A: After being certified as an OWD in 1987, I discovered this new form of diving, technical diving, in 2003 when, with a team of divers, we got involved in documenting the World War Two wrecks of the island of Leros in order to publish a book about them. There I discovered that in order to stay longer and go deeper, I needed to become a technical diver…
Q: You use open-circuit and CCR technical diving set-ups – what dictates which rig you will use for a particular dive trip or expedition?
A: Hmm… That’s a tough one. I prefer CCR even for dives where we can easily accomplish our mission with OC.
However, I believe that OC should be used up to the depths of 45m-55m and naturally, depending on the environment and the conditions, these limits can change.
Favourite Dive Destinations Around the World
Q: You have been involved in many expeditions around the world. What have been some of your favourite destinations, and why?
A: Of course, Truk and Pete Mesley is my favourite dive destination hands down. After that, the Aegean Sea is my favourite place. Numerous islands, unique water clarity and light conditions and, of course, hundreds of wrecks waiting to be discovered and say their story. The Gilis and Dahab come next in my list. The former because of Will Goodman, one of my instructors, and the unique dive sites full of marine life and dramatic drop-offs, and the latter because of the nice geological formations where you can dive inside canyons for hours reaching three-digit depths and enjoying the scenery.
Discovering Wartime Wrecks in the Aegean
Q: You have discovered and dived several wartime wrecks in the Aegean Sea, tell us about some of those amazing finds.
A: The projects that involve discovering new wrecks are unique! You embark on a trip without knowing if you will find anything. You can spend days talking with the locals trying to find data about possible targets that are worth going down and diving. Sometimes we use ROVs to assist us in these efforts and, if we are lucky and manage to combine such an expedition with a university project, we may end up with a number of instruments – magnetometers, side scan sonars, etc – and collect all possible information prior to making the dive.
When we decide to dive, we immerse keeping calm and trying to control our imagination… Logistics are a nightmare as we always go off our base to new destinations in the Aegean, but nowadays with the rebreather, things are slightly easier when it comes to gases… However, the majority of the time we are doing these expeditions single handedly and therefore the results are even more important for us. We had a number of exciting stories to tell about our new findings and each discovery is a unique one. Last year we located two new wrecks in Antikythera and we also discovered the deepest ancient shipwreck off the island of Fournoi. Both these cases were full of exciting and frustrating moments that all add up to the final result of success. But arriving to this point we passed by many moments of despair and disappointment.
Q: What is your most-memorable diving experience?
A: The discovery and documentation of a JU52 off the coast of Rhodes. It was a unique experience because I was super excited to make this discovery that ended up being the best preserved JU52 in Greece! It is on the day of this discovery that I realized the unique feelings and emotions being first on a wreck generates. It was discovered at the depth of 78m in almost-mint condition and dived several times with Stuart Philpott, Alan Whitehead – we even organized an expedition to it to write a nice article about it!
Lessons Learned from Extreme Diving
Q: On the flipside, what is your worst diving memory?
A: Even not-nice underwater memories are a lesson that we should always value to become better divers. Back in my early days as an OWD, we were diving in a dramatic reef in the middle of the Aegean, north of Santorini, where the current was furious. In my effort to keep my position, I ended up breathing at an alarmingly high rate, approaching the limits of my ability to ventilate because of dynamic airway compression…
The Future of Technical Diving in Greece
Q: What does the future hold for Marinos Giourgas and Aegeantec?
A: I dive keeping in mind that my most important dive is the next one, and so I do my best to respect my limitations as a human so that I can enjoy deep wreck diving for many more years. Pristine wrecks and new discoveries have always been my goals, and already the targets are set for 2025!
However, as a Tech and CCR Instructor, I strive to educate my students and make them better divers so that they can enjoy their time underwater with safety. I would also like to see Greece as one of the best diving destinations in Europe and I work in that direction.
Nowadays, a number of my colleagues are making significant efforts to promote the unique dive sites we have, especially the ones for the technical diving community, and I feel confident that this collective effort has started showing its benefit for our country.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Marinos Giourgas?
Marinos Giourgas is a technical and rebreather diving instructor and wreck explorer focused on deep historical sites in the Aegean Sea.
What type of diving does Marinos Giourgas specialise in?
He specialises in technical diving using both open-circuit and closed-circuit rebreather (CCR) systems.
Why is the Aegean Sea important for wreck diving?
The Aegean Sea contains hundreds of unexplored wrecks, including numerous wartime casualties, preserved in clear water and varied depths.
What are some of Marinos Giourgas’s major discoveries?
Key discoveries include WWII aircraft wrecks, newly located shipwrecks near Antikythera, and the deepest ancient shipwreck near Fournoi.
What challenges are involved in deep wreck expeditions for Marinos Giourgas?
Challenges include logistics, weather, strong currents, limited data, and the psychological demands of exploration diving.
This article was originally published in Scuba Diver Magazine
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