- Ten out of twelve new diving investments are in Crete.
- Funding ranges from €20,000 to €221,000 per project.
- The original €18 million fund sank to just over €6 million.
- The deadline quietly floated away to April 2026.
- Officials promise “small delay” — divers call it “Atlantis 2.0.”
Crete’s tourism ministry has once again proven that nothing moves faster than a deadline underwater. Out of twelve shiny new diving investments across Greece, ten belong to Crete — the island clearly ready to become the Mediterranean’s scuba Disneyland… once someone finds the paperwork.
Municipalities like Agios Vasilios, Malevizi, and Sitia are already planning free artificial underwater attractions — which sounds suspiciously like “we’ll drop something pretty and hope fish come.” Apokoronas and Stalida are upgrading their dive parks, while a couple of brave souls (hello, Mr. Marmarinos and Mr. Cheloudakis) are polishing their scuba businesses for the big splash.
Each project carries a budget hovering around the €220,000 mark, except for one lone Dodecanese diver who only needed twenty thousand — probably just for new fins and a compressor that actually works.
When the program launched, it promised €18 million worth of underwater glory. That figure then shrank to €8 million. Finally, it settled just above €6 million — proving that even subsidies hold their breath when it comes to Greek bureaucracy.
Out of 113 applications, around 40 managed to stay afloat. The rest? Let’s just say they are resting with the shipwrecks.
The plan was to finish all projects by December 2025. But, surprise: approvals are still pending, and the new “realistic” timeline now stretches to April 2026, with an optimistic clause saying June — because, why not, deadlines are fluid when you are underwater.
Three focus areas remain:
- Dropping artificial reefs (preferably in the right spot this time),
- Upgrading existing diving parks, and
- Making dive schools less 1980s and more James Cameron.
Now comes the tricky part: the πόντιση — literally, “sinking stuff into the sea.” The rules say all permits must be ready by January 2026. However, insiders quietly admit that “under ideal conditions,” approvals might happen by March or April 2026. Ideal conditions, of course, do not include national holidays, local elections, or a secretary on leave.
So, the Ministry of Tourism is expected to give everyone a little more time — officially, “a small extension,” unofficially, “one last breath before the funds vanish.”
If not, millions in funding could disappear faster than a careless diver’s GoPro.
Until then, Crete’s municipalities are waiting, snorkels in mouth, hoping someone in Athens finally stamps the right piece of paper.