Cave Diving – Exploration Melissani Kefalonia

Undoubtedly the most famous cave lake of Kefalonia is Melissani with myths and legends lost in the centuries. A very spectacular terrestrial and underwater environment, the absolute symbol of the area. HUE came for another exploratory mission with a small team this time consisting of Giorgos Petrou, Nassos Zervopoulos, Kypraios Tassos and Gravanis Ilias. And we immersed ourselves in the absolute blue as if we were flying into the universe.

In the past, our group consisted of many people, up to 35, both divers and non-divers. We carried out many exploration missions and cave diving schools, initially bringing Mr. Joe Odom (USA) and Mr. Michal Piskula (Czech Republic) as instructors and then with Giorgos Petrou as instructor. No matter how many times you dive in these caves, you will always discover something new and exciting.

The Melissani Abyss is located about 2 kilometers northwest of the lush Sami. Very close to the sea. The natural entrance to the cave is vertical, measuring 40 x 50 m2, and was created by the collapse of a part of the roof, apparently due to an earthquake. For better access, an artificial entrance was built with steps and a long downward underground corridor. The lake is located about 20 meters below the surface of the ground and the depth of the lake's waters reaches about 40 meters. The land area is impressive with the high walls dominating and with stalactite material hanging from them.

There is a route that takes us to our right by boat and passing through a narrow passage that creates a small island we find ourselves under a huge cave dome. Somewhere there the waters sink again and logically end up in the cave of the ship mill. On our left the surface space below the open dome and a huge cave in dimensions – flooded – developing approximately 300 meters in length. That is where most of the exploratory diving activity mainly takes place.

Melissani was discovered in 1951 by the speleologist Petrochilos and since then it has developed very much in terms of tourism, attracting a large number of visitors. The sight of the lake becomes unique when the sun reaches a vertical position from above and its rays create an incomparable turquoise permeability in it. In ancient times, the lake was a place of worship of Pan and the nymph Melissanthe. Legend has it that Melissanthe committed suicide in the lake out of her sadness, because Pan did not respond to her love. According to another version, the shepherdess Melissanthe lost a sheep and while trying to find it, she stumbled and fell into the lake. Inside the lake is an island, on which the archaeologist S. Marinatos discovered a sanctuary of Pan, the findings of which are in the Archaeological Museum of Argostoli. These findings are a clay figurine of the god Pan, a clay disk depicting dancing nymphs, a clay slab with a procession of nymphs and a small tile with a relief female figure. Water penetrates the limestone rocks, erodes them and creates cavities through a process called karstification. In 1963, it was found that the lake cave communicates with the entire karst network of the island and was even confirmed after testing with colored water poured into the sinkholes in Argostoli, at the other end of the island. Stalactites and stalagmites, thousands of years old, with strange shapes, decorate the largest part of the underwater cave in which visibility is excellent up to 30 meters (you really feel like you are floating in the void) if the bottom is not disturbed by clumsy movements. A bottom where we can see huge boulders resting, parts of the roof, which have obviously been detached due to an earthquake. The water is almost sweet because the passage of the sea through the limestone subsoil mixes with the rainwater and that is where the constant low temperature is due, at 14-15 degrees Celsius all year round. Diving into the center of the lake, you come across a hill which is essentially the roof that has fallen and there you meet small eels and mullets. Also in its mud you find bullets and shells from the 1940 war.

Η ομάδα μας απόλαυσε για μια ακόμη φορά τις καταδύσεις που πραγματοποιήσαμε. Το μεγάλο μακρύ σπήλαιο στην αριστερή πλευρά της λίμνης μας πρόσφερε απλόχερα απίστευτο θέαμα από σταλαγμίτες σταλακτίτες, κουρτίνες από σταλακτιτικό υλικό με υπέροχους χρωματισμούς να ξεπροβάλουν σε κάθε πεδιλισμό μας μέσα από το σκοτάδι. Τα φώτα μας αποκάλυπταν κάθε δευτερόλεπτο κάτι καινούργιο. Στο τέλος του σπηλαίου μια τεράστια φαρδιά κολώνα ενός σταλακτίτη και σταλαγμίτη που εχουν ενωθεί αποτελεί πάντα μια καταπληκτική εικόνα βουτηγμένη στο μαύρο, στο κόκκινο χρώμα τοιχωμάτων και ιζήματος, με ένα σαλοκλινές να δημιουργεί επίπεδα αντίθεσης όρασης λόγω διαφορετικής πυκνότητας νερού. Και όπως πάντα στην επιστροφή βγαίνοντας από το σκοτάδι που φωτίζουν οι στήλες των φακών μας, ένας τεράστιος τοίχος φωτός μας υποδέχεται στον χερσαίο κόσμο ξανά.

Note:

• A permit is required to dive in Lake Melissani.

• You are required to be trained, certified and experienced to dive here as in all caves.