Dyk nr: 120, Elephant cave, Crete

Magical dive in an large ancient limestone cave with huge stalactites formations. First portion of the cave is overhead diving then the cave forms two large connected cambers with breathable air. The some of the formations looks like molten chocolate in form and color. The cave name comes from the discovery of an old elephant fossil, most part has been moved to a museum but a femur bone and a molar teeth remains to bee seen. Usually the cave is home to a seal but he wasn't home at the moment. I haven't been into caving but this might have changed my mindset.

Other info:
The submarine Cave of Elephants is located in Drepano area of Akrotiri, in Chania prefecture and out of Souda Bay. The cave was discovered in 1999 by the snorkeler Manolis Efthymakis and was then showed in January 2000 in Star TV by the professional diver and filmmaker G. Tzanakis. Thus, Ephorate of Palaeoanthropology and Speleology, in collaboration with Creta's Diving Center, organized the first mission to explore the cave on 31th March 2000. The findings were fantastic: apart from the breathtaking beauty of the cave, bones of unknown elephant species were also found.

The cave has been shaped in Mesozoic limestone. The entrance of the cave has 9m height, 6.5m width, starts at a depth of 10 meters below sea level and continues in a tunnel about 40 meters in length. The rest of the cave has 125m length and an average width of 25m. It is the main room of the cave and, because of its morphology, it is partially filled with water. The depth of the room (under water surface) ranges from a few centimeters to 4 meters, while the ceiling height above the water surface reaches 10m in some points.

The roof of the cave is full of reddish stalactites, indicating aluminum and iron content in the rocks. In the water there are many stalactites, which states that once the floor of the cave was not covered by water. The study of sediments (organic, clastic and chemical) shows with certainty that the cave in previous seasons was dry. Moreover, the air inside the cave is breathable.

http://www.cretanbeaches.com/Caves/Chania-Caves/cave-of-elephants/#ixzz32vDTlfvF