Shinaria (Shinaria Bay)

Shinaria sits on Crete's south coast on the Libyan Sea, in a bay that opens toward the WSW-SW between a northern rocky point and a prominent southern rocky promontory. The bulk of Crete to the north and east shields it from the dominant summer Meltemi (N-NNW), which blows offshore here and is the reason this is the reliable, north-wind-sheltered hub of southern Crete diving. The exposed window is the open sea to the WSW and W, with the SW partly shadowed by the southern headland and the WNW-NW partly cut by the northern point; surface chop and entry surge are driven almost entirely by SW-W winds or a Southerly Libyan Sea swell, which are the only conditions likely to make the bay uncomfortable or cut visibility.