Resort town ready to welcome diving enthusiasts in new season

Following the lifting of the 17-day full nationwide lockdown, Ayvalık, one of the charming and picturesque towns of the Aegean province of Balıkesir, is once again ready to host local and international visitors, with its historical texture, cosmopolitan cuisine and natural beauties offering a unique experience.

Hosting different fish species as well as red corals found exclusively in Italian Riviera, the Ayvalık coast is waiting to be discovered by diving enthusiasts while welcoming tourists every year.

Diving boats in the district are all ready and well-equipped to get the divers to the diving site as the tourism season will begin soon in the coming days.

Nuri Büyükdilsiz, a dive guide in the region for 14 years, said that Ayvalık attracts the attention of underwater photographers due to its vibrant marine biome.

Büyükdilsiz pointed out that red corals off Ayvalık were most likely to be in a pretty clean and lively state since they have not been touched for a long time due to the pandemic.

He also expressed his expectation for the divers to be able to see the intense underwater life and for the fish population to increase significantly.

"We have started our preparations for the season. We have sanded the inside of all our tubes and cleaned the valves. We have completely overhauled our regulators. God willing, we will take all our guests for diving towards the end of May," Büyükdilsiz said.

Boats in Ayvalık take visitors to 60 different diving spots off the Aegean Sea. In addition to red corals at a depth of 30 meters in the region with a special marine ecosystem, living species such as sponges, starfish, silver and blackhead fish can be seen.

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