All activities / Scuba Diving / Batroun
Scuba Diving in Batroun
An old coastal town in northern Lebanon with a Phoenician sea wall and some of the clearest water on the coast, the base for dives on Mediterranean reefs, caves and civil-war-era shipwrecks.
Why here
Batroun is the home of Lebanese diving. The old Phoenician town on the northern coast has some of the clearest water in the country, and its dive centres run out to a mix of reef, cave and wreck that most people never associate with the eastern Mediterranean. The signature dives are wrecks, among them the Alice B, a ship sunk off the coast in the 1980s and now lying at around 35 metres, and the Souffleur, a French submarine lost in the Second World War at similar depth, along with cave sites such as the Selaata air cave. Water is warm and calm through the summer, visibility opens up off the north coast, and the shore and marina make an easy base with the diving a short boat ride out. Casual snorkelers and first-timers can try the water off the reefs, while the deeper wrecks give certified divers a reason to come back. It is the natural place to put Lebanon underwater on the map.
Best months
The Mediterranean here is best from late spring to autumn, roughly June to October, when the sea is warm and calm and visibility is at its best off the north coast. The marquee wrecks lie deep, at about 35 metres and below, so they suit advanced and experienced divers, while reef and cave sites and try-dives work for beginners. Winter brings cooler water and rougher seas that cut the diving back sharply, so plan for the warmer half of the year.
Getting there & around
Batroun is about an hour north of Beirut by car along the coastal road or motorway, and both dive centres sit on the seafront at the marina and sea port in the centre of town. Book dives and courses ahead, especially in peak summer, and bring or hire the certification card for anything beyond a try-dive. The town has hotels, guesthouses and a lively summer waterfront, so it works as an overnight base rather than only a day trip from the capital.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced
Schools & guides (2)
Deep Sea Diving Center
SchoolDeep Sea Diving Center is a dive shop on the Batroun seafront in northern Lebanon, where the water is among the clearest on the coast. It runs try-dives for first-timers, certification courses from entry level through to divemaster and instructor, and daily guided dives for certified divers along the Batroun reefs, caves and wrecks. The centre is active on Instagram as deepsea.batroun and dives the northern sites through the warmer months of the year.
Dive The Med Club
ClubDive The Med Club is run by owner and lead instructor Kamal Greig, who has more than thirty years of diving experience and moved the club to Batroun in 2014 for its cleaner water and better visibility. Based at the San Stefano marina, it runs guided fun dives and courses from beginner to advanced with a strong emphasis on marine-environment awareness, and dives the Alice B and Souffleur wrecks and the Selaata cave off the northern coast.