MS Zenobia

The Zenobia sank in June 1980 on her maiden voyage, listing fatally after ballast-system failures and going down outside Larnaca with more than a hundred articulated trucks chained to her decks — and, mercifully, no one aboard. She has since become the Mediterranean's benchmark wreck. First dives trace the vast starboard hull and railings from 16 m; later ones drop along the accommodation block, peer into the cafeteria, and follow the truck cargo hanging in slow-motion avalanche. Full penetration of the vehicle decks and engine room is committed technical diving in silt and suspended cargo. Groupers, barracuda and now lionfish work the hull. A week is barely enough.

The moment you come for: One of the world's great wrecks: trucks on their chains, cavernous car decks, endless route options

Topography: A 172 m RO-RO ferry on her port side on flat sand, starboard hull at 16–18 m, seabed at about 42–43 m

Entry: Ten minutes by boat from Larnaca's marina to permanent mooring lines; multiple boats rotate over the wreck daily in season.

Hazards: Scale and overhead: the interior has claimed experienced divers, and depth accumulates fast on the lower routes. Stay on planned lines and outside the hull without wreck training.

Conservation: The wreck is Larnaca's economic reef — established mooring lines protect it, and nothing is removed.

Nitrox: Worth it here — profiles sit in the range where enriched air meaningfully extends no-stop time (with the training to use it).