Gallipoli Historical Underwater Park

Essential Dive Discipline

• Confirm the exact wreck, permissions, guide and maximum depth before boarding. TSSF current regulations and heritage law govern the plan.
• Respect no-decompression limits for recreational dives. Deep sites and overhead penetration need their own training, equipment and specific permission; they are never implied by a standard wreck trip.
• Do not handle shells, cordite, corroded metal, cables, nets or archaeological objects. The park's Majestic site profile explicitly identifies unexploded ordnance.
• Avoid ferry and cargo shipping corridors; follow the operator's authorized entry, surface marker and boat lookout procedures.
• Check wind, weather, current, cold exposure and contingency plans on the actual day.
• No solo scuba or freediving. Breath-hold divers require a trained in-water safety partner and a known rescue plan.
• If decompression illness, arterial gas embolism or other significant dive injury is suspected, end diving, activate emergency services and give first aid oxygen if trained and available. Arrange clinical assessment; do not self-transport in place of emergency triage.

For an acute emergency call 112 in Turkey. The official Gallipoli park emergency page identifies Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University Hospital's Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Center and publishes +90 286 263 5950. The hospital itself lists the unit, but these listings do not guarantee an available chamber or a particular transfer time at the moment of an accident. Have the boat coordinator notify emergency services and confirm the plan for an injured diver. DAN operates a 24-hour dive medical hotline at +1 919 684 9111 for consultation after activating local response. Confirm oxygen, resuscitation equipment, shore access, and medical insurance with the operator.

The wrecks are historic objects, potential war graves and part of a legal cultural-heritage protection system. The 2021 scuba opening specifically invokes Law 2863 and TSSF rules. National tourism ministry regulations prohibit removing, touching, damaging or moving underwater cultural artifacts. Maintain careful buoyancy, keep fins and stages clear, never tie into historic remains without authorization, avoid churning sediment, and do not take souvenirs. Treat any suspected live munition as an immediate do-not-touch hazard and follow your guide's evacuation instructions. The 2026 Derin Miras project introduces cathodic wreck conservation. The same primary announcement confirms 29 opened dive sites region-wide, but does not authorize unrestricted or independent access.