Krioneri underwater cave

Underwater cave of Krioneri.

After Aghios Andreas, on the way to Leonidio, there is the Arcadic Village, a complete exemplar settlement located at Mikri Repontina. The way before the Arcadic Village towards Leonidio is impressive. On the right there is the mountain range of Parnonas while on the left there is the Argolic bay where we can admire from above the sandy beaches. At the wider area of Aghios Andreas until Poulithra there are many underwater caves as well as overland ones flooded with water. One of these is located at the area between the Arcadic Village and Krioneri. In 1990, Mr. Alexis Papadopoulos with his team visited it and filmed it for the first time.
The diving team of Antonis Grafas, following the indications of its friend and partner Giannis Kourmpelis and with the assistance of the fisherman Giannis Litrivis, on May 21st 2017 dived and took pictures from this beautiful underwater cave.

About the cave
Its entrance is located in a depth of 5 meters, its direction up to the 50 meters is west and then it becomes northwest with a maximum length of approximately 75 meters. The width of the cave reaches the 40 meters and its maximum depth is 30 meters. On the roof of the cave there is a hole with air where the diver can notice the beginning of the formation of stalactites before it gets flooded with water. The big stalactite has a length of 4 meters and the respective stalagmite that starts from the bottom of the cave has a height of 2.6 meters. There are haloclines in many parts of the cave but the biggest water mass with salinity differences, created by the infusion of the fresh water into the salty water, is located at the 3-meter zone. The underwater cave of Krioneri, as many other caves in the wider area, is an underwater sight that attracts divers to admire its decoration as well as to “visit” the remote past and try to realize how the cave could be before being flooded with water.
Finally, we would like to thank Giannis Kourmpelis, Giannis Litrivis for transferring us with its boat as well as the Port Authorities of Astros in Kinouria for their kind cooperation.