A spectacular “amusement park” is open to divers 18 metres below the surface of the sea close to St. Anastasia island – an Orthodox chapel rises and opposite the church – a Soviet Chaika car with a chrome grill is parked. Right next to it there is a Soviet ZIL-157 military truck, and if you come up close you will see the “driver” – a puppet fully geared-up as a frogman.

This underwater park is the work of the association “Friends of the Sea – Burgas”, with the support of Burgas municipality and was officially opened in June, says Stoyan Dimitrov, chairman of the Association:

“There are so many things to see underwater in the waters around the island – rocks, marine life, algae, but if you swim some distance away then there is only a flat seabed with sea shells. As the island has always attracted tourists, we, from the Association, decided to make things more interesting and launched the Underwater Park project in two stages. In 2023 we submerged a full-sized chapel with icons and crosses, sanctified according to Orthodox canon. We submerged it at a depth of 15 metres and at a distance of around 150 metres from the island. 

Next to it is the statue of St. Anastasia. There is an anchor buoy there – you can reach it by boat or even by ship.”

And seeing as the average duration of a dive is about 50-60 minutes, the association members decided to give divers “more substance” with attractions turning the place into an underwater amusement park.

“Thanks to the Ministry of Defence and the National Service for Protection we were given the ZIL-157 military truck with a radio relay station, and a government Chaika for free. Together with the association members we got them ready for submergence – we removed the plastics, oils and all materials that could be harmful to the sea. We also put in the bodies of two jeeps, also with all harmful materials removed. Inside the ZIL truck there is a puppet in diver gear for selfies. Next to all of these objects there are indicative location lines because there are magnetic anomalies around the island and the compass does not always function properly.”

The cars are placed on top of a concrete plinth and have holes in them so the sea creatures can go inside, hide or live in them. The hollow spaces in the concrete elements are like hotel suites for the marine fauna, says Stoyan Dimitrov:

“That was our second principal aim – besides an attraction for divers, we wanted to create an artificial reef that will become the habitat for the sea creatures. That is a world practice as a way of restoring underwater life. The chapel we submerged in 2023 has proved it is working. It is now overgrown entirely, and now with these cars there is much more space for the sea creatures to hide and live. The next exhibits will most probably be aircraft.”

The underwater park is open to certified divers with even the lowest certificate level – open water. The maximum depth is 18 m. – where the ZIL truck is submerged.

More:

• Chapel inhabited by fish and mermaid on the sea bottom - underwater adventures near Primorsko
• Divers kick off the diving season near the town of Kiten
• Divers map the most interesting underwater sites on the southern part of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast

Translated and posted by Milena Daynova
Photos: Friends of the Sea - Burgas, Pavel Samarin, Tatyana Baykusheva