Every diver knows what a shipwreck is. A plane on the seabed is something else entirely. Off the Antalya coast lies a 1967 Dornier DO-28 — a light aircraft that once belonged to the sky, now resting quietly at 19.5–23.3 metres beneath the Mediterranean.
The DO-28 is one of the sites we dive with certified divers. Beginners on our five daily boat trips have a 13 metre ceiling, but certified divers come out on the same boats and dive the real profiles: around 30 metres on standard certified dives, and down to 60 metres on the deep sites for suitably qualified divers. At 19.5–23.3 metres the aircraft sits well inside that range — never a discovery dive, and always planned around your qualification level, the conditions and the day's plan.
On this page you will find what the wreck is, what it actually feels like to descend onto an aircraft, and how to arrange the dive with Side Diving.
A 1967 Dornier Resting on the Seabed
The Dornier DO-28 is a light twin-engined utility aircraft built in Germany, and the airframe lying off this coast dates from 1967. Its resting place is between 19.5 and 23.3 metres — a depth range that sits comfortably within recreational limits for certified divers, though clearly deeper than the 13 metre ceiling that applies to beginners on a discovery dive.
Aircraft wrecks are rare on any coastline, and that is exactly what makes them special. Ships are built to live in the water; when they sink, they simply move house. A plane was never meant to be here. Its aluminium skin, thin wings and glazed cockpit belong to another element, and seeing them surrounded by blue water instead of sky produces a feeling that even experienced wreck divers describe as slightly surreal.
The DO-28 is also refreshingly human in scale. Unlike a roughly 70-metre freighter such as the MS Paris II at Kemer, which takes several dives to get to know, a light aircraft can be taken in as a whole: in good visibility you can hover at a small distance and see the entire machine at once — fuselage, wings and tail assembled into one unmistakable silhouette on the sand.
Like most solid structures on an open seabed, the wreck tends to attract life. Depending on the day you may find fish sheltering around the airframe — nothing is ever guaranteed underwater, but a wreck is always more than metal.
What an Aircraft Wreck Dive Feels Like
The dive begins as a descent into open blue. For the first metres there is nothing but water and light, and then a shape starts to assemble itself below you — first a shadow, then a line that becomes a wing, then the full outline of an aircraft standing out against the pale seabed. That moment of recognition, when your brain accepts that it is really looking at a plane, is the heart of the dive.
At twenty metres the light is soft and blue; reds and oranges have already faded on the way down, and a dive torch brings the colours of the metal and the marine growth back to life. You move slowly along the fuselage, follow the leading edge of a wing, pause above the cockpit and look at windows that once framed clouds. Ordinary aviation details — doors, struts, tail fin — become extraordinary simply because of where they are.
Because the aircraft is compact, the pace is calm and unhurried. There is time to circle the wreck more than once, time for photographs — the silhouette shot against the surface light is a classic — and time to simply hover and take it in. Your guide briefs you before the dive on the wreck's current condition and on how the dive is planned; as with all our diving, this is an accompanied dive in a small group, never a swim-by.
Many divers say afterwards that the DO-28 stays with them longer than bigger wrecks do. A ship underwater is impressive; a plane underwater is a story.
Certified Divers Only — Part of Our Normal Certified Diving
The DO-28 lies deeper than the beginner ceiling, so it is reserved for certified divers. Our five regular full-day trips from Side, Kumköy, Kemer, Antalya and Alanya carry both kinds of diver on the same boats: beginners dive the guided format, a first dive at 5–8 metres and a second to about 13 metres beside an instructor, while certified divers dive the real profiles — roughly 30 metres on standard certified dives and down to 60 metres on the deep sites for suitably qualified divers. The aircraft, like the Paris II wreck, sits inside that certified range and is dived by certified guests here; true cave penetration is a separate matter, because an overhead environment needs its own training.
Which site you dive on a given day depends on your certification level, your logged experience and the conditions. Planning it is simple:
- Get in touch via our contact page (/contact) or WhatsApp.
- Tell us your certification and experience — agency, level and roughly how many logged dives.
- Bring your certification card and logbook — we sign logbooks after every dive.
Health and safety notes: the standard medical rules apply — diving is not possible when pregnant or with severe asthma, heart or respiratory conditions. And one rule suits this wreck perfectly: no flying within 24 hours after diving. Visit the plane below the water, then keep your feet on the ground for a day.
Not Certified Yet? Start Here in Side
If the DO-28 has caught your imagination but you do not hold a licence yet, you are exactly the diver our standard programme was designed for. All five of our full-day boat trips welcome complete beginners: every day includes two guided dives (5–8 m in the morning, about 13 m in the afternoon, the beginner ceiling), all equipment, free two-way hotel transfer — morning pickup, with the exact time confirmed the evening before — fresh lunch on board and passenger and diving insurance, with 3–4 divers per instructor in the water.
The flagship is the Side Underwater Museum trip (/tours/side-underwater-museum-diving), where around 110 sculptures stand on the seabed at about 12 metres. If clear water is your priority, Kemer is known for the clearest water on this coast (/tours/kemer-scuba-diving).
From there, the path to the DO-28 runs through certification: we offer CMAS courses on request, and your logbook — signed on every trip — builds exactly the record you will need for wreck days. Booking the standard trips is simple: reserve free online, pay on the day, and cancel free of charge up to 24 hours before. Browse all five trips at /tours.
