Hire Fantasia Yachting sailing boat and experience an unforgettable daily boat trip to Dia island from Hersonissos, enjoy the crystal clear water with plenty of free time to swim and sunbathe. The island was the principal port of Crete for centuries. Its four south coves have been used as anchorages since the Minoan period. The islet looks like a giant lizard when viewed from the city of Heraklion. Greek mythology tells of a giant lizard that tried to destroy the island of Crete, however, Zeus turned it into stone with a thunderbolt, thus creating the island. The island is visible from Crete's capital city of Heraklion, as it would have been in the time of the Minoans, from Knossos. Because of this, it was sometimes identified as the island that Theseus escaped to after killing the minotaur. Dia is one of European Network of Nature (Natura 2000) protected areas with most important a wild subspecies the Eleonora's falcon known as mavropetritis in Greek, with a population of 300–380 pairs. In 1976, Jacques Cousteau while searching for the lost Atlantis between Crete and Santorini, carried out underwater exploration around Dia and found the remains of an ancient port in the waters between Heraklion and Dia, also he discovered seven ancient shipwrecks, two of which in St. George’s Bay. Another important wreck is a 20 meter long French cargo vessel, lying at a depth of just 18 meters, and easily accessed at a depth of 12 meters. Parts of the ship are almost intact, with most of its mechanical components and even some glass windows are still there.