Karl Taylor lifts the lid on sponge diving in Symi, with the help of a friendly local.

It’d been 90 minutes since I’d set off from Rhodes, and I was excited to explore its neighbouring island, Symi. I took a left as soon as I was off the ferry, drawn in by the Neo-Classical mansions that lined the path beside the water and splashed the hillside with colour. Strolling along the harbour, I couldn’t help but notice wicker baskets piled high with natural sponges outside nearly every shop. I’d spotted a few in Rhodes, but this place was packed with them. Keen to find out their story, I headed into one of the shops to ask. I was in luck. The shopkeeper here – who I now knew as Maria – had all the details.

She took me back to the Middle Ages, when locals used to dive down to the seabed for sponges to wash with. Maria explained how the fishermen would free dive to the bottom of the sea – yep, without diving suits or oxygen tanks – to harvest the sponges. They’d jump out of their boat with a heavy stone, called a kabanelopetra, that weighed up to 15 kilograms. Once they’d filled their net bag with sponges – or were running out of breath – they’d tug on a rope to let their minders know they needed pulling back up to the surface.