Tunisia for adventure seekers

Tunisia is genuinely underrated for Mediterranean diving. Tabarka in the north has the country's best reefs — gorgonians, groupers, occasional dolphins, wreck dives on Roman amphorae and a WWII Italian submarine. Visibility 20–30m in summer, water 22–25°C. The Galite Islands (a 2-hour boat ride from Tabarka) is the protected marine reserve — bigger fish, fewer divers, true wilderness. In the south, Djerba and Zarzis offer easy reef and sandy-bottom diving with monkfish, octopus and the occasional sandbar shark. Open-water PADI courses run €350–€450, single dives €40–€60. Operators are based in Tabarka, Bizerte, Hammamet, Sousse, Djerba and Monastir.

The north has unexpected mountain country — the Khroumirie around Aïn Draham is cork-oak forest, deer, wild boar, snowy in winter. Trails up Jebel Bir (1,014m) and Jebel Bargou (1,267m) are doable as day hikes. Cap Serrat and the Cap Negro coastal cliffs offer dramatic shoreline walking with almost no other walkers. In the south, the real hike is the abandoned Berber ksars — Ksar Ouled Soltane, Ksar Hadada, Chenini, Douiret. Stone fortified granaries built into ridges, mostly empty, perfect golden-hour photography. A 4×4 day-loop from Tataouine covers four or five ksars. Some, like Chenini, have hilltop ruins that involve a real scramble. Climbing: small but growing scene at Zaghouan (limestone, 1,295m) and Jebel Ressas; bring your own gear.