The important port cities that developed on its coasts, such as Pagases (hence the name of the gulf), Phthiotis Thebes with its port of Pyrassos, Demetriada, Halos, and Almyros, attest to the importance that the Pagasitic Gulf continued to have in antiquity and the Byzantine era.
Maritime archaeological evidence provides essential insights into navigation and maritime trade throughout the centuries, as well as the Pagasetic region in particular.

In the Western Pagasitic Gulf, under the supervision of the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities (EUA), an underwater reconnaissance survey by the Hellenic Institute of Maritime Archaeology (IENAE-HIMA)
has been underway since 2000. The director of the survey is the diving archaeologist Elias Spondylis, who served in the Ephorate until his retirement and is a founding member of IENAE.

Within the framework of this specific research, the seabed has been surveyed along the coastline, from Cape Periklis north of Amaliapolis (Nea Mintzela) to Cape Prionia. 13 main underwater archaeological sites with shipwrecks have been identified, as well as a submerged Bronze Age settlement at the location “Metochi” in the bay of Nies.

Of these sites, three were selected to become accessible, and in 2015, they were designated as Accessible Underwater Archaeological Sites AUAS):

• “Shipwreck 7” in Tilegraphos Bay (Tilegrafos AUAS),
• “Shipwreck 9” on the islet of Kikinthos (Kikinthos AUAS),
• Sites 10 and 11 at the Glaros edge, at the entrance to the bay of Nion Sourpi (Glaros AUAS).

Within the framework of the BLUEMED project (2018 – 2020), the planning of the operation of the spaces was implemented, and a pilot Public Information and Awareness Center was created in Amaliapoli, Municipality of Almyros.

In 2022, within the framework of the “Creation of Accessible Underwater Archaeological Sites (AUAS) in Alonissos and the Western Pagasetic” project, the operation of the Western Pagasetic AUAS was inaugurated.

Together with the classical shipwreck of Peristera, Alonissos, they are the first underwater archaeological sites in Greece to be highlighted and made available to the diving public.