Croatia

[swedish diver]

Anybody recently been to Croatia?

I'm going in 2 weeks. Probably to the northern parts, but not certain yet...
Tips about interesting dive-sites, good centers, etc. would be really appreciated.

Thanks

/Kristian

 

[Ladydiver]

Kristian,

You might try sending a PM to mlloyd. I believe he is in The Netherlands, but he recently did his DIRF training in Croatia. Maybe he can help you out.

You might also want to check out this search from Scuba Directory. It might give you some ideas of the dive shops in the area you will be in.

Good Luck.

 

[shellbird]

but heard it's great. Was in GE w/Army and our rec. department ran trips there all the time. They came back with great pictures!

 

[Deepy]

I have been for 2 weeks on the island of Krk, there are very good places and a lot of good diving centers too. (I prefer the center on Punat with a skipper). At the end of July I am going to spend some days in Istria in Porec near to Rovinj, there are some very interesting wrecks.
So, if you tell me the place you are going to travel, I can send you some tips, because for us Hungarian is Croatia a monthly program.

 

[mikeetee]

hey all,

i just like to join that question!

how's croatia to dive?

i hear it's not expensive...

cheers,
mikee

 

[Deepy]

No it is not expensive. Diving from a boat costst cca. 30-30 EUR if you have your own equipment. There are a lot of diving centers, the german centers are very good. You have to book a hotel or a room because the country is this year "full". There are marvellous places, a very good kitchen and a rich marine life - but only on some places. Have a good trip to the Jadran.

 

[art.chick]

Is Croatia a dry-suit only place? What is the current & visibility like? I enjoy wrecks.

 

[Branko]

Hi,

Croatia is not (only) dry suit place. In the summer the wather temperature is between 21 to 26 deg.C.
Below 15m it is usualy 12 to 14 deg.C.

In the winter time the dry suit is very recomended.

Nice spots from the coast in the north part of Croatia are:

Rovinj (wrecks)
Brioni (nice smal islands)
Pula (shalower dives 15-20m)
Medveja
Brsec

Islands :

Cres
Krk
Prvic

++


B.

 

[Adriatic]

Here in Croatia, we have many ship wrecks which are not investigated at all.
For example, only around island Vis (in the middle Dalmatia) there are maybe a douzen
ship wrecks of big navy ships. They are dating from famous naval Battle of Vis in 1866.
The Battle of Lissa took place on 20 July 1866 in the Adriatic Sea near the island of Vis (Italian: Lissa) and was a decisive victory for an outnumbered Austro-Hungarian force over a superior Italian force. It was the first major sea battle involving fleets using iron and steam, and one of the last to involve deliberate ramming.
Many of ship wrecks still expecting to be investigated.
Also, here are many ship wrecks from WW II. Some of them you can visit with the organization
of the local diving centers for the relatively small price (around 30 euro).
It is hard to say where is more interesting to dive.
For example national park Kornati near the Sibenik has a crystal clear sea with very rich underwater life, the coast around islands Brac, Hvar, Krk, Komiza.....
The environment and nature are typically Mediterranean, with imposing walls, drop-offs, caves, caverns, crevices and wrecks. The waters are renowned for their clarity, with vivacious colors and encrusted sponges, big sea fans of red and yellow, concentrations of red coral, nudibranchs, mollusc's and crustaceans (also of large dimensions). The aquatic life is very developed, you will see a lot of cliff fish and meetings with pelagic fish are not rare, particularly above the drop-offs (beyond 20m). Dives of archaeological interest are also possible.
.....you can dive wreck of fishing boat Pajo on southern side of Island Čiovo, (near airport Split) is atractive diving location on whom beside conture of beautiful grassy wreck of fishing boat you can see rich underwater vegetation and life of southern side of Čiovo island, or dark cave Zmajevo oko (Dragon's eye) on island Brač and if you have luck to see pack of huge „Gofs“ Seriola dumerili fish, that are mostly hidden there. Cave entrance is on 3 meters depth and cave goes all long to 37 meters of depth.........I could write for days.....

All in all, you can't menage to visit all of the interestin diving locations in Croatia even if you live 300 years.

You are all welcome!

 

[MiKa222]

Hi there,

check website of Lamkra Divecenter and Wreck section in Croatia, where you will find some wrecks to dive. Both recreational and technical. Especially have a look at "Sigrid" and "Elhawi Star", which haven't been dived till last season, so you might be one of the first swedish divers there. By the way it was me who discovered the location of Sigrid :cool2:

During winter I work in Egypt or Thailand (right now) and people always ask me how is diving in Croatia. It is different and you can't compare the fish life to what we have here (Koh Yao Yai - near Phuket). But Croatia is the best place for wreck diving. Pretty good visibility, almost no currents (which means wrecks are well preserved) and the wrecks are in reasonable depth. North Adriatic is pretty shalow sea.

I'm not going to tell you how LAMKRA divecenter is great, because I work there, so it would be considered as an unbiased opinion. But check it out and you might find it interesting.

And about dry suit/wet suit? I dive ther in dry suit almost whole summer, because I'm in the water every day. But people are coming in March, after long winter w/o diving and I always admire them when they are jumping into the water in wetsuits. But when you love diving...you gotta do it.

Visibility is usually much better at the beginning of the year and sometimes gets worse as the water warms up. Currents are not strong at all. Sometimes you get some currents when diving on Cres, but nothing serious, comparing to currents here in Thailand or for example deep south Egypt.

Have a nice trip anywhere you go guys and dive safe.