General diving info - Croatia

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evil_xander

Contributor
Messages
605
Reaction score
4
Location
Croatia, Europe.
# of dives
500 - 999
So, as several members of SB already asked me about diving in Croatia, I figured I'll try do write some useful info and descriptions, but I also expect several other Croatian SB members to chime in and add their input about the locations they dive frequently. :)

Most of my dives are located in the north Adriatic sea, around the Istrian peninsula and region known as Kvarner, where the sea is not so blue and warm as it is further down south, but has it's appeal definetly. If you click the link in my signature, you can see some general underwater photos from these locations (limited equipment so no wreck photos, yet).

There's usually a thermocline in this specific area at about 20-25 m which can bring down the temperature 5-10 degrees C down from the one at shallow depths (during the summer we're talking about 22-25 degrees C on the surface). During winter, if the wind is not blowing too strong, you can go dive with a wetsuit, but it's more comfortable to get a drysuit (mine is on the way :)). We've had sea temperature in January/February of about 13 degrees C at some 20m depth, but the problem was on the surface, with temperature of 7 degrees C and strong cold wind blowing.

Location wise, there's plenty of things to see and visit if you just walk in from the coast at some points, but the wrecks require you to go there by boat. We have several really nice wrecks nearby my hometown of Rijeka (http://www.tz-rijeka.hr/english/default.asp), which has good connectivity to the rest of the country, being 2nd or 3rd largest city in Croatia, and is an hour and a half by car from the state capital, Zagreb.

You can go diving either through Diving Centers or Diving Clubs (non profit organizations), centers can get you places and rent you gear, clubs usually don't have that much gear to give around and are open to members only. You can also check your local PADI/SSI centers, there's plenty of them.

Nitrox is available, at some places for the same price as air fills, at others at a tad higher prices. Trimix is also available at some centers, but I advise you to check upfront before making any plans and arriving on site... Most centers rent only steel tanks (12L or 15L 200 bar tanks being the common size), din or yoke is not a problem. Aluminium is not too frequent in these parts, we use thick wetsuits anyway (2 piece 5mm is appropriate for both summer, fall and part of the winter, depends from one person to another).

Recreational diving (using air) is limited to 40m, but there's no scuba police down there.

In this area, I can definetly suggest you visit the following locations/wrecks, found on the links below (I don't endorse these centers, but they have the info I need to present you with):
http://www.diver.hr/rovinj.asp?lng=en - wreck Baron Gautsch
http://www.scubacenter.de/lina_gb.php?id=030202 - wreck Lina
http://www.marinesport.hr/english/EnglishFiles/divesites/location_vis.htm - wreck Vis

Also, some general locations are listed here:
http://www.divecity.net/html/eng/dive_sites.htm

There's also some info available here:
http://www.diving.hr/main/kako.asp?L=eng

Due to the coast configurations, there are plenty of walls do dive along, usually going from 10-60+ meters depth. Don't expect Red Sea kind of colours around you, as the water is murky a bit, visibility usually ranging at <20m.

Rules and regulations regarding the annual permit and fees are currently in the transition period, we should know new rules of the game by January 2008. Current ones just have to change as they are completly useless and silly and expensive (dive using a center or a club and bypass these nonsenses).

This concludes part 1. :)
 
Middle Adriatic with its more than 200 islands:
-------------------------------------------
As far as diving locations are concerned we usually dive on walls (2m to 80m verticals).
Depth: typically from 30m to 40m
Visibility: horizontal around 15m, vertical around 20m (can reach more than 30m)
Temperature: summer surface - 24C, summer 30m - 15C, winter surface - 13C, winter 30m - 15C
Life: nothing big, some places have lots of small fish! Adriatic is known for its diversity but not for quantity...
Sharks: you wish, they are there but you won't see them
Currents: low to none (very few places have strong currents but that's quite easy to notice)
Tides: about 0,5m so almost invisible

if you have more questions, just ask...
 
Hi guys,
I came across your post and thought I'd add my bit. I'm from the UK but have dived for a couple of years in Croatia, I was there in June and we're going again in a couple of weeks on 22/09.

We go to Bol on the island Brac, just south of Split http:///www.bol-croatia.com/. Easy and cheap to get to from Split on the 1600 ferry direct to Bol (c.£2.00 single trip) http://www.jadrolinija.hr/default.aspx?lang=2.

We go for a week and dive twice a day, meet at 0930, back around 1230 and out again at 1400 - all 'small boat dives' with maybe 6-8 divers on average, sometimes only 4, but it can get very busy in July/August. Nice diving from 12-50m, great viz, not as diverse or as colourful as the Red Sea but not as busy or 'organised' either. I dive both for the diving and the company - always have a good time, relaxed but comfortable and safe. Check out the photo gallery at http://www.big-blue-sport.hr/gallery.htm for some feel of the place, they also have some illustrations of the dive sites.

Croatia's a beautiful place and the people are great fun, it's good value and great for a laid back holiday. For me it's great not having too much 'tourist junk' thrown at you and being able to get to know people a bit. Croatia is not anywhere near as 'spoiled' as other parts of the Med, and I hope it stays unspoiled, but judging by the building works this year we will have to wait and see!

If Olympus mended my camera case OK, maybe I'll have some photos when I get back - there again who knows!:sharks:
 
Hi guys,
I came across your post and thought I'd add my bit. I'm from the UK but have dived for a couple of years in Croatia, I was there in June and we're going again in a couple of weeks on 22/09.

We go to Bol on the island Brac, just south of Split http:///www.bol-croatia.com/. Easy and cheap to get to from Split on the 1600 ferry direct to Bol (c.£2.00 single trip) http://www.jadrolinija.hr/default.aspx?lang=2.

We go for a week and dive twice a day, meet at 0930, back around 1230 and out again at 1400 - all 'small boat dives' with maybe 6-8 divers on average, sometimes only 4, but it can get very busy in July/August. Nice diving from 12-50m, great viz, not as diverse or as colourful as the Red Sea but not as busy or 'organised' either. I dive both for the diving and the company - always have a good time, relaxed but comfortable and safe. Check out the photo gallery at Big Blue Sport, Bol, Croatia - Diving Gallery for some feel of the place, they also have some illustrations of the dive sites.

Croatia's a beautiful place and the people are great fun, it's good value and great for a laid back holiday. For me it's great not having too much 'tourist junk' thrown at you and being able to get to know people a bit. Croatia is not anywhere near as 'spoiled' as other parts of the Med, and I hope it stays unspoiled, but judging by the building works this year we will have to wait and see!

If Olympus mended my camera case OK, maybe I'll have some photos when I get back - there again who knows!:sharks:


I am glad you enjoy Croatia as well as diving on Adriatic sea. Big Blue DC is very good DC with great staff (Igor Glavicic,Teo Lisicar...),i have been diving there couple of times and i enjoyed so much. Diving spots are good but not great as on nearby islands such as Hvar,Korcula and specially Vis.
You can see some photos in my gallery(mostly form island Vis) and of course rest of Adriatic sea UW photos on other croatian members galleries. Stay well and enjoy your holiday in Croatia.
 
... and one with very very poor visibility on a small wreck not too deep (max depth 32 m). Both recorded in north Adriatic...

Wreck Peltastis:
YouTube - Diving on wreck Peltastis



your poor visibility is actually really good visibility in comparison to what i'm used to! anyways, thanks for posting this video with the pics. i want to go dive this wreck.

on that note, I will be coming "home" to Delnice on October 23rd - November 14th, and am bringing my gear with me. If any of you guys is going diving around Istra / Rijeka / or the nearby islands and wouldn't mind if I tagged along, please let me know. I'll look up centers as well, and hopefully there will be a good bunch of them open this time of year. I'll just need to rent a tank (single, I don't do doubles yet) and weights somewhere.

I have about 60 cold water dives (5-10 *C), about 35 of them in the last 15 months, and the last 10 of them in my drysuit. I'm not a pro, but far from a beginner and feel very comfortable diving (in other words, I'm not a big liability).

A ako vam je lakse, mozemo na Hrvatskom.

Jurica
 
... and one with very very poor visibility on a small wreck not too deep (max depth 32 m). Both recorded in north Adriatic...

Wreck Peltastis:
YouTube - Diving on wreck Peltastis



your poor visibility is actually really good visibility in comparison to what i'm used to! anyways, thanks for posting this video with the pics. i want to go dive this wreck.

on that note, I will be coming "home" to Delnice on October 23rd - November 14th, and am bringing my gear with me. If any of you guys is going diving around Istra / Rijeka / or the nearby islands and wouldn't mind if I tagged along, please let me know. I'll look up centers as well, and hopefully there will be a good bunch of them open this time of year. I'll just need to rent a tank (single, I don't do doubles yet) and weights somewhere.

I have about 60 cold water dives (5-10 *C), about 35 of them in the last 15 months, and the last 10 of them in my drysuit. I'm not a pro, but far from a beginner and feel very comfortable diving (in other words, I'm not a big liability).

A ako vam je lakse, mozemo na Hrvatskom.

Jurica
 
your poor visibility is actually really good visibility in comparison to what i'm used to! anyways, thanks for posting this video with the pics. i want to go dive this wreck.

on that note, I will be coming "home" to Delnice on October 23rd - November 14th, and am bringing my gear with me. If any of you guys is going diving around Istra / Rijeka / or the nearby islands and wouldn't mind if I tagged along, please let me know. I'll look up centers as well, and hopefully there will be a good bunch of them open this time of year. I'll just need to rent a tank (single, I don't do doubles yet) and weights somewhere.

I live in Rijeka, I think we could work something out, several of us go diving when we can, usually on weekends (but I know we will not be going on 27-28th October for sure, at least not me).

Feel free to PM me for all details.
 
Hey guys,
Thanks very much for taking the time to post the information about diving in Croatia! One of my buddies and I were in the pub last night discussing where to go in May 2008 for a week of diving. We've been going to the Red Sea for the past 5 years and decided it's time for something different. We both agree, based on what we've heard and read, that Croatia will be our best bet for the next trip. We'll load my Berlingo full with our gear and drive from Amsterdam. The only difficulty is choosing a location. Or perhaps several locations. Time to start the serious research!
Again, many thanks!
Phil
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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