Croatia in September... Tips and advise?

[ski2moro]

Just a quick trip report from a new (AOW) diver. Sveta Marina is about 15 minutes south of Labin. Water temps at the end of September were 68* at 100ft. Air temps were high 70s during the day and low 60s at night. Vis was at least 40' and it was rather calm when I was there. Dolphins in the bay.

Amazing shore dives on a couple of walls. Boat dives to a wreck. Across the bay to some amazing vegetation. Not too many fish. I saw something new each time.

Firsts for me: A small cave (although my experienced buddy laughed at me when I called it a cave). Nicolaigrotto. I went in about 15 feet or so before turning around. It was so beautiful, I may revise my plan not to be a cave diver.

And my first night dive with 2 experienced buddies. We turned out our lights to see the phosphorescence and when the lights came on, I was about 6 feet above the others. Needs work. Santa, I want a great light for Christmas.

Finally, the Scubacenter (scubacenter - DE) was great. Walter, Daniel, Andi, and everyone else was awesome. Reasonable prices. Good rental equipment. Overnight storage. Waking distance from our vacation apartment. I would recommend it to anyone.

 

[ElChe]

We've been to the scubacenter's another center in Rabac who offer only shore dives. It was just a few steps away from our hotel so I decided to give a try there, although after a decade long Adriatic experience I thought there weren't too much to see. Well, they have only one dive site, a long wall, we had nice dives. We saw octopus, small shoals of fish, a big dentex, so I confess it was better than I expected. And because they have only one dive site, the prices were much cheaper than the usual dive prices in the Northern Adriatic.
I think you did the boat dive to the opposite island, Cres. Am I right? The Lina is there but sometimes the visibility isn't so good. Sadly I had to skip all my wreck dive plans because the weather wasn't friendly and we had a beginner in the group. But at least we had plenty of time to visit the most interesting places in the surface. If somebody interested in my above and under water photos, I posted some here.

 

[ski2moro]

We were so lucky with excellent weather and good vis. I did not get to dive the Lina, as the dive center requires a minimum of 50 dives and a deep water specialty to go on the boat. My friend was able to go, and had wonderful vis that day. For the boat trip to Nicolaigrotto, we came out of the Sv. Marina harbor and turned right along the coast rather than making the crossing to Cres. We anchored in a protected inlet for the dive. The Cres boat dive was different and interesting.

I liked your photos. Croatia is a jewel that many Americans have not yet discovered. I will definitely go back.

 

[ElChe]

I've been to Croatia for at least a dozen times (easy for me, only a few hours of driving) and had a lot of experiences. I like the Istria but the diving is often too expensive there so I prefer Dalmatia where the water is warmer, the vis is better and I have to pay less...