Best Diving sites in Croatia

The Adriatic Sea is outstanding in itself, either to travel along it’s coast, or to dive right in! Croatia has a long coastline, taking it’s fair share of the Adriatic Sea with thousands of islands ashore, all inviting you to come for a dive!

Tourism is still developing in Croatia and a portion of that development is dive tourism. In fact, most of the islands of Croatia are uninhabited, which means they are under explored and unexploited. Of course, this is perfect for the adventurous traveler and scuba diver that seeks to discover pristine locations away from the crowds!

Croatia’s scuba diving industry has yet to expand in order to reach more dive sites, but you can already have a great adventure with what’s available now! Plus, Croatia stands among the cheapest and, arguably, one of the most beautiful European travel destination! Let’s find out more about scuba diving in Croatia!

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Just Mye (@nomadic_mye) on Jun 10, 2018 at 3:47pm PDT

In this page you will find more detailed information about scuba diving in Croatia.

Best Dive Review

A thousand islands, hundreds of dive sites, nearly two dozen liveaboards doing unique trips, and we need to pick the best? The diving in Croatia is great and it is hard to narrow the field, but here are a few of the best diving sites of Croatia that always gets rave reviews.

• The Blue Grotto (Modra Spilja): Located on the Island of Bisevo, it has been called “the most enchanting cave experience in the world”. The cave is open to the sea and boat traffic can enter. Near noon, the sun light causes the water to look aqua blue. So, you can either book a diving tour, or do like most travelers and enjoy the view from a boat on the surface.

• The Cathedral, Premuda: You can dive these countless underwater caves and caverns from Zadar.
• Vis Island Group: The islands are the furthest from the mainland and offers outstanding diving. Vis the main island has hundreds of caves and caverns. There is also an extensive number of WWI and WWII shipwrecks. For example, the wreck of the Teti is located in the Vis Islands and is considered the best beginner wreck in Croatia.
• Hvar is known as a jet setter destination, however, it is also a great diving destination. There are seven islands nearby that also has dive sites, all within at most a hour away.

How to dive Croatia?

Croatia’s scuba diving industry is developing and offers plenty of options to experience scuba diving and snorkeling! Indeed, you can join day trips with a dive center based on land, find a hotel affiliated with a dive center, or board an adventure cruise. The latter are mostly snorkeling only liveaboards, but will take you to smaller islands and incredible sceneries!

You will find adventure cruises in Croatia to be offered at a variety of prices for all budgets, and to propose highly interesting itineraries.

Best time to dive in Croatia

In some places, diving might be available year round. However, the dive season is considered to be May to October. Overall, the northern hemisphere’s winter months are not recommended to dive in Croatia.

Summer temperatures are in the range of 25°C/77°F. The winter sees 17-19°C /63-66°F. There are some variations along the coast since the difference can be important given the length of the country form north to south. The northern portions of Croatia may see winter temperatures as low as 7°C, so it is best to check the historical weather for the destination you are looking at.

Dive courses

As Croatia offers lots of different types of dive sites including wrecks, reef and caves, pretty much all of the diving certifications are available in the country. Indeed, it’s a great idea to take you cave/cavern diving course if you want to explore a lot of Croatia’s best dive sites!

Scuba Diving conditions

Diving conditions are normally very good during summertime. The country sees little change in depth due to tides, and marine currents are few. In fact, areas that display stronger marine current or harsh conditions are known, and not on the mainstream dive map of Croatia. Indeed, currents are limited to areas like passages and channels between some islands.

Furthermore, in Croatia you will find the underwater visibility to be mostly outstanding, even up to 50 meters in some locations. Overall, we talk about an average of 10 to 15 meters, or 30 to 50 feet.

Snorkelling in Croatia

While the water may chill you unless you are wearing a wet suit, the snorkeling is great and easy to do from many of the beaches. Of course, this is a summer activity only!

Fishes and Coral

The clear waters of Croatia are home to a great deal of marine species. The Mediterranean monk seal, common dolphin, the common bottle nose dolphin, loggerhead sea turtle, green turtle and the leather back turtle are some the endangered species found here. You will also find other whales and dolphins, sharks, rays and reef fish common to the Mediterranean and Red Seas.

Diving Safety

If you are planning an upcoming dive trip or travelling to Croatia, it is a really good idea to invest in travel insurance for scuba diving, because you never know what could happen and when you might need it (because accidents do happen!). I recommend this diving insurance as they offer worldwide coverage and focus on providing scuba divers a quality insurance and medical assistance service.

Croatia is a great travel destination, and one of the few European destinations where diving is definitely worth trying! It’s long, Adriatic Sea coastline will charm travelers from around the world, both from the surface, or underwater!

Photos Croatia

Travel Guide

Now that you know all about the underwater world, you might want to start planning your scuba holiday! Check out our Croatia Travel Review for information about how to get there, activities and excursions, where to stay, and more.