Shipwrecks near PULA – Croatia

Another long May weekend. This time it is already three years after the Millennium. We are all looking forward to visiting a country with a warmer climate somewhere in the south. The long winter made life difficult even for the resistant ones and flue and colds contributed to a rather pessimistic approach of Polish divers. Well, perhaps with the exception of those in dry suits. 

It has already become a tradition to devote the long May weekend to diving. We decided to go to Croatia again. This time though, a team of 12 divers headed for Pula on the Istria peninsula.

 

 

 

Pula is an attraction in itself. You could tell a lot about the town, as it has its place in the history of Europe. I will, however, focus on the diving sites, as usual. My description of the region is rather general and you will not find tips about restaurants, romantic destinations or museums worth visiting, as in my experience this is not the type of information that would interest divers. 

I find smaller towns, such as Rovinj, located 30 km to the north of Pula more attractive. 

Still, you need to do something after diving apart from drinking beer in a local pub. Don't worry, you will certainly find there something to interest you. My little piece of advice is to buy souvernis in smaller towns or even fishermen settlements rather than in larger tourist centers. The differences in price of various items we usually buy as souvenirs reach 15-20%. One week is always not long enough to visit all the interesting diving locations in a given area, but it should give you a hint about special attractions that can be found there. Late coming of the spring had its influence on the Adriatic Sea as well. The temperature of 12 degrees Celsius at the water surface and 9 degrees below the depth of 20 meters was not what we had expected in the spring, but well, what matters is the diving opportunities. As a result of mixing of winter temperature water and spring temperature water the visibility was a bit lower than expected. Frankly speaking, I hadn't had an idea the Adriatic can be so similar to the Baltic Sea. Well, you keep on learning when you are a diver. That's what makes it so fascinating. We had been intending to focus on the wrecks but decided to devote two days to training at the reefs. At least that's what they are called here. They are just walls covered with a certain amount of living creatures. It was only on the third day that we headed for the wrecks. 

 

 

 

Our diving was organized by Puntižela Diving Center located at a camping site with the same name and managed by Vladimir Beronje, called Vlado by everyone. The owner has a large motor boat called "Obelix", which can take you pretty quickly to the diving location. For example, it takes an hour to get from the center to the Baron Gautsch, which is located at a considerable distance. His telephone number is 0038598421021. The diving location near the center itself isn't particularly interesting. The maximum depth of 8 meters and strong currents make it difficult to dive there. It is useful, however, to have a check dive there so as not to be surprised when diving later on. 

In the vicinity of the center there is a diving location called "the Canyon". I'd seen a few famous underwater canyons, among them the canyon in Dahab, Egypt, which is a popular destination among Poles. This one still made me feel I was discovering something new and virgin, although I suppose it is often visted by divers. I knew that at the very moment we got to the location. Easy access from the shore and the fact it is located in Pula itself make it a popular destination. Yet, the local fishermen still cast their nets there, disregarding the divers. One of the attractions was a cat shark enmeshed into one of the nets.  Luckily, I managed to cut the line and set it free. It was a bit stunned but swam away into the blue waters of the Adriatic Sea.

Vlado took us to one of the most interesting places in the neighborhood of Pula for the second diving that day - the four caves (there called "the tunnels"). They are indeed not very complex caves you can swim through, suitable even for beginner divers. Three of them are at the depth of 5 to 7 meters (the Croatian word for "depth" is "dubine") . The fourth one is located at 17 meters and goes through the headland. You reach the surface near the anchored boat. 

Day three - we were heading for the wreck of the Giuseppe Dezza, a torpedo boat that sank in 1944 due to being hit by one (yes, one!) torpedo dropped from an airplane. Unluckily, the torpedo hit the ammunition warehouse and the boat split instantly into two. We saw the stern part. That's where the marker line is fixed - it is moored to the anti-aircraft gun. The wreck rests at the depth of 30 to 36 meters. The bow part is not so interesting and you will find it at the distance of 80 meters away.

 

 

As, according to the diving regulations, the second dive should be shallower than the first one, we decided to go to the Brioni National Park, which consists of a dozen or so islands, where Tito, the local dictator, used to live. The land there has been turned into a large nature park. You will meet there exotic animals, such as zebras and lions, but to the surprise of many visitors many of them are stuffed specimen. You can get to the islands on a pleasure boat departing from Fažana near Pula.  As for underwater attractions, diving can be done only under the supervision of the local divemaster. We went underwater near a headland at the Veli Brijuni island. Because of the poor visibilty I did not see many fish but I noticed sponges, in particular white ones. I do not recall seeing such amounts of white sponges anywhere else in the Adriatic Sea. You can also see there lobsters, crayfish and cat sharks. 

On the following day we were to see the major attraction that brought us to Pula, that is the wreck of the Baron Gautsch. In order to dive there you need a permit that costs 40 kune and is issued by a diving center. You need to bear in mind that from 1st January 2003 the Croatian diving regulations have changed. If you wish to dive on your own, you need not just the yearly diving permit for 100 kune, but also additional permits costing over 2,000 kune. So it's cheaper and safer to dive with any local diving center. 

The Baron Gautch was a passenger ship that sank after hitting a mine left by sailors of the same country, which was then the Austro-Hungarian empire. It went down on 13th August 1914 in less than 7 minutes. As a result, more than 240 people died. The wreck is certainly amazing and you can dive there about a dozen times, but only if the visibility is within the range of 15 to 20 meters. It was 5-8 meters when we dived then at the beginning of May and we could not see much, which was a pity. I had to give up my ambitious plans to take some pictures. The brightness was comparable to that of the Baltic Sea. Many people do not notice details when they dive on a wreck but I managed to see some sea slugs because of my passion for photography. The maximum depth is 42 meters. The marker line is fixed to the upper deck at 28 meters. If you have dived on the famous SS Thistlegorm wreck on the Red Sea, you will not be surprised by the amount of boats anchored above the wreck. 

We began another day with diving in the Brioni National Park, this time choosing the Svientyj Jeronim island. The wind was pretty strong, which changed our plans to dive on a wreck. We needed to hide in a sheltered place behind the island. Diving with the divemaster was calm but interesting. The group saw a cat shark, a crayfish, a lobster and octopuses. I saw for the first time an orange sea slug and colonies of small invertebrates called "Clavelina lepadiformis".

For the second diving that day we went along Pula's coast to the place where a boat mast is stuck into a vertical reef at the depth of 24 meters. I have no idea what happened to the boat but it looks interesting and makes you use your imagination and reflect on the possible explanations for the situation. I saw cat shark eggs there and many green sponges. I think that during the night you can easily see there crayfish and lobsters, as there are a lot of hollows in the reef.  

On 2nd day of May we went to the wreck of the Istria. It was a trade ship, which sank during World War II because she hit a mine just like the Baron Gautsch did. She was transporting ammunition, so I'm sure you will find various missiles and bombs on the sea bed and in the wreck itself. The diving depth is between 30 and 42 meters. You can reach the steering room, the engine room and the cargo hold. The engine is well-preserved and will surely impress many future divers. 

 

 

 

One more place we visited was the wreck of a Croatian submarine used in the time of World War II to train soldiers. During one of the cruises, when the boat was moving on the surface and entering the port of Pula, a British submarine hit the boat with one torpedo. It was enough for the boat to sink within several minutes. It is now sitting on the sea bed at the depth of 36 meters. There are places where the depth goes down to 39 meters, near the hull, where the sea currents wash away the sand. Diving there is fascinating. Near the marker line fixed to the hull, in a hollow of the wreck, there lives a lobster. We managed to have a good look at it. It could become a diving attraction, but probably someone will choose to turn it into a posh dish. The wreck is split into two parts. The second one is located at the distance of about 500 meters from the marker line. The wreck had been visited by divers for just one year so it can still be full of surprises. My piece of advice is to make it a part of your diving plan when you come to Pula. 

In the region you can see many other wrecks, among them the Maona, the Numidia, the Romanja, the Klapeta, the Remorker, the Mob, the Varese, the John Gilmore, the Josefina, the Flamingo and the Tihani.

 

Of course, a week is not enough to visit all of them. Many of the wrecks do not have marker lines. Going down to the depth of 20 meters with the visibility of about 6 to 8 meters would not be a very wise decision, especially for the less experienced divers. You need to keep in mind that the ear labyrinth does not function properly when there is no reference point, as it happens underwater.

 

 

 

All in all, it is worth coming there, if you are absolutely sure that the visibility exceeds 15-20 meters. If you call the Croats to ask them about the visibility, they will surely say that it's great. Why scare the tourists off? They bring money along after all.  

It is also worth having a dive or even a few dives in the Brioni National Park, as indeed the sea life differs a bit from that seen in the other parts of the Adriatic Sea.  

This is the end of my short report. I'd like to wish you to reach the surface as many times as you go underwater, as divers say.

 

Text: Rudi Stankiewicz