Dugi Otok and the Kornati Islands – Croatia

Imagine mountains, but no soaring peaks, just gentle hills with no trees, overgrown with grass and moss or covered with stones. You can see everything there, as if a giant hand made a partition in a way many of us do every morning. Now imagine a sea hiding the hills in its clear water to a half of their height. Dolphins playing around in an ancient scenery and a sense of bliss making you forget your daily problems. If you add warm sunshine and sea breeze, it is almost as if you were in the Kornati National Park.

Several of our May trips to beautiful Croatia and later on some September ones as well were planned with the same aim: to see as much as possible of the underwater world in the vicinity of the Dugi Otok island ("dugi" is the Croatian word for "long" and "otok" means "island"), which is situated furthest from the shore, is the longest island and, in my opinion, the most beautiful one in Dalmatia.

The proximity of two national parks, Kornati and Telašćica situated on the Dugi Otok island, promised the place to be relatively untouched by tourists and divers as well. This assumption proved to be true, as the island itself has no complex tourist infrastructure catering for those in favor of convenience, luxurious hotels, sandy beaches, posh restaurants and fast motorboats. The area is dominated by sailing lovers.

I left for Croatia from Warsaw and filled up the car with petrol in Cieszyn. It was enough to travel through the Czech Republic and Austria. You need to head for Graz and then for Maribor. The route goes through Slovenia and it is a good moment to tank up cheaper fuel. Then you go on a motorway, which bypasses Zagreb, goes through Karlovac and ends in Sibenik. Later on you travel by narrower, sometimes very winding mountain roads. During the travel traces of the recent war can be seen. For me it was very depressing to see the ruined houses damaged by gunfire. They used to belong to Serbs, and even though some of them might be in a pretty good condition, they will be left empty for long. No Croat will live there. The Plitvice Lakes are a popular destination for many organized tours. It takes about three hours to get to Zadar from there. They are magnificent lakes with waterfalls forming cascades in a manner similar to that depicted in Chinese drawings. It is worth spending two days here in order to see it in detail. 

When we are close to the sea shore, we drive along flowery meadows. You might feel tempted to leave your car and walk for a while after a long night spent driving. It is not a good idea.

Many meadows are still minefields waiting to be disarmed. Notices saying "watch our for the mines" are not to be seen very often, but you had better be careful about where to stop your car for a pee. Croatia is becoming safer every year and their sappers are doing their best to clean the country of the mines, but I would not go looking for mushroom in their forests.

At last we managed to get to Zadar. We looked for the port (called in Croatian "luka") and it appeared we needed to wait two hours for the ferry to take us to Brbin on the island. It took less than 30 minutes to get from there to Sali, where we were heading. We still managed to have a look at Zadar's old town. If you happen to pass through near Zadar and choose not to see the place, it will be a loss. It is not the kind of architecture to be often met.

The island, which is our destination, is indeed long, it stretches for about 60 kilometers. There are a few small towns, rocky shores and one and only sandy beach in the northern part of the island. I had been happy about it, thinking that our kid would have a place to build sandcastles, but it appeared to offer another attraction - rummaging through trash, tremendous amounts of which are brought by the sea to the beach. Because of the sea currents and as the bay is large, the majority of trash floating on the Adriatic Sea seems to get just there.

In the Telašćica National Park vertical walls face the Adriatic Sea, reaching up to two hundred and a dozen meters above the sea level. The same is hidden underwater, but I will describe it later on. 

A week is not enough to see it all and you do not even notice when you start thinking about coming back to the Kornati Islands. I have been coming back several times now and I discover something new every time I get there. And, the more often I come, the more I like the area. I do not become bored despite spending so much time there.

Having found a Croat called IVO Michić, who was our guide and who organized the accommodation for our group, we unpacked and, despite the tiresome journey, decided to have a short walk around the place that was to be our home for the next week, i.e. Sali. The town is small, so half a day is enough to know every house and every restaurant. The few cafes opened here for the season supported my belief that the place is not as popular among tourist, as the northern part of this picturesque country. The next day was devoted to diving so we needed to rest. Our group of a dozen divers or so spent the following six days diving and looking for characteristic features of underwater life in this region. We went with Ivo on his fishing boat, which he adjusted for diving. Well, it seems just an adjusted fishing boat at the first glance, but when you learn her history, you need to take your hat off to the owner. "DIVNA" is already more than 100 years old and already Ivo's grandfather used to go fishing in her. Ivo recovered her from the sea bed, put a lot of work into her and renovated the boat. Today, the whole town is proud of her and admires the owner for his effort.

The diving center, where we filled in our tanks, was not very impressive. But after all it was not the decor, nice pictures and diving equipment on the walls that mattered, but the opportunity for some fun and good diving options for the following week. This was provided. Our satisfaction was even bigger, when it appeared that the meals prepared by the Croatian hosts were very good, diversified and substantial. The grilled fish were absolutely delicious. The secret of their excellent taste is the olive oil made from olives grown in the local groves, which is used to sprinkle the fish while grilling. And the fish are indeed fresh. You can see them taken out of the nets in the morning. Sometimes we were served squid, sometimes octopus. We certainly could not complain.

The center is located in one of two bays, on which Sali is situated. In the same bay you can find another diving center kept by Germans. The service is better there but it is small things that matter. The prices are higher than the ones proposed by the Croat and they take people to dive on a dinghy or on a smaller boat. In case of a break in the weather or longer distances this is of vital importance. The dinghy can take 5 or 6 people while the Croatian fishing boat - 14 to 16.

I must admit I did not appreciate the first diving as I should. It was only at the end of our stay there that I realized that only there near the Tukoṥćak island, on an underwater mountain beginning at the depth of 4 meters below the sea level I could see such a big colony of green sea sponges. I have seen sponges in many diving places, but there were never as many of them as there.

In the vicinity of the same island there is a wreck of a dock ship. I do not know why, but I managed to see it only during the third trip to Dugi Otok. It is really amazing and different from others. A line takes us straight from the surface of water to the wreck. It sits at the depth of 18 to 41 meters. Its bottom is a perfect place for oysters and for covellite. If you do not know how ships are taken out of water to be renovated, you should see the wreck. We spent the following several days exploring the mysteries of the sea bed. Rt. Vidilica is a place where divers sometimes see shark eggs. I was not so lucky in this particular location, but I managed to see them on the Kornati Islands. I have a picture of such an egg. The water was rather cold for May, i.e. 16-18°C on the surface. You have to expect lower visibility as it is a period of reproduction of sea sponges and sea urchins. The water is green in some places, but the visibility never goes below 15 meters. September, if the weather is favorable, is the best time to dive in this region. The water is warm, 20-22 degrees Celsius, the tourists are gone, the sun is shining but it is not as hot as during summer, and the temperature ranges from 20 to 26 degrees Celsius. All this makes an average Polish diver more than happy.

Garmenjak island is a place located near the Kornati National Park. It is ideal for deep divings. Vertical walls go down to the depth of 70 meters. In crevices between rocks you can see crayfish, scorpionfish, octopuses and morays. There is plenty of fish and sea fans, which makes it a perfect place for underwater photography. At the depth of 30 meters I could see a wreck sitting on the sea bed about 20 meters below me. Let it lie there for the time being. I might just be able to knock on the steering room door the next time I come here. On our way back we saw some dolphins playing around near our boat. During a stay on Dugi Otok diving in the above mentioned place is a must. You dive from the west and from the southeast. The second option is particularly tempting. You can see sea fans already at the depth of 10 meters. Still, the most interesting fact about this place is an entrance to a cave located at the depth of 22 meters. The entrance is so small that only a few specialized divers could give it a try. Its dimensions demand taking off your jacket in order to get inside. The cave is bell-shaped. When we sat at its entrance and directed the torchlight down, we noticed a sandy bed below and corridors to the left and to the right. I know no one had been there till September 2001. The cave is even more fascinating as in the summer that year scientists from Switzerland and Croatia discovered minute, one centimeter long organisms called spunia at the entrance to the cave. It would be nothing special were it not for the fact that these organisms had been discovered in several places in the world, always at the depth of 1,500-2,000 meters. So what special things get out from this cave that these organisms can be found there? Does it mean that the corridors go down to the depth of about 2,000 meters? The answer to this question is still unknown. Just don't say you do not want to see the place. And the depth is only 22 meters!

And now I'd like to describe a place where I managed to experience one of my best night dives. U.Broiścica bay. It is a shallow dive, only to the depth of 10 meters, but it was enough to learn more about the diversity of the local underwater fauna than I'd managed to see during the whole trip. Congers you could stroke, morays, scorpionfish, octopuses, John Dory fish, lots of brittle stars and other fish so far unknown to me convinced me this was one of the best places. To those who dived there during the day and couldn't believe my stories about the fish I saw: you'd better come here at night and forget diving during the day. You need to be careful, however, about fishing nets. I once found a nylon one at the depth of 10 meters. You need to stay alert and not to focus just on the fish. Even the way to get there offers a possibility to experience something new and refreshing. The location is worth visiting just for the sake of the silence of the bay at windless weather. I remember hearing my own heartbeat before getting to the water. An incredible place.

At the end of the bay, just over the corner to the right, there are three caves. You need a boat to get there. It is too far for swimming with the flippers on. One of the caves is 150 meters long. The remaining two are shorter and even a beginner diver can try to get there. One of the caves goes through the headland. The other one leads to an air chamber, where you can watch magnificent stalactites. Wow, this location is really breathtaking. On the other side of the bay, i.e. on the left, there is a great place for wall diving. A vertical wall goes down to the depth of 50 meters. There are a lot of sea fans, there are plenty crevices and hiding places, which make the location great for taking underwater pictures. For those interested in macro photography it should be interesting that I saw there five types of sea slugs!

Another interesting location is Rt. Lopata. From the side of the Adriatic Sea the vertical walls are shaped in such a way that it is difficult to find a rock shelf to rest. The sea goes deep into the land there, creating a small bay. In the southern part of the bay at the depth of about 10-12 meters you can find old amphoras, and a bit further in the direction of the island there is a wreck of a World War II German transporter. Caves and caverns in the northern part of the bay are located not very deep and are available to advanced divers.

Balun is an island in the Kornati National Park. You can see nothing interesting up to the depth of 10-15 meters. Moss, urchins and that sort of stuff. But deeper you will discover a real paradise. A photographer will find there material for wide-angle and macro shots. Advocates of the standard 35 mm lens will have something to do for themselves as well. You need to know, however, which side to choose. One of them is a vertical wall, the other is sloping gently and you will see only Neptune grass there.

One of the most interesting places to dive on the Kornati Islands is the Borownik island. Its characteristic is similar to that of the Balun island, but at the depth of 13 meters there is an entrance to a cave leading up to the surface. When you reach the surface, you will see a ceiling with red rocks. I wouldn't breathe the air in there. I'm sure the composition of that gas is different to what we usually breathe. If you feel the urge of trying great depths, I recommend islands Mana and Mrtovac. There is virtually no bottom there. Vertical walls go down and it is impossible to see anything below. Just the big blue. According to a batimetric map, the depth is 94 meters just at the wall and it goes steeply down to the sea. There are not so many sea fans, but for some reason sea slugs feel at home there. You do not need to look for them - they are everywhere. The same goes for tuna. It is highly probable that you will see shoals of meter-long tuna fish there. I did. A few words about places I cannot recommend for diving. Certainly it makes no point to dive in Telašćica National Park. The bay is shallow and the visibility of 4 to 6 meters can discourage anyone. You can also skip diving in the port of Sali where I dived during the night. It is a waste of time, while you can go to U.Broiscica bay, which is 20 km away. Though, on the other side of the bay, at the depth of 20 meters there is a wreck of an old fishing boat. Not much, but it's always a wreck.

It's worth coming there in summer. The visibility improves by about 10 meters and migrating fish can be often seen in the Kornati region. You will find the webpage of the Kornati National Park here: www.kornati.hr.

All in all, it's worth coming back, as there is a lot to see. Permuda is an island recommended by Ivo as the most beautiful place he had ever dived in. I hope to see it soon. Any volunteers to come along?

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Text and photo: Rudi Stankiewicz