Kostrena Diving

Diving in Kostrena caters to divers on opposite sides of the spectrum; technical divers seeking a thrill, and recreational divers wanting easy and relaxing dives. The deep wreck here will, without a doubt, excited technical divers while the colourful reef plateaus and reef walls will impress recreational divers. 

 

Diving in Kostrena

Kostrena is a municipality which lies in Kvarner Bay in Croatia. Its rocky but stunning beaches lie on the coast of the Adriatic Sea and this region is popular for sports and recreational activities, including diving. The diving here is a combination of some thrill-seeking dives for the more advanced and technical divers such as the Vis Wreck and shallower, calm and marine life-rich dives for more novice divers or divers who just want to relax and enjoy the underwater world here such as at Kostrena dive site and Kostrena Wall. The dive centres here will take divers out on their dive boats to go and visit these dive sites. With a large collection of marine life being attracted to the different topography and wrecks, almost every dive here is guaranteed to include some fun pops of colour. 

Best time to dive

Kostrena has a Mediterranean climate which means hot summer winters with a lot of rain. The air temperatures here range between a cold 8 degrees Celsius in the midst of winter, between December and February, and reaches up to 26 degrees Celsius in the summer months of July and August. The peak diving season lies between May and September when the waters are the most calm, the most clear and the warmest, with the least amount of rain and the least amount of currents. The water temperature here ranges between 12 and 24 degrees Celsius and the visibility is on average good throughout the year and ranges between 10 metres and 35 metres on the best days. 

Types of diving

The dive sites of Kostrena are reached by boat and these boats will take technical divers to some deep, thrilling wreck dives which lie beyond recreational limits, or they will take divers to the best spots to complete their dive courses or they will take divers to the best spots to see the most marine life. The marine life here gathers around the shallow reefs, the reef walls and wrecks. Many of these dive sites are ideal for underwater photographers due to the clear waters and colourful species which inhabit these waters. 

What to see

The marine life in Kostrena is all a vast array of colours, sizes and shapes, resulting in an exciting collection for divers to admire when underwater here. The reefs are the foundation tof this large collection of species. The reefs are made up of different soft corals, hard coral, Anemones, Sea Sponges such as Red Sea Sponges and Sulphur Sea Sponges, and the stunning Gorgonians. Species which are often spotted here include different species of Crustaceans such as Crabs and Lobsters, colourful Sea Urchins, Octopus, Scorpion Fish, Conger Eels, Moray Eels and the majestic Seahorse. Some fish species which inhabit these waters include Damselfish, Dentex, Bream and so many more which form large schools. 

Best places to dive

TA 36 is an official war grave and protected by the Croatian Ministry of Culture, but is also an exciting wreck dive for technical divers. The wreck lies between 45 and 65 metres. It sunk in 1944 and after so many years submerged it has really created its own ecosystem and attracted a plethora of marine life. 

Kostrena dive site is one of those dive sites which allows divers of all levels to be able to fully appreciate the rich marine biodiversity of these waters. With clear, calm waters, with an average depth of 20 metres. 

Vis wreck is another thrilling wreck dive for more advanced divers. This 120 metre long cargo ship sunk in 1946 and lies at 47 metres, and after so long has become somewhat of an artificial reef and divers can also penetrate this wreck. 

Kostrena Wall which is an impressive sea wall which descends steeply from 10 metres all the way down to 46 metres.