Turquoise blue water, pleasantly warm temperatures, and a diverse underwater world. Croatia is not one of the most popular diving destinations in the Mediterranean for nothing! The country on the Adriatic offers a variety of diving spots, excellent visibility, and rich flora and fauna. And thus attracts many enthusiastic divers to the region every year.
The Croatian Adriatic coast stretches over 1.700 km from north to south and also has a lot to offer underwater. Rock formations, wrecks, colorful reefs, and caves are just some of the many underwater sights you’ll see when diving in Croatia.
Diving on Rab Island
Our diving trip took us to the beautiful island of Rab in northern Croatia. Rab is located, next to Krk and Cres and many other islands, in the Kvarner Bay – one of the sunniest regions in Europe.
In the charming coastal village of Kampor in the north-west of the island is the diving center Kron Diving, which we chose as the starting point for our dives on the coast of Rab and some associated underwater model photoshoots.
The dive center has existed here for over 20 years and of course, knows the best spots for diving. Divers get to most dive sites within 5-15 minutes with one of the two speedboats of Kron Diving. The more distant spots can be reached in a maximum of 30 minutes.
In total, the base offers a choice of over 30 dive sites. So there are many different options for both beginners and advanced divers. Kron Diving also offers good facilities for cleaning the dive and underwater photo equipment and the dive guides handle the cameras and the gear very carefully.
Conditions at the dive sites
During our dives the water temperature was between 18 ° (from thermocline) and 25 ° (on the surface). Depending on the current, dive site, and depth. The thermocline is between 5 and 10 m deep.
In addition to schools of fish, we met octopuses, seahorses, and nudibranchs. And the underwater landscape off Rab’s coast also had a lot in store for us… During our dives, we saw both canyons and grottos, colorful reefs, fields of gorgonians, and steep walls.
This beautiful underwater world, the fantastic visibility, and the low current provided the perfect setting for our underwater model photoshoots. As part of a workshop planned by underwater photographer Christian Zink and co-organized by Broken Light Photography, we photographed the two divers and models Julia and Michelle. These photoshoots resulted in aesthetic underwater photos in front of canyons, reefs, and rock formations.
Diving in Croatia: Our underwater photo equipment
Our underwater photo equipment included a Canon 5D Mark IV as well the Sony A7RIII in a Nauticam A7RIII underwater housing, the Nauticam wet wide lens WWL-1, CMC Macro Converter, Symbioses SS-2R, and Sea&Sea strobes. The Fotografit shock line, which is longer and more flexible than similar products, secured our equipment.
Overall, diving in Croatia can be recommended. You have to do without big fish, but there is a lot to discover in the landscape!
Photos by: Jakob Stampe Nielsen