Dubrovnik & the Elafiti Islands

Diving here is a day-boat operation. Centres are based at hotels in the city, one of them on a beach on the Lapad peninsula, and most sites are a few minutes away by boat: the island of Lokrum just off the old town, and Koločep and Lopud in the Elafiti chain to the north-west. Lokrum is a nature reserve, and its wreck and tunnel are dived from boats out of the city. Weather permitting, divers can choose the site, and some of the wrecks lie further out. The boats run in every season.

The underwater terrain is rock formations, caves and walls. Koločep is cut with caves, coves and underwater reefs; at Bezdan a cave opens over an abyss that falls almost to 40 m. Off Lopud, the Šunj Beach Wall drops as vertical cliffs. On Lokrum, a cave and tunnel run from the Dead Sea, which is devoid of underwater life, though crabs and bream gather along the tunnel. The wrecks range from the Aurora at about 16 m to the Taranto and Tomislav near 40 m.

The area suits divers who want wrecks and caves within easy reach of a city base, with a shallow and a deep hull in the same trip. Much of the reef and cave diving is open to all levels, the first day usually starts with an easier dive before a more challenging one, and the Aurora gives less experienced divers a wreck of their own. Large marine life is scarce, so divers after big animals will find the draw here is caves and history rather than fish.