Istria · Croatia · Wall · Reef
Bumbište
A 200 m wall under sponges, bryozoans and soft corals
Area photo: Tanya Dedyukhina · CC BY 3.0
A wall that runs long rather than deep: the face at Bumbište spreads over 200 metres, with its top at 5 to 8 metres and the ground below it reaching 33. Shoals of salema, white sea bream and damselfish work along the length of it, and the rock is grown over with sponges, bryozoans, cnidarians and soft corals.
Where it is and how deep
44.8165° N, 13.8538° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The top of the wall is 5 to 8 metres down and the ground below it goes to 33, but depth is not what this dive is about. The face spreads over 200 metres, so the plan is to pick a level, swim it out along the rock and come back shallower rather than to drop to the bottom and work your way up. On one tank you will not see all of it.
The wall itself is covered. Sponges, bryozoans, cnidarians and soft corals grow across the face, and shoals of salema, white sea bream and damselfish move along it in numbers. The deeper sections hold the growth and the shallow return keeps the colour, which makes the last ten minutes over the top of the wall worth planning for rather than treating as a formality.
Marine life and season
- Reef fish swarms
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Off-season |
Season follows Istria: The main season runs 1 May to 31 October; the sea passes 20°C from mid-June to September, and a few sites are diveable only outside the high season.
Sources
- Bumbiste — Scubago
- Reef Bumbiste — Diving Pula
More dive sites in Istria
Wreck
Scout cruiser mined two weeks after the war ended, at 49 m
Cave & cavern
Limestone tunnels, the first passed one diver at a time
Cave & cavern
Shallow caves at 3 to 8 m inside Kamenjak Nature Park
Wreck
Mined in 1943, bow torn away, lying at 48 m
Wreck
A 40 m cargo wreck on the sand off the San Giovanni light
Reef
A terraced plateau reef that few boats visit
Reef
Freshwater springs in the shallows at the Lim Channel mouth
Yellow anemones and sponges on the Sv. Ivan north wall
Similar dives elsewhere
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