Istria · Croatia · Wreck
Luana
Mined in 1943, bow torn away, lying at 48 m
Area photo: Tanya Dedyukhina · CC BY 3.0
A 70-metre merchant ship mined in 1943, lying between 38 and 48 metres about nine nautical miles out from the dive centre. Her bow was torn off and sits a few metres clear of the rest of the hull. Even the shallowest structure is below recreational limits, so she is listed as a technical dive rather than a deep recreational one.
Where it is and how deep
44.7253° N, 13.9731° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The wreck lies about nine nautical miles from the dive centre on a bottom at 48 metres, with her shallowest structure at 38. That range is the whole shape of the dive: even the top of her is deeper than a recreational plan allows, so she is run as a technical dive with decompression, and the profile is written before the boat leaves rather than adjusted in the water.
She was a merchant ship of 70 metres by 11.5, sunk in 1943 after running onto a mine, and the damage is still the defining feature: the bow lies broken away, a few metres clear of the rest of the hull. That gap is the obvious thing to work, and at this depth one pass along the hull with a look at the separated bow is a full dive on its own.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Luana
- Type
- Merchant ship
- Length
- 70 m (230 ft)
- Sunk
- 1943
- Cause
- Struck a mine
- Lies
- In 38 to 48 m with the bow broken away, a few metres clear of the rest of the hull
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| 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.
Know before you go
- Everything on this wreck sits below 38 metres and the sand is at 48, so narcosis and gas planning drive the dive. It is listed as a technical site, not a deep recreational one.
Sources
More dive sites in Istria
Wall
A 200 m wall under sponges, bryozoans and soft corals
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
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Shallow caves at 3 to 8 m inside Kamenjak Nature Park
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
A 95 m WWII escort cut in two by a torpedo, mast top at 25 m, bow at 50 m
Broken collier at 44 m; follow the wreckage to a bow with its anchors still in place
A 99 m collier on her keel at 45 m, stern broken off, emergency propeller still visible
Upright, intact wreck with anti-aircraft guns at bow and stern, 42 to 51 m