Istria — Rovinj & Pula, the area around Römerbucht

Istria · Croatia · Reef

Römerbucht

Freshwater springs in the shallows at the Lim Channel mouth

Area photo: Tanya Dedyukhina · CC BY 3.0

A stepped reef on the south side of the entrance to the Lim Channel, sloping from 5 metres down to 23. In the shallows large holes open in the seabed where fresh water rises through the rock. The site is rated for new and experienced divers alike, and the top of it is shallow enough to snorkel.

Also known as Romerbucht, Roemerbucht.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Römerbucht: typical dive 5–23 m (15–75 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit5 m23 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

45.1196° N, 13.6137° EPublished position for this site.

The dive

The site is on the south side of the entrance to the Lim Channel, and the reef steps down from 5 metres to 23 rather than sloping evenly, so it reads as a series of shelves stacked below one another. That structure makes it easy to run at any level: drop to the depth the group is comfortable with, follow the steps along the slope, and come back over the shallow shelves at the end of the dive.

The feature to look for is in the shallows, where large holes open in the seabed and fresh water rises out of them. It sits in the first few metres, so it costs nothing to leave for the end of the dive. The same shallow ground makes the site usable for snorkelling, and the reef as a whole is rated for new and experienced divers alike rather than being anyone's specialist dive.

Marine life and season

The sources we used don't single out particular species here.

Month-by-month season rating for Römerbucht
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Off-seasonOff-seasonFairFairGoodPrimePrimePrimePrimeGoodFairOff-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

  1. Roemerbucht — Scubago

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