Mediterranean · Croatia
Kornati Islands
Sheer limestone crowns dropping past 80 m into the open Adriatic
Photo: ANDREJ NEUHERZ · CC BY-SA 3.0
The Kornati are a national park of 89 largely bare limestone islands, and their seaward edges form the crowns — cliffs that rise from the Adriatic and continue underwater as sheer walls dropping past 80 m. Diving is permit-controlled and concentrated on a handful of these drop-offs, where the wall is hung with sponges, cup coral and gorgonians below 30 m. The topside landscape of white rock and empty islands is as much a part of the trip as the diving.
About diving in Kornati Islands
Kornati is a day out rather than a dive site round the corner. Boats run from Murter and the mainland towns, and a trip means a long ride, two dives with a surface interval between bare islands, and little ashore beyond a few seasonal konobas, so tanks, water and lunch come on the boat. Diving is permit-controlled and led by licensed operators inside designated zones, which keeps the site list short and brings the same handful of walls round again and again.
Those walls are the point. The crowns on the seaward side of the outer islands drop vertically, in places undercut, from just below the surface into open blue, and you dive them by swimming a contour with the rock on one shoulder and nothing underneath; Mana is the best known of them. The top few metres are bare sunlit limestone, then growth thickens as the light goes, with sponges and cup coral on the upper wall and gorgonians below 30 m. The inner sides offer boulder slopes and small caverns instead.
Depth discipline matters more here than skill in current, which is usually mild: the wall runs far deeper than any recreational plan, so the dive ends on your gauge rather than on the bottom. That makes the outer crowns Advanced ground, while the sheltered sides are fine for Open Water. Weather is the other variable, as the bura shuts the exposed walls at short notice and days shift to sheltered inner-side sites. It suits divers who want structure, scenery and quiet over fish action.
Best time to dive Kornati Islands
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Off-season |
| Sea surface | 14°C57°F | 13°C55°F | 13°C55°F | 15°C59°F | 18°C64°F | 22°C72°F | 24°C75°F | 25°C77°F | 23°C73°F | 21°C70°F | 19°C66°F | 16°C61°F |
| Daytime high | 14°C57°F | 15°C59°F | 19°C66°F | 22°C72°F | 26°C79°F | 33°C91°F | 35°C95°F | 36°C97°F | 31°C88°F | 25°C77°F | 20°C68°F | 15°C59°F |
| Rain | 89 mm3.5 in | 85 mm3.3 in | 77 mm3.0 in | 62 mm2.4 in | 78 mm3.1 in | 45 mm1.8 in | 44 mm1.7 in | 47 mm1.9 in | 119 mm4.7 in | 99 mm3.9 in | 145 mm5.7 in | 114 mm4.5 in |
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Good | Good | Prime |
| Sea surface | |||||
| 14°C57°F | 13°C55°F | 13°C55°F | 15°C59°F | 18°C64°F | 22°C72°F |
| Daytime high | |||||
| 14°C57°F | 15°C59°F | 19°C66°F | 22°C72°F | 26°C79°F | 33°C91°F |
| Rain | |||||
| 89 mm3.5 in | 85 mm3.3 in | 77 mm3.0 in | 62 mm2.4 in | 78 mm3.1 in | 45 mm1.8 in |
| Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Off-season |
| Sea surface | |||||
| 24°C75°F | 25°C77°F | 23°C73°F | 21°C70°F | 19°C66°F | 16°C61°F |
| Daytime high | |||||
| 35°C95°F | 36°C97°F | 31°C88°F | 25°C77°F | 20°C68°F | 15°C59°F |
| Rain | |||||
| 44 mm1.7 in | 47 mm1.9 in | 119 mm4.7 in | 99 mm3.9 in | 145 mm5.7 in | 114 mm4.5 in |
2011–2025 averages. Sea surface: NOAA Coral Reef Watch, measured at the surface, so deeper water can run colder. Daytime high and rain: NASA POWER.
The park licenses diving Apr–Oct, warmest Jul–Sep; the bura wind closes the exposed outer walls at short notice.
Best months: June, July, August, September
Kornati Islands water temperature and weather by month
The sea surface runs from 13 °C (55 °F) in February to 25 °C (77 °F) in August. It is 24 °C (75 °F) or warmer from July and August. Most rain falls from September to February, peaking at about 150 mm (5.9 in) in November; June to August are the driest. Daytime highs reach 36 °C (97 °F) in August and drop to 14 °C (57 °F) in January. The coldest water here is about 13 °C (55 °F), so pack a 7 mm suit with a hood, or a semi-dry.
Dive types & marine life
Fixed life is the draw rather than fish: sponges, cup coral and gorgonians below 30 m, with nudibranchs and small crustaceans in the cracks right through the licensed April–October season. Dusky grouper and octopus are resident on the walls, and barracuda and shoaling fish are most visible over the shallower rock in the warm June–September peak.
- Wall
- Reef
- Cave & cavern
- Drift
- Groupers
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Nudibranchs
- Reef fish swarms
- Macro critters
- Barracuda
Best dive sites in Kornati Islands
Red gorgonian colonies on the seabed instead of the wall
A terrace at 26 m packed with red fan corals and sponges
Reef
Uninhabited islet on the park's authorised diving list
Wall
A step at 30 m falling to a fan-coral plateau at 45 m
Wall
Yellow gorgonians on one face of the wall, red on the other
Wall
Beginner platform above a gorgonian drop-off starting at 30 m
Wall
Gorgonians in several colours at 35 m below a cup-coral slope
Reef
A small sponge-lined cavern at 22 m off the lighthouse islet
One of nine zones where the park authorises diving
Wreck
A 2018 wreck at 20 m, still being colonised
Wall
An overhanging sponge wall down to a 35 m wooden wreck at 42 m
Wall
Red fan corals from 22 m on the park's southernmost wall
A wall from 15 m to 65 m below a beginner-friendly plateau
Wreck
An almost undamaged Ju 87 sitting upright at 25 to 27 m
Cave & cavern
A half cave 50 m across, sponges and soft corals overhead
Purara
Strict-protection zone island with the densest growth on the wall.
Klobučar
Sheltered site with boulder slopes, used when the bura blows.
How to get to Kornati Islands
Murter is the closest base and most day boats leave from there, with others running out of Zadar, Šibenik, Vodice and Biograd; Zadar and Split are the nearest airports. Liveaboards take it in as part of longer Adriatic trips. There is no shore diving, and every dive needs a park permit arranged through a licensed operator.
Photos from Kornati Islands
Argo Navis · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dive videos
Diving in Croatia - Kornati National Park · DeeperBlue Diving on YouTube
Photo credits
- Excursion boat passing beneath a sheer limestone cliff rising from the Adriatic in the Kornati islands by ANDREJ NEUHERZ, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Sunlit limestone cliff face of Rašip Veli dropping into deep blue water in Kornati National Park by Argo Navis, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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