Kornati Islands, the area around Plic Grmeni

Kornati Islands · Croatia · Wall · Wreck

Plic Grmeni

An overhanging sponge wall down to a 35 m wooden wreck at 42 m

Area photo: ANDREJ NEUHERZ · CC BY-SA 3.0

A drop-off at 24 m falling away as a slightly overhanging wall covered in sulphur sponges, with the remains of a roughly 35 m long ship lying at 42 m. Gorgonian hills and fields sit to either side of the wreck, and several anchors are scattered along the wall at various depths. The ship is not named or dated in the published description.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Plic Grmeni: typical dive 24–42 m (80–138 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit24 m42 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 50 m (164 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

43.6194° N, 15.6250° EPublished position for this site.

The dive

The drop-off is at 24 m and runs to the east, so the dive starts on the shallower rock and rolls over the edge. The wall below is slightly overhanging and full of sulphur sponges, and several anchors lie along it at various depths, which gives the descent something to read on the way down rather than a blank face of stone.

At 42 m the wall gives up the remains of an approximately 35 m long ship. All the wooden parts are rotten, so what you see is the shape of a hull and the metal parts lying around it rather than a standing structure. To the left and right of the wreck are gorgonian hills and fields, and those are worth as much of the short bottom time as the wreck itself.

The return is the descent in reverse: back up the overhanging wall, past the anchors, onto the rock above the 24 m lip for the shallow end of the profile. Moray eel is the animal logged most often here, with nudibranchs, conger eel, octopus and grouper behind it, and the shallower rock is where the ascent time gets spent.

The wreck

Vessel
Unnamed wooden-hulled ship
Type
Wooden-hulled ship, approximately 35 m long
Length
35 m (115 ft)
Cause
Not published; the source neither names nor dates the ship
Lies
At 42 m below the drop-off, wooden parts rotten, metal parts lying around

Marine life and season

  • Nudibranchs
  • Groupers
  • Macro critters
Month-by-month season rating for Plic Grmeni
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Off-seasonOff-seasonFairGoodGoodPrimePrimePrimePrimeGoodFairOff-season

Season follows Kornati Islands: The park licenses diving Apr–Oct, warmest Jul–Sep; the bura wind closes the exposed outer walls at short notice.

Know before you go

  • The wreck at 42 m is past recreational depth: narcosis and gas planning govern the dive, and the bottom time available is minutes rather than tens of minutes.
  • The wall is slightly overhanging, so a diver who loses buoyancy control below the lip has rock above rather than a straight way up.

Questions divers ask

How deep is the wreck at Plic Grmeni?+

The remains lie at 42 m, below a drop-off that starts at 24 m. That puts the wreck past recreational depth, so the dive needs deep or technical training and a planned decompression profile.

Sources

  1. Plic Grmeni dive site — Scubago

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A small sponge-lined cavern at 22 m off the lighthouse islet

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