Kornati Islands · Croatia · Wall
Samograd
Red fan corals from 22 m on the park's southernmost wall
Area photo: ANDREJ NEUHERZ · CC BY-SA 3.0
Samograd is the southernmost island of the Kornati and one of the nine zones in which the national park permits diving. The dive is a single wall running south to north off the front of the island, with red fan corals from 22 m and a small plateau at 33 m where lobsters are found. It is deep, simple ground: one contour out, the same contour back.
Where it is and how deep
43.7047° N, 15.5364° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
You start off the front of the island, where the wall runs south to north, and dive it as a single contour rather than a route with turns. At about 22 m the red fan corals begin, standing out from the face, and that band is where most of the dive is spent. Sulphur sponges grow along the wall beside them, and schools of fish work the sea grass off the rock.
Below the corals the wall carries on into open water, and the one feature worth the extra depth is a small plateau at 33 m where lobsters are found. That is the turn: the park caps every dive in the Kornati at 40 m, so there is no version of Samograd that involves following the rock down to see where it ends. Swim the wall back with the island on the other shoulder, letting the depth come off gradually along the fan-coral band before you make the safety stop.
Marine life and season
- Macro critters
- Reef fish swarms
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Off-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 wall gives no bottom reference, and the 33 m plateau sits close under the park's 40 m limit: agree a turn depth before you drop and watch gas and no-stop time on the way down.
- Night diving is banned in the park between 19:00 and 07:00, so a late second dive has a hard cut-off regardless of conditions.
Dive videos
Diving Croatia 2011 N.P. Kornati Otok Samograd with Diving Center Vertigo Sibenik 1.2 · RudiDiver2004 on YouTube
Croatia, NP Kornati Samograd, Aplysina cavernicola · N&N Diving on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is the dive at Samograd?+
The features run from about 22 m, where the red fan corals start, down to a small plateau at 33 m where lobsters are found. Kornati National Park caps all diving at 40 m, so nothing deeper is on the table.
Do you need a permit to dive Samograd?+
Yes. Samograd is one of nine zones where diving is allowed in Kornati National Park, individual diving outside approved groups is prohibited, and the dive has to be run by a licensed organiser. Night diving between 19:00 and 07:00 is not allowed.
Sources
- Samograd (dive site) — Scubago / SSI MyDiveGuide
- Diving and snorkelling - Kornati National Park — Kornati National Park (official)
- Kornati National Park — Wikivoyage
More 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
Similar dives elsewhere
A yellow-daisy wall at 20–30 m with groupers and barracuda over it
A vertical wall from a 6 m anchorage to a shrimp-filled cave at 30 m
A 200 m wall under sponges, bryozoans and soft corals
A reddish cut in the Cabo Tiñoso cliffs, down to 30 m