Vis · Croatia · Wreck
B-17
Airframe on sand at 65 to 72 m, visibility to 40 m
Area photo: Borut Furlan · CC BY-SA 4.0
A B-17 on the sand off Vis, lying between 65 and 72 metres with the airframe pointing north. It is well past recreational depth and dived only by technical teams off a boat, but conditions down there work in their favour: minimal to no current, and visibility reported up to 40 metres.
Also known as B-17 Wreck.
Where it is and how deep
43.0164° N, 16.2173° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
This is a technical dive and it is planned as one. The wreck rests on a sandy bottom pointing north, with a minimum depth of 65 metres and a maximum of 72, which is past every recreational qualification and puts the ascent, rather than the wreck, at the centre of the plan. Gas and the decompression schedule are agreed on the boat before anyone leaves the surface.
Conditions at the site work in the divers' favour. Current is reported as minimal to none, and visibility runs up to 40 metres, so the airframe resolves out of the blue at a distance instead of appearing at arm's length. The trade is the sand it sits on: in water that still, anything a fin stirs up stays exactly where it was put, so the team that swims tidily gets the better look at the wreck.
The wreck
- Vessel
- B-17
- Type
- Aircraft wreck
- Cause
- Not recorded in the published sources
- Lies
- On a sandy bottom, pointing north, at 65 to 72 m
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 | Off-season | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Off-season | Off-season |
Season follows Vis: Diving runs May to October; the surface reaches 22–25 °C in July and August, and visibility is most reliable from late June to early October.
Know before you go
- At 65 to 72 m this is a decompression dive on mix, with narcosis, gas planning and a staged ascent governing everything else about it.
- Minimal current means silt lifted off the sandy bottom hangs where it is disturbed and closes the visibility down for the rest of the team.
Sources
- B-17 (Wreck) - Scubago — Scubago
In The Logbook
- How a rebreather works, and what it buys youGear & kit · 8 min read
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