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Kornati, Croatia (by Natali Vilic)
Kosara This island is located on the south side of Pasman. It is nice for first and second dives. The old lighthouse was blown from its pedestal into the sea by a storm 6 years ago. The remains are between 8 and 12 meter. The cylinders are nice overgrown and accommodate many scorpion fishes. At 32 metres there is a small wall and reef. Between 5 and 7 metres there are many nice rocks with nudi branches and small fishes. Very colourful because of the daylight at shallow depth. At 8 metres cold fresh water enters the sea. Here we have a reversed thermocline. Francesca di Rimini
Kamenar
Babuljasi This small island is located in front of the island Zut. On the south side we have a reef that goes down to 60 metres. Starting at 32 metres there is a forest of rare blue gorgonia's. Take your lamps to enjoy all the colors of this reef. Between 20 and 5 metres there are many smaller fish and a chance on Conger eels in the many small caves at the west side. Sandela This small Island is located just for the shore of Zut and close to Babuljasi An oval platform raises about 1 meter out of the sea. The good part is at the south-east side. A nice wall between 0 and 12 metres and after a short swim over the grass a very good wall from 15 till 68 meters. Many fish species and change for a cat shark, octopus, crabs, nudi branches and of course red and yellow goronia's.
Zut On the most southern point of the island Zut we find a big rock called Aba. On the east side there is a nice stepwise formed reef. According to local fishermen there must be an amphora field here, but it is still not located. The visibility here is always very good Borovnik (national park
"Kornati")
Mana (national park "Kornati")
Rasip (National park "Kornati") Rasip is the longest distance we can cover during our daily tours. In order to dive here we need little wind and good weather. (problems with anchoring) We dive at the north-west side of Rasip. At 36 metres there is a nice and large cave. The entrance is big enough to let 2 divers pass trough at the same time. The cave is beautifully overgrown. The wall to the cave is full of gorgonia's sponges and corals. Many fishes, octopus and langoustines are visible along the dive.
Check out Val Tours for all the information you need on diving this area of Croatia and to book tours. All the fantastic photo's are of local marine life, of this exciting diving area.
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The
best time for diving is from April till November, average sea temperature
is 22 - 26°C on the surface, 19 - 20°C on the 35 - 40 meters depth, during
winter is colder ( 15°C - on the surface ) visibility up to 30 - 35 meters
( in Kornati area 40 m) We have attached a small map with the dive sites;
it shows some of them but not all, and you may see that it also shows
the Kornati area - Kornati is a National Park, an archipelago that includes
a group of 141 islands, islets and reefs of pure and untouched nature,
and a National Park covers the above-sea area and the submarine area as
well. This area is rich with beautiful underwater scenery and diversity
of marine life, but the diving spots outside the Kornati, more then 20
of them, are not of lesser beauty and interest. Agency's organizes diving
excursions to all of these spots, all with a boat, and with a possibility
to rent all or just a part of the equipment. Here people can also take
diving courses (PADI, CMAS, SSI, BSAC). It is also possible to arrange
a diving holiday, that includes bed and breakfast, or halfboard, and packages
of diving excursions. We have gathered more info on some of the diving
spots in the Biograd area, so here it is:
This
50 meters long Italian warship was hit by a torpedo during the second
world war and sank immediately in front of the Island Kapri (about 25
km south of Biograd). The ship is in very good condition and the keel
lays at 45 metres depth. On and below deck we still find many grenades
she was transporting on her last voyage. The impact on the ship of the
torpedo is also clearly visible This dive is for the experienced divers
only but really worth the effort. The second dive is made at a reef nearby
the Island Kapri. 
Kamenar
is located 2 km south of the island Zut. From the top of the reef we find
a 60 metre deep wall The length of the wall is about 300 metres. The wall
hangs slightly to the back and is richly overgrown with many soft coral's,
sponges and white coral. In the many holes and caves we find crabs lobster
and Conger eels. At depth there is a possibility for cat sharks. A clear
evidence for there presence is the numerous strings of eggs hanging on
old fishing lines. There are also many Red and yellow gorgonia's. There
is a lot of fish on this reef like striped Breams and Mullets In early
and late season we can find smaller tuna, Haddock and mackerel. This location
is worth at least 2 dives. 
Borovnik
is an uninhibited island. On the west side we find a very abundantly overgrown
wall up to 110 metres deep. The wall is overgrown with gorgonia's anemones
sponges and with coral. One can also encounter various lobsters, conger
eels murray eels and many octopus. A variety of fish swims in front of
the wall. At depth one can find spices of red coral. 
Many
movie companies have used and are using Mana. Several famous westerns
were partly shot here. The ruins and buildings on the Island are totally
fake. What is real are the dive sites and they are indeed wonderful. At
the south we have a wall 120 metres deep with a beautiful overgrown chimney.
You can swim through this chimney and you find entrances at 32, 27, 23,
17, 15 meter. At the north side there is a very big overhanging wall full
of anemones, sponges and weeds. On both walls you find crabs, lobsters,
langoustines, octopi and many, many fishes. 