Archive for the 'Scuba Diving Croatia' Category

Baron Gautsch, Wreck Diving in Croatia

September 20th, 2007 Comments(0)

 Croatia has acquired a reputation for excellent wreck-diving, the best example of which is probably the 85m-long Baron Gautsch. An Austro-Hungarian passenger ship known locally as the ‘Little Titanic of the Adriatic’, it struck a mine en route to Trieste on 13 August 1914, and sank with the loss of 69 lives.

The wreck now lies upright at a depth of 28-42m. Externally, the entire hull is intact; however, the bridge and the forward funnel are missing while the aft funnel has toppled over. Both of the propellers have been salvaged, but the rest of the stern is not damaged at all.

Most visiting divers are more interested in diving inside the wreck: there are plenty of places in which to enter the ship and lots of features still present, including intact portholes, baths, sinks and urinals that are all easy to identify among the silt.

Penetrating further into the vessel, it is relatively easy to get into the engine room and see the several friendly free-swimming conger eels that lurk in the companionways.

Diving in Croatia

September 19th, 2007 Comments(1)

Croatian Adriatic coastline the perfect place for a diving tourist - especially one with a camera.
    
I am curious about the destination, having visited it many years ago before I knew anything about diving. I remember the colour of the water, an incredible, almost tropical blue.
    
I decide to drive the 300 miles from my hometown in Italy to Ancona, and take a ferry from there. Early the next day I arrive in the city of Split, set on a long, mountainous coastline.
    
Split is the capital of Croatia’s Dalmatian region. It grew up around the Roman emperor Diocletian’s palace, which remains one of the world’s best-preserved ancient buildings.
    
I don’t have time for sightseeing here, however - I am taking the next ferry to Korcula.
    
Korcula is said to be one of Croatia’s most beautiful and also one of its biggest islands, with 112 miles of jagged coastline. Stepping off the ferry, I am overwhelmed by the perfumes of rosemary, sage and lavender. The old Greek name for the island, Korkyra Melaina, reflected its dense covering of pine trees, though these have been whittled away over the years for boat-building.
    

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