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to satisfy our diving requirements.
We favour a campsite for two nights in
Dubrovnik over wild-camping. Campsites
are plentiful, reasonably priced in low
season and there are only so many days we
are willing to forego a hot shower.
The city proves delightful if busy, but inspring at least the roads are manageable
and the campsites under a quarter full, if
not empty.W
ITH TIME RESTRAINTS urging us
north, we head for Butterfly Diving
in the marina village of Tuçepi. A fat band
of sea passes between the mainland and a
long strip of an island called Brac.
Tuçepi faces the island and we’re eager
to submerge once again into the cool, clear
Adriatic – perhaps this time with some
wreckage to explore?
Sebastian, Butterfly’s welcoming
German owner, treats us to morning
coffee in the sun by the marina where he
keeps his boat. He has lived in Croatia for
14 years and is keen to accommodate us in
any way he can – except that he can’t.
Croatian diving suffers from two types
of strong wind – the burafrom the north
or the jugofrom the south. When they
blow, they can blow out diving completely.
We’re in the unfortunate position of
arriving with only a two-day diving
window available before we have to head
north to Pula.
Both days are going to be blown out by
impending howling southerlies. So we
decide to hop on the last evening car-ferry
to Brac to see if there is any chance of
soaking the neoprene on its sheltered side.
Brac is clearly a seasonal destination
and, though we’re seeking quieter times in
Croatia, almost too quiet for us – the
villages are almost empty and/or closed.
A local dive-centre appears keen to help
us but is fully booked on day one of our
two-day window. On the second day, it too
is affected by the wind.
We fall in love with Brac’s cute coves
and villages, windy roads and rugged
terrain, and particularly enjoy a delicious
lamb lunch at Konoba Kopacina provided
by the Croatian Tourist Board. The
Croatians know how to grill!
We cheat, and an alternative mid-
afternoon ferry lands us many miles
further up the coast than our inbound
journey did, in the city of Split.
This jump knocks a chunk of tarmac
time off our journey, giving our
workhorse camper van a well-deserved
rest. We look skywards as we hit the
coastal road once more, praying to the
diving gods that Pula will rescue this
dry-ish diving adventure.Left: Ana on the second
Pula dive.Below, from top: Lobster
in Pula cavern; crab eating a
starfish on the shore-dive.project, and are keen to explore the best
diving that Croatia has to offer.
We decline to take part in dive two. It’s
not only us; nobody in the group looks
or sounds particularly inspired by the
morning’s diving. Not only that, but from
its description the next site sounds similar
to the one we have just visited – and there
are no wrecks on offer.
We pack our equipment, leave for lunch
in Dubrovnik and explore the old city and
its impressive walls. With the benefit of
hindsight, we should perhaps have
checked all the local dive-centres’ online
reviews, and considered smaller, more
independent centres that might be keenerAbove, from left: Colourful
corals; Pula shore-dive
sponges, urchins and corals.Below: Orca dive-centre
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