Croatia Cave Diving?

[Jack Hammer]

Great video. I really liked the basic approach of explaining what's going on so non-cave divers watching can get a better feel for the scope of it.

[oceancurrent]

There are some remarkable springs in Croatia. I recently was told of the Cetina River spring (https://www.shutterstock.com/video/search/cetina-river) which looks absolutely stunning. But what is the deal with all of this fresh water diving in Croatia being banned? How do all of the divers there get around it? I have been to Croatia a couple times before and thinking it may be nice to visit again and try some caves, but learning about these draconian legislation barriers is very disappointing. Anyone have any recent information on the situation there?

[bent]

I don't know but these guys do: http://www.cavebase.de/index.php/pro.../kroatien-2015

Scroll down to see the English trip report. They have been more than, so it's possible, it least outside of the national park.

If you shoot them an email, I'm sure they can help you out.

[JillHeinerth]

I've been to Plitvice Lakes. The park is absolutely stunning. I did not dive in the park... only hiking, but I did cave dive in Pag.

There is plenty of cave diving in Croatia, but when I was there, they were having some serious flooding and our options were limited. I ended up diving on a first-century shipwreck as a consolation for missing some of the sites.

[grantctobin]

Anything develop/change in recent years with regards to cave access? I have to be in Croatia for a weekend in May and will likely spend the week prior diving off of Vis unless there is the possibility of getting into the caves.

[chuuk]

If you do not get to the caves. In the area you are diving as I spent 6 months diving the coast. If you have been there before then I am not giving you new information. Lots of octopus and try to get to the sub nets as an interesting dive. History wise I am still surprized at the number of intact amphora bottles.
when I was there I had a permit but that is back in the late 90s

[mrki]

There are 3 basic options for ocean diving, sorted by ease of access:
- through dive centers (they usually have licences for the parks and wrecks)
- yearly permit (450ish eur), but no national parks or protected wrecks
- being a member of a croatian diving club, having an official dive log from the port authority and an oxygen first aid kit

Cave diving is allowed only with special permits, usually for research. Unless you know people who get these permits...

[ddunlop]

I visited this park this summer. Definitely potential there, but they don?t even allow swimming, so the odds that you can go cave diving are slim.

[Tribal Chestnut]

As FW says, contact the CDG. A team from the Derbyshire Section are active in Croatia.