Sports and recreational diving

is considered underwater swimming with diving equipment by individuals for fun or recreation or by groups organized within diving sports clubs, viz.:

- diving as sports and recreation
- underwater photography or filming for personal use
- underwater competitions
- diving instruction.

Who can do diving in Croatia?

All persons in possession of a valid diver's licence

Diver's licence

Diver's licences are issued for 1-year term by the Croatian Diving Association and can be bought at the diving centers and clubs along the whole Adriatic coast.

The diver's licence is issued only to a person with satisfactory diving qualifications recognized by the Ministry of Education and Sports. (CMAS, PADI, SSI, NAUI, NASDS, YMCA, MDEA, NASE, IDEA IANTD, NSS, CDS, ANDI, TDI, NACI, PSA, PDIC, SDI, FIAS, ACUC, BSAC, VDST, BARACUDA, IDD, UDI, and other international diving associations.

Temporary diving qualifications (brevets) are not accepted..

A fee for issuance of a diver's licence in Croatia is Kn 100.

Marking of diving areas

A diving area must be visibly marked by buoys of orange or red colour placed in the middle of the diving area, minimum diameter 30 cm, or by a diving flag (orange rectangle with a white diagonal line, or an A-shaped maritime flag of the International Signal Code, or a high-staked diving flag on the vessel from which diving activities are carried out). Over the night the buoy must be fitted with flashlight, yellow or white, visible at a distance of at least 300 m. The person responsible for marking a diving area is the diver or the diving instructor. Maximum depth allowed in sports & recreational skin diving is 40 m.

Fines charged for violation of these rules range from Kn 500 to Kn 15,000

Who can provide services in diving tourism?

Services related to diving tourism in Croatia can be provided by properly registered entities and persons in possession of a required licence and concession approval. In case of an accident such entities and individuals can secure transport of injured persons to the nearest hyperbaric chamber. Statistics show that fewest mishaps occur in organized diving. Fatal accidents happen in individual diving or where diving services are rendered by unregistered and inadequately equipped providers who neglect prescribed diving procedures or lack organizational skill, especially when it comes to helping divers affected by an accident.

International diving organizations whose licences are recognized in Croatia:

BSAC (The British Sub - Aqua Club)
CMAS (Confédération Mondiale des Activitiés Subaquatiques)
IANTD (International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers)
NAUI (National Association of Underwater Instructors)
PADI (Professional Association Diving Instructors)
SSI (Scuba Schools International).

Let's preserve the undersea world!

Diving in the parts of Croatia's coastal and territorial sea protected as cultural treasures

The Rulebook of the Croatian Ministry of Culture defines the rules, conditions and criteria for issuing licences for underwater activities in the parts of Croatia's coastal and territorial sea protected as cultural treasures

(Official Gazette No. 78/2000), as well as the types of licences being issued to registered legal persons engaged in tourist business in the area of underwater activities, diving instruction and provision of diving services.

Diving in national parks is allowed only if approved by the Ministry of Culture. Diving in the national parks of Brijuni and Krka is not allowed.

It is forbidden to dive in the parts of internal coastal waters comprising ports and accesses to them, port moorings, areas of dense sea traffic, in special sea reserves, nature parks or national parks (except where approved by the Ministry of Culture), in protected parts of the sea and undersea, such as Mali Ston Bay and Limski Fjord, and within 100 m from anchored navy vessels and guarded military facilities.