Hvar Island
Protected Area
Hvar - otok Zečevo
Why dive here
With 108+ marine species recorded in the area - including dolphins, octopuses, sea turtles and cuttlefish - Hvar Island offers some of Split & Central Dalmatia's richest diving.
Hvar isn't just one site, it's a whole collection, especially around the Pakleni Islands, and we love how accessible it is from Split. While the standard descriptions mention caves and walls, our pick for a standout experience here is definitely the wreck diving. You'll find yourself descending onto the skeleton of history, often with visibility stretching out for 20 metres or more on a good day. The wrecks around Hvar aren't always grand ocean liners, but smaller, characterful vessels – fishing boats or cargo ships that met their end decades ago. We’ve finned through the collapsed holds of one, watching schools of pilchard shimmer in the shafts of light, while Atlantic stargazers peeked from the sand nearby. You can often poke around engine rooms, now home to territorial brown combers, and spot Roughtail stingrays resting on the seabed off the bow. The wrecks themselves are a canvas for life, encrusted with colourful sponges, and the metal frames are perfect hideouts for dark tonguefish and little black gobies. It’s not a deep, dramatic plummet, making these sites suitable for a range of experience levels, provided you’re comfortable with overhead environments if you plan on any penetration. We’d suggest going in late spring or early autumn for the best chance of calm conditions and fewer boats.
Typical Hvar Island Dive Profile
Illustrative profile based on site depth and type. Actual dive profiles vary - always follow your dive computer and training.
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Scuba Diving Black Pearl
Hvar Divers
Croatia Divers
Reviews for Hvar Island
Conditions
Ocean conditions, forecast and tides for Hvar Island
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