Diving and snorkelling in Istria

From Bale, try diving at Veštar or guided snorkelling in Brijuni. Rovinj's wreck dives require suitable training and previous diving experience.

At Veštar campsite, south of Rovinj, instructors from Morski Puž take beginners into the bay in front of the dive centre. The Try Scuba programme lasts two to three hours and introduces scuba diving under direct instructor supervision. For those seeking certification, the centre runs a separate four-day Open Water Diver course with theory and in-water practice.

Rovinj's reefs and wrecks

The centre organises boat trips for certified divers to the reefs around Rovinj's islands and to shipwrecks. One is the Baron Gautsch, a passenger steamship that sank in 1914. The wreck sits upright at depths of roughly 28 to 39 metres, so this is not a beginner dive. Morski Puž requires an advanced diving certificate, at least 50 dives and a deep-diving speciality for this site.

Exploring Brijuni with a mask and snorkel

In Verige Bay, on the eastern side of Veliki Brijun, an underwater educational trail follows the submerged parts of a Roman villa. A guide leads the roughly 500-metre route, which you explore with a mask, snorkel and fins. Below the surface lie remains of the built waterfront and a former fishpond. This is an organised snorkelling tour run by Brijuni National Park, separate from scuba-diving trips.