Vela Luka, Korcula Island - Diving Holiday Destination

Vela Luka, Korcula Island (Croatia)

Croatian islands are small parallel worlds; each island has a life of its own, its own spirit and its own message.

In the south of Craotia is the wooded island of Korcula, the home of Marco Polo, which is one of the biggest and most populated island of Dalmatia.

On the western part of the island of Korcula is the little town of Vela Luka, located at the bottom of a deep and wide bay indented by many coves, the slopes of which descend slowly to the sea, covered with vineyards, olive trees, fig trees and pines. Wide panorama views, a mild Mediterranean climate, clear sea, an interesting and rich cultural heritage, various sports and leisure potential make Vela Luka an attractive tourist destination, whjlst also offering the best scuba diving sites in the South of Dalmatia!

With an average of over 2500 hours of sunny weather annually, Vela Luka is second largest in size place on the Adriatic islands, a safe anchorage and port for luxury and leisure sport craft.

Climate

The best period to visit the Croatian coast is from April to October. Peak temperatures in high season summer months (July, August) can reach 38°C (100°F), and the water surface at that point reaches a comfortable 26°C (79°F).

Spring starting in March can bring some rain showers, but the autumn months, September and October, are ideal for travel if you want to relax. In the off season the beaches are less crowded and the prices drop, weather, however, remains stable and the water is still agreeably warm. Generally, you can travel along the Croatian coast at any time of the year. During winter season, however, you should pack some warm clothing in spite of the mild Mediterranean climate. The temperatures seldom drop below the freezing point but some winds might be unpleasant in the winter.

Dive Facts

Sea temperature fluctuations throughout the year: in winter months temperature ranges from 7 to 10 °C, in summer months average surface temperature is from 21 to 26 °C, while the temperature at a depth of from 20 to 30 m (average diving depth) remains constant throughout the year, ranging from 16 to 17 °C.

The difference between high and low tide varies from 40 cm (Southern Adriatic and Dalmatia) to 1m at Istria. The Adriatic is a relatively calm sea, with no high waves or strong currents. Wave height ranges from 40 to 150 cm, to 4 to 5 m at the most in extremely adverse weather conditions on the open sea. Speed of sea currents is about 0.5 knots, although in certain places and in special weather conditions it can reach up to 4 knots

Dive Attractions

See more about Vela Luka, Korcula Diving Sites in our Dive Site Directory, and Croatian Dive Clubs in our Dive Club Directory.

There are more than 35 superb scuba diving sites in Vela Luka offering Wall diving, Wreck diving, Drift diving, Cave diving, Cavern diving, Deep diving and Try diving.

The environment and nature are typically Mediterranean, with imposing walls, drop-offs, caves, caverns, crevices and wrecks. The waters are renowned for their clarity, with vivacious colors and encrusted sponges, big sea fans of red and yellow, concentrations of red coral, nudibranchs, mollusc's and crustaceans (also of large dimensions). The aquatic life is very developed, you will see a lot of cliff fish and meetings with pelagic fish are not rare, particularly above the drop-offs (beyond 20m). Dives of archaeological interest are also possible. There are many amazing cave and canyon dives available, with the very popular "Blue Hole" being a favourite.

With a mild climate year round and constant sea temperatures below 25meters, diving in Vela Luka is perfect all year. In the summer the average air temperature is between 26oc and 34oc and the seas surface temperature is between 20oc and 26oc.

Diving sites around Vela Luka include: Wreck of the Boca, Galleon Wreck (2000 yrs old) and the Blue Hole.

Other

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Croatian, written in Latin alphabet; German, Italian and English are the most common foreign languages spoken in the tourist resorts.

CURRENCY: 1 Kuna (HRK) = 100 Lipa. Notes are in denominations of 1000, 500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5 HRK. Coins are in denominations of 5, 2 and 1 HRK, and 50, 20, 10, 5, 2, and 1 lipa.

TIME ZONE: GMT + 1 (GMT + 2 from last Saturday in March to Saturday before last Sunday in October).

ELECTRICITY: 220 volts, 50Hz
Plugs have two round pins or three round pins for appliances that need to be earthed.

No comments yet.