Kornati Islands

Murter · Dalmatia · Croatia

The Kornati Islands are Croatia's most dramatic archipelago: 89 islands, islets, and reefs scattered across the central Adriatic like shards of limestone thrown from the mainland. Designated as a national park since 1980, the Kornati are famously described as the most indented island group in the Mediterranean, with 238 kilometres of coastline packed into a compact area. Above water they appear arid and barren, their white limestone surfaces baked by the Adriatic sun. Below the waterline, they are anything but barren. The defining feature of Kornati diving is the walls. The outer islands face the open Adriatic, and their southwest-facing cliffs continue underwater in sheer vertical drops that plunge from the surface to 60 metres and beyond. These walls are among the most dramatic in the Mediterranean, plastered with life at every depth. Dense forests of red and yellow gorgonian sea fans extend from the wall face, their delicate branches filtering plankton from the current. The deeper sections are home to precious red coral, orange sponges, and colonies of bryozoans that create a tapestry of colour against the white limestone. The reef fish community is rich and diverse. Scorpionfish blend seamlessly into the rocky substrate, moray eels peer from crevices, and groupers patrol their territories along the wall edge. Schools of dentex and amberjack pass through the blue water beyond the wall, and in the shallows, meadows of posidonia seagrass harbour seahorses, pipe fish, and juvenile wrasse. The national park protection has allowed populations to recover from decades of overfishing, and the results are visible in the size and abundance of the fish. Visibility in the Kornati is typically excellent, ranging from 15 to 30 metres during the diving season. The water is spectacularly clear, with that particular shade of Adriatic blue that has made the Croatian coast famous. Water temperatures range from 20 degrees in June to 25 degrees in August on the surface, though deeper wall sections can be significantly cooler with thermoclines. Access to the Kornati is typically from Murter, the nearest mainland base, with boat rides of 45 minutes to an hour to reach the outer islands. Dive centres arrange the necessary national park permits. For those wanting to fully explore the archipelago, multi-day liveaboard trips offer access to remote sites that day boats cannot reach. The Kornati Islands are the Adriatic at its wildest and most beautiful, a UNESCO-tentative site where dramatic geology meets thriving marine ecology in waters of almost supernatural clarity.