🇭🇷Croatia

Before Entering the Water

• Match the dive to certification, recent experience and thermal tolerance.
• Check the local marine forecast, entry, exit, current and boat traffic.
• Agree buddy procedures, gas limits, ascent and separation plans.
• Confirm usable emergency oxygen, trained staff and communications.
• Use locally compliant dive-area marking; follow the guide's boat and surface-marker procedures.

Freedivers need trained, active safety supervision; never practice alone or hyperventilate. Wreck penetration and caves require appropriate specialist training, equipment and permission. If an operator substitutes a more demanding site, declining is a valid decision.

After Scuba

DAN recommends minimum preflight surface intervals of 12 hours after a single no-decompression dive and 18 hours after repetitive or multiday no-decompression diving. Dives requiring decompression stops need substantially longer than 18 hours. A final dry day is a useful planning buffer, not a universal guarantee. Follow more conservative computer, agency or medical instructions and consider altitude exposure as well as flights.

Suspected decompression illness requires urgent assessment: stop diving, contact emergency services, and give oxygen if available through trained personnel. Do not fly, drive to altitude or attempt in-water recompression while arranging help.

Call local emergency services first for a serious incident, then your diving assistance provider. A UK government medical directory lists hyperbaric capability in Pula, Split and Dubrovnik, but current readiness, referral and transport must be confirmed by emergency coordinators. Do not assume Rijeka has an available chamber. Outer islands may require a weather-dependent sea or air transfer; choose the operator partly on its response plan, not simply its distance from a hospital icon. Carry insurance details, medications, relevant medical information and the dive profile.

Follow the Particular Protected Area

Kornati permits scuba through park-contracted groups in designated zones, with a published maximum depth of 40 m and no night diving from 19:00 to 07:00. Snorkeling does not require a separate scuba-style license there, but admission and closed-zone rules still apply. Telascica requires prior scuba permission at designated locations. Brijuni uses organized diving arrangements, and Lastovo requires an authorized guide.

Mljet prohibits underwater diving activities in its Great and Small lakes. Bisevo Blue Cave prohibits swimming and diving. Neither attractive imagery nor a sightseeing ticket cancels these restrictions.

Leave Habitat and Heritage Intact

Maintain buoyancy, avoid contact with gorgonians and sponges, and never collect shells, protected animals or archaeological objects. Report an archaeological find rather than moving it. Use permitted moorings and protect Posidonia seagrass from anchors and dragging chains. For dolphins, Blue World guidance calls for a cautious approach with an initial separation of at least 100 m; do not chase, feed or swim after them. Follow stricter operator or local restrictions.