Diving in Dalmatia

For some reason I had a good deal of difficulty locking in a dive while in Croatia. I found it strange because we're so close to Kornati NP which is supposed to be great for diving, I would have thought there'd be regular trips. 

First I got a very non committal response from the local dive operation, and finally got onto No Limit Divers in Filip I Jakov, about half an hour from Zadar. I booked 2 days of diving, with the 2nd day to be in Kornati NP so I was stoked. Or so I thought...

I had spoken to them several times and said I booked a car to get there on time, and other things to clearly indicate I was confirmed. The night before the first day I emailed to ask if they take credit cards. I asked how much cash I should bring if they don't.

I heard nothing, so in the morning, in the company of our newest support crew member David from Adriatic Transfers (who provides great service for a very good price) I called to see if I needed to stop at an ATM. I was promptly told I'd been removed from the schedule because I hadn't responded to the email, so they didn't think I wanted to dive. But I didn't get an email!

Turns out it went to spam. But still, it was just a response to my query asking how much money to bring if they didn't take credit. It didn't ask for a reply or further confirmation - not that I saw it anyway, but i may not have responded even if I did. It was weird, maybe exacerbated by my lack of Croation language skills and reliance on them coming to the party in English. David looked suitably indignant on my behalf.

In the end they said keep coming and we'll work something out. So we did, and I had a great dive on Wreck Junkers, Zirje - a bomber in about 20-25m. I've never dived on a plane wreck before so it was novel and I was having such fun it seemed to go very quickly.

The 2nd dive at Otok Kukuljar, Murter was fairly ordinary, but I found a few nice things to look at and particularly peeking under ledges turned up some very pretty colours. My main problem was I was the only one taking photos so everyone else tore along at a rate of knots and I felt like we barely explored any particular area much at all. Still, Tomislav the dive guide was so keen to know if I had a good dive and got some good pictures so I nodded my wholehearted agreement about the great colours in places and lots of fish.

I left for Zadar at 4 that afternoon with confirmation an 8.30 arrival time in Filip I Jakov for the Kornati NP trip the next day would be good timing. I was excited as I made my way back to the dive shop with David the next day. As we arrived Tomislav came to the car and asked had I not received his text? I showed him I had no text from him, and wondered what was up?

'We're not going to Kornati today, we're doing an open water dive course instead', he said. Well you can just imagine my disappointment. I'd gone from not being able to find a dive to Kornati, to locking one in, confirmed less than 24 hours prior and so excited, to no Kornati. To add insult to injury, Tomislav said the site they were doing the course on was uninteresting and would be no good for me. I can only imagine it was more lucrative than the original plan.

I noted with interest and disappointment that when I didn't respond to an email which didn't require a response they promptly removed me from their schedule which had caused a kerfuffle the day before, but when I didn't respond to a text that would generally elicit some kind of response they didn't think to check if I'd actually received it.

Anyway I was left with little option, and I suppose it was good of him to tell me the alternative dive wouldn't be any good rather than just take my money anyway. They could learn a thing or two from David, who tried to give me some of the transfer fee back. 'I think I'm more angry about it than you,' he said, which was inexplicably gratifying. I wouldn't take it, so $65 wasted, but certainly not through any fault of his.

I found consolation later, enjoying a very pleasant day of fancy lunching, listening to music and slothing about, followed by sunset drinks on the water with the fabulous Linda. But there remains an emptiness where memories of Kornati NP should be...