Diving in Korcula, Vela Luka, Croatia

In general I thougt that diving in Vela Luka would be similar to my dives in Sicily. Rough rock formations, slopes and walls with only a bits of coral and lots of sunlight through clear water and maybe even 30m visibility. This is all true, at least during those 2 dives I did. It had been half a year since my last dive and I was anxious to see how I would do this time after a pause. I thought the dives to be easy and I could conzentrate on my boyancy and weights, as well as eyeing if my Suunto 4D was working at all.

I am glad that I have written notes of all my weights with different suits because this makes diving easier in different location. I do not recall who made me do this in the first place, but it has been a valuable thing to do. A great free tip for anyone who is diving in different places with rent gear. I can also monitor my own weight (gaining again) and will therefore be prepared to ask for more weights to make the whole process easier. This time I was given 7,5 mm full suit with hood + boots (by accident, but I was glad in the end since it was quite cold underwater) and the trainee guys first gave me 4 kg weights...seriously, a nice way to tell me I do not look heavy or sarcarsm? I chose to have 8 kg on my belt and thought to have 2 more, even though we went underwater with the 12l tanks.

All in all the both dives were very easy and the underwater world was as I assumed. I am of course now counting out the first 15 min of hassle on the first dive after the half a year... water in the mask, weights, chills in cold water, this normal workout. I was buddied up with a dive master trainee, who handeled the whole trip and the dives very professionally despite the long time we waited before getting to the boat itself. During my second dive I was happy to witness a cuttlefish hovering above a coral formation and to find myself confident again underwater plus back on track with my air consumption. It was a shame (for all of us Finns) that my Suunto 4D went totally dead. It is certain now that I have to send it to the factory for repair.

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I was diving with Croatia Divers [http://www.croatiadivers.com/], which is the biggest company on this end of the Korcula island and located in Vela Luka. There are 2 more - Dupin Dive Center (no idea where they are located) [http://www.croatiadiving.com/index.html] and Diving Triporte [http://www.divingtriporte.com/] which is located South-East from Vela Luka. Then there is also a Gorgonia Travel agency for diving, but they are only offering packages through Croatia divers [http://www.korcula-diving.com/]

There is a water taxi (4Kn per ride) that shuttles between Vela Luka centre and Croatia divers, then further to Hotel Poseidon. It runs daily at least up to 23.00 and you just need to stand on the stop and the taxi stops for you. With the taxi option you do not need to be reliable on accommodation/restaurants on any side of the Vela Luka bay if you want more choise in between your trip or diving trip. The supermarkets are on the city side of the bay. Note, that the place is highly crowded during summer months and accommodation needs to be booked in advance if you want to be sure to get one. Also is good to keep in mind that this part of the Balkans do have a mediterranean type of daily siesta when everything stops.

After going through my weird thoughts about the dive center in whole, I did some internet search and found out some other opinions to back up my feelings. I have to admit, that unfortunately this dive center is far from a good one I would recommend to anyone. It is not because of the staff (which was proven great in absurd circumstances), but because of the lousy leadership that reflected the whole atmosphere in the dive centre.

I do hate it, when people sometimes think that I am 10 to 15 years younger than I am and therefore they feel I do not deserve good service. I was mainly puzzled, because normally diving people are quite ok with whichever age group you belong to and it does not affect the way you are treated. Here, I cannot help thinking, that it did affect at least a bit. Or was it because I did not say in the beginning that I want to dive at least 10 dives? What would the impression have been then? Also, I think that the service should not be any different depending how many dives you're taking. The thing is, it is not certain that one is able to do the reserved 10 dives, there can be sone illnesses or even a diving accident. Anyway, in this company it was propably both. I never wanted to dive more than the 2 dives, because the leaders managed to give such a poor service. I would really like to hear/read more opinions!

I have never before been asked to pay my dives in advance. This just could not be happening! Also, it was never told that there is no way to get your money back if you were not able to dive. No refunds and no possibility to change dives or dates. This was only printed on A4 and taped in the corner of the weekly dive schedule board.

This was also the first time EVER IN MY WHOLE DIVING LIFE, when there was NO WATER ON BOARD! Even the smalles dive operators arranges free water on the boat. Yet again, this is in a country where tap water is good and consumed everywhere. Bring your own water or buy from the dive center!?

I went there 2 days before my diving to ask about things, and told them to make a space for me. The next day I went there and I was not sceduled on the boat. Apparently because I did not give any money yet. I went to dive on the afternoon instead of the normal morning dives, it took very long to arrange, I mean, I can live with any kind of solution, but please, make up your minds about the dives and tell them to people... When I arrived, the boat was late because of a previous emergency and we left 2 hours late. The employees did not know anything, and no one called to the boat to ask about the first divers arrival time and the next departure.

I had a chat with few employees (some Finns for example) and I ot the impression that they did their best to cope with chaotic situations the bosses were throwing at them. I highly admire these people who had fun with each other and gave their best to fullfill the dream of every customer, but they had to work with these bosses. I maybe could not do it.

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Korcula and Vela Luka time included some geocaching for us. This hobby still a very new thing for me and I keep beeing interested in everything it has to offer, even without the gps-signal to help. One afternoon we walked to the top of the hill to see the archeological sight Vela Spila "Big Cave" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vela_Spila] and enjoy the scenery from the top over the town. The walkway was well maintained and offered info on herbs growing on the sides of the path. This time we did not have the time to find a restaurant we were told about, a place by a man called Amor. The place is located outside of Vela Luka (taxi ride needed) and offers a magnetic view over the sea as well as great affordable food. I hope the person who is reading this now, will get there soon and tell me what I missed!