Dive Sites
Greben
dive site type: nature / wreck
difficulty: medium
depth range: 0-52 m
distance from the diving center: 5 nm
short characteristic: an islet around which different dives can be made – from nature ones including visiting a cavern at the depth of 6 m, swimming between the huge rocks or diving along a vertical wall to a wreck diving above over 200 years old cannons
Parallelly to the south-eastern coast of the island of Vis there are several small uninhabited isles. The northernmost is situated close to the Smokovo region – islet of Greben. 650 m long in the emerged part, conceals so many varieties under the water, that whole diving week might be organized in here and the divers wouldn’t get bored.
The northern part is a so-called playground. Drift dive may start, for example, near located at the depth of 6 m, cavern with two entrances, a huge column in the center and a narrow passage inside, leading to a spacious chamber.
After leaving the cavern, divers swim among terrifying rocks. After sea level rise, when the Dalmatian coast was formed, the sediments bounding the rocks were washed away, what created a beautiful system of corridors, gorges and tunnels for divers swimming nowadays in this place.
It is worth to look under the boulders, mind the parts that sunlight does not fall on, because there occur similar organisms to those, which appear on the walls and ceilings of caves. It is here, where the most colours might be seen – under the rocks there live, for example, red, yellow and blue sponges of irregular shapes, what makes the rocks look as if someone carelessly splashed them with paint.
In this place there are many animals. Besides the numerous benthic organisms like associated with the bottom scorpionfish and moray eels, it is worth looking at what is swimming around and over the divers. The huge shoals of anchovies often cover up sunlight.
A similar wealth of fauna occurs in the southern part of the island of Greben, where a completely different dive can be undertaken. And basically not one dive. Here the boat is most often anchored in the shallows stretched between the island of Greben and another rock visible above the surface of the water. Diving might be held close to the picturesque canyon or vertically descending to 45 m wall, on which there are regularly seen rare cookie sea stars.
Diving by the southern walls of the island of Greben is also a real treat for technical divers. At the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, an armed sailing vessel, brig type, broke down here in a storm. The wooden ship decayed under the influence of salt water. Only iron and bronze cannons and anchors left after it. Originally placed on the sides, the cannons indicate today the size of the sunken ship. The remains of the wreck lie approximately 40 m from the island of Greben at a depth of 52 m on the sandy bottom. It this place it is likely to meet animals characteristic to the depth and type of the bottom, such as giant scorpionfish, growing over half a meter, and belonging to the deep sea – Peter’s Fish.
