Sponge diving Krapanj

If you have rented an apartment near the town of Sibenik or Vodice, or an accommodation in Brodarica, you`ll need just a few minutes of a boat trip to reach Krapanj. This smallest and lowest island in Croatia has the longest tradition of sponge diving in Croatia, around 300 years. You can not come here by a car, but you can find a parking place in Brodarica, and then easily find transport to this piece of land and sponge paradise. In a conversation with the old inhabitants of Krapanj you will find out that it was Fr. Antun Greek from Crete who teach them how to hunt sponges at the beginning of the 18th century, precisely in 1704 when he brought the knowledge on sponge processing to the island. Once the sponge were hunted with harpoons from the boat dock but sponge hunters that skilled is hard to find today. Modern sponge hunters are proficient divers who can spot a sponge by a naked eye on hard coastal sea bottom. 6 divers, 6 diving apparatus and 30 boats made up a sponge diving association back in 1911. They have founded the company "Spuzvara" in 1947 which has developed and with more or less success excavated and processed sponges for decades. Sponge hunters from this island are also the most capable and physically durable divers worldwide. They spend 3-8 hours in the sea every day, doing the hard physical work.
Natural processed sponges from the island Krapanj are highly respected all over the world, thus you, in any case, drop by to visit this island and get your valuable and highly unusual gift of the Adriatic Sea.