- Open Water course
- €540
Updated July 2026
Good to know
Good to Know
- Diving here is boat-based day-tripping, not shore diving in the usual sense — expect a 15–30 minute RIB or dive-boat ride out to the Pakleni Islands or along the coast rather than walking in from a beach.
- Visibility and conditions are best in the warmer months; many local operators run a limited season, so shoulder-season or winter divers should confirm a center is actually operating before planning a trip.
- Site names and depth details vary slightly between different dive centers' own descriptions (e.g. Baba Reef, Campanile/Turm) — ask your chosen operator which exact sites are on that day's rotation, since boats rotate through a pool of sites rather than fixing an itinerary.
- If you want a genuine choice of multiple scuba shops, you'll need to factor in travel to Vrboska or Jelsa — Hvar Town itself is really a one-operator market for diving.
- Course prices almost always exclude the certification/agency fee and learning materials — budget an extra €80-250 on top of the quoted course price.
- The dive season runs roughly April through October; outside that window, options in Hvar Town effectively shut down for the winter.
Dive Sites And Conditions
- Best Season
- Local dive centers around Hvar generally run their season through the warmer months. More broadly across Croatia's coast, dive shops typically operate from June to September even though underwater visibility stays good year-round.
- Access Summary
- Diving around Hvar is genuinely day-boat accessible rather than liveaboard-dependent. Three dive centers operate around the island, based in Hvar Town, Stari Grad, and near Jelsa, and their boats reach the vast majority of named sites — mostly in the nearby Pakleni Islands and along the coast between Jelsa, Stari Grad, and Hvar Town — within roughly 15 to 30 minutes. A small number of very deep technical wrecks (see note below) lie further out and are a different proposition entirely.
- General Marine Life
- Recurring highlights across sites include yellow and red gorgonian sea fans, sponge-covered walls, scorpion fish, moray eels, conger eels, forkbeard, lobsters, octopus, and occasional eagle ray sightings in open-water sections.
- Further Afield Note
- Some sources reference much deeper wreck dives (a WWII-era B-24 bomber and the wreck 'Ursus', both in the 40–65m range) associated with this general area of the Adriatic; these are technical-diving depths typically requiring trimix training and are more realistically reached via longer boat charters or liveaboard trips out toward Vis, not a standard day trip from Hvar's dive centers. We could not confirm these specific wrecks are within normal day-boat range of Hvar itself, so they should not be assumed to be part of Hvar's regular recreational dive offering.
Sites
Baba Reef
- Type
- wall
- Access
- day boat, about 20 minutes from Hvar
- Location
- Pakleni Islands, near the Baba lighthouse
- Marine Life
- Scorpion fish, moray eels, lobsters, conger eels, forkbeard; wall covered in yellow gorgonians and orange/yellow sponges; occasional octopus and, rarely, a seahorse in the shallows.
- Depth Range M
- 5–40
- Notes
- The bottom slopes gently from 5–20m before the wall drops to 30m, with sections reaching 40m.
Paulina Wreck
- Type
- wreck
- Access
- day boat, about 30 minutes from Hvar
- Location
- A small lagoon in the Pakleni Islands area
- Marine Life
- John dory, conger eels, small sheltering sea creatures; wreck is now covered in yellow sponges.
- Depth Range M
- up to 30
- Notes
- An old English merchant sailing vessel, wrecked roughly 150 years ago; the wooden hull rests on a sandy seabed sloping to 30m.
Poseidon Pillar
- Type
- reef/chimney formation
- Access
- day boat
- Location
- Pakleni Islands area
- Marine Life
- Not specified beyond general reef fish.
- Depth Range M
- 11–30
- Notes
- A rock pillar rising from the water with a vertical chimney feature running from 30m up to an exit at 11m, with light filtering through cracks and holes in the rock ceiling.
Campanile / Turm (Vodnjak)
- Type
- pinnacle/drift, blue-water
- Access
- day boat
- Location
- Vodnjak islet, western end of the Pakleni Islands, opposite Hvar Town
- Marine Life
- Red gorgonian sea fans (15–40m).
- Depth Range M
- 10–40
- Notes
- A submerged tower-shaped formation reaching to about 10m below the surface, with a 5m-long tunnel at 35m depth. Popular for open-water "diving in blue"; upper sections are suitable for beginners.
Vela Garska
- Type
- wall with cave
- Access
- day boat
- Location
- Pakleni Islands / west Hvar coast area
- Marine Life
- General reef life, sponges, colorful invertebrates.
- Depth Range M
- up to 30
- Notes
- A 70m-long wall with a 20m-long cave sitting only about 5m below the surface; suitable for beginners through experienced divers.
Stambedar
- Type
- plateau/wall
- Access
- day boat
- Location
- Pakleni archipelago, roughly 20 minutes by boat
- Marine Life
- Red algae, sponges, reef fish; forest of red gorgonians deeper down.
- Depth Range M
- 20–50
- Notes
- A 20m plateau gives way to a wall dropping to around 50m.
Tatinja
- Type
- reef/wall
- Access
- day boat
- Location
- Pakleni Islands area
- Marine Life
- Large yellow gorgonians and corals at depth.
- Depth Range M
- up to 40
- Notes
- Site of an old wooden wreck that has since fully decomposed; shallow reef gives way to a 40m wall. Rated suitable for all diving levels.
Pelegrinac
- Type
- wall/drift
- Access
- day boat
- Location
- Connected to the Tatinja dive area
- Marine Life
- Octopus commonly seen in shallow water; eagle rays occasionally sighted in good visibility; lobsters in the deepest sections (38–44m).
- Depth Range M
- up to 50
- Notes
- A large wall running from the coast out toward open sea; well suited to Open Water certified divers.
Zecevo
- Type
- wall/reef
- Access
- day boat
- Location
- Small islet off Hvar with a naturist beach
- Marine Life
- Small fish, octopus, cuttlefish in the shallows; lobsters and conger eels in the wall's holes between 14–33m.
- Depth Range M
- 0–33
- Notes
- Rocky, sponge-covered shallow zone to about 10m before a hole-riddled wall descends to a sandy bottom at 33m.
Zala Luka
- Type
- reef and wall
- Access
- day boat
- Location
- Right side of Zala Luka bay
- Marine Life
- Lobsters, octopus, congers, forkbeards in the wall's holes; Tonna Galea sea-shells on the sandy bottom.
- Depth Range M
- up to 35
- Notes
- Suitable for all diving levels.
Stari Grad Bay Wreck
- Type
- wreck
- Access
- day boat, close to shore
- Location
- Left side of the entrance to Stari Grad bay
- Marine Life
- Not specified.
- Depth Range M
- 18–30
- Notes
- A roughly 30m-long ship with its prow protruding from a sandy seabed; visibility on the day dictates how much of the wreck is visible.
Smočiguzica Cape
- Type
- reef/wall
- Access
- day boat, boat anchors about 50m from the cape
- Location
- Kabal peninsula, roughly midway between Stari Grad and Jelsa
- Marine Life
- Congers, lobsters, and scorpionfish sheltering in the wall's many holes.
- Depth Range M
- 17–55
- Notes
- Terrain descends to 17m past a large protruding rock before dropping steeply to 45–55m. The upper 20m suits beginners; the deeper wall is for more experienced divers.
Cape Kabal Tunnel
- Type
- tunnel/wall
- Access
- day boat
- Location
- East side of Stari Grad bay, beneath the lighthouse
- Marine Life
- Schools of two-banded sea bream, cow bream, and striped red mullet.
- Depth Range M
- 7–50
- Notes
- A roughly 25m-long tunnel with its entrance at 9m and exit at 17m; nearby terrain drops from 7–8m down to 50m.
Sirena Bay (Serina/Serena East & West)
- Type
- wall/drift with artificial-reef feature
- Access
- day boat
- Location
- Off Hvar's coast
- Marine Life
- Nudibranch species and assorted reef fish now sheltering in a fallen pine tree that lodged on the reef during a storm.
- Depth Range M
- 5–20+
- Notes
- Divers pass through a vertical chimney before drifting along the wall.
Campanella
- Type
- pinnacle/underwater mountain
- Access
- day boat
- Location
- West of Mali Vodnjak, Pakleni ('Hell') Islands
- Marine Life
- General reef and pelagic life passing the pinnacle.
- Depth Range M
- not fully specified, multi-level
- Notes
- Considered one of the most well-known dive sites on Hvar's western side; a monumental underwater peak.
Typical Costs
- Price
- €105
- Course
- Discover Scuba Diving / trial dive (1-2 dives, no certification)
- Note
- Lower end of range seen for island operators; some Hvar Town listings run a bit higher.
PADI/SSI Scuba Diver (shorter entry course, ~2 dives)
- Price
- €370
PADI/SSI Open Water Diver (full certification, ~4 dives)
- Price
- €540
- Price
- €390
- Course
- PADI Open Water Diver Referral (for those who completed theory elsewhere, ~4 dives)
PADI Advanced Open Water Diver (5 dives)
- Price
- €320
- Course
- Certification fee / learning materials (separate add-on, not included in course price)
- Note
- Aqualis Dive Center explicitly states course prices exclude certification fees and learning material, which vary by agency (PADI, SSI, or IAHD) and format (eLearning vs. offline pack).
Price Range
- Low
- €80
- High
- €250
Certifying Bodies And Levels Offered
Bodies
- PADI
- SSI
- IAHD
- CMAS (via the Viking-linked operation)
Levels Commonly Offered
- Discover Scuba Diving / trial dive (no certification)
- Open Water Diver
- Scuba Diver (a shorter, limited-depth entry cert)
- Advanced Open Water Diver
- Rescue Diver
- Divemaster and Instructor-level training (confirmed at the Vrboska-based operator, not confirmed within Hvar Town itself)
Operators In Hvar Town
Aqualis Dive Center Hvar
- Location
- Sirena Bay, Hvar Town waterfront
- Note
- Aqualis describes itself as having absorbed the longer-running Viking Diving Center (founded 2003) into its operation from the 2020 season, and its own site calls it the only dive center in Hvar Town itself.
Diving Center Viking
- Location
- Hvar Town waterfront
- Note
- A PADI-listed dive center still appears active under this name/branding alongside Aqualis; sourcing is mixed on whether this is a fully separate current operation or a legacy listing tied to the same lineage as Aqualis — flagged for confirmation.
Operators Elsewhere On Hvar Island Not In Town Center
Hvar Divers (Croatia Divers)
- Location
- Vrboska, ~17km / roughly 20-25 min drive from Hvar Town
- Note
- A PADI 5-star IDC Dive Resort offering courses from beginner level up through PADI Instructor.
Black Pearl Diving Center
- Location
- Jelsa, further along the island from Hvar Town
- Note
- Offers PADI/SSI beginner and advanced courses.
Within Hvar Town itself there is effectively one established operator; the island of Hvar has a small handful more, but they sit in separate towns (Vrboska, Jelsa) rather than in Hvar Town's center.
Freediving Crossover
- Detail
- No evidence found of Hvar Town or Hvar-island-based scuba operators (Aqualis, Viking, Hvar Divers, Black Pearl) offering dedicated freediving courses. By contrast, the separate island of Vis (a different destination, reached by its own ferry from Split, not from Hvar) has a dive center explicitly built around freediving training alongside scuba — but that is a different island and outside Hvar's own operator scene, so it should not be presented as a Hvar freediving option.
- Confirmed In Hvar
- No
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
This section has no cited sources.
More About Hvar
Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.