The Italian merchant steamship “Varese“ sank in 1915 while transporting cargo from Trieste to Tunis. Because of bad weather, the captain decided to take refuge in the port of Pula. Heading towards the city, ship struck a mine which destroyed the prow, the ship sinking in the place where it is today.

The dive begins on a shallow plateau at a depth of 5m and goes down slightly to the southwest until it reaches a wall that gently drops to 30m of depth, which we follow on its right side. The slope extends throughout the south side of the Brijuni Islands, which are decorated with numerous pinnacles.

Starting from the small beach in the bay, the sloping reef gets to a max. depth of around 20 to 22m. Following the reef on your right shoulder starting from the beach you find three steps from 3 to 6, from 6 to 9 and from 9 to 11 meters, which makes it a perfect location for Discovery Dives.

The former military base near Pula offers an interesting dive on its southern part. We start the dive shallow and follow the ridge to the right. In the middle of the dive, we go through an attractive natural tunnel from a deeper part into a shallow lagoon, surrounded by high rocks.

With the maximum depth of 14m, this dive site is suitable for all levels of experience. With tunnels, arches, caverns and canyons, this location is very dynamic and is never guided the same way twice. You can enjoy exploring the outside area before entering a 70m long tunnel that ends with a cave and a small beach.

Either following the reef right shoulder starting from Valovine 1, or entering the water on the western side of the peninsula going southeast, you reach the spot Valovine 2.

We dive along the western side of the peninsula, startiing with the reef on our left shoulder. Some mini-walls indicate the way to the sloping reef with a max. depth of around 24 to 27m.

By anchoring along the coast, we dive to the sandy sea bottom. We move south, following the ridge on the left while gradually descending to 18 - 20 meters deep. This location is characterized by excellent visibility and an abundance of fish such as mediterannean chromis, salemas and saddled seabreams.

This is the dive with by far the most underwater flora and fauna, accessible to all diving categories. We begin by descending to a depth of 10 m and then we dive within the same depth for the first few minutes on the southern side of the island.

This dive site is suited to all types of divers and all categories. Diving takes place along the seashore at the Stoja Auto Camp located at the northern cape.