Wreck treks: Sweet wreck

A small but nice and easy wreck in the Croatian Adriatic, close to Rogoznica.

I like these wrecks where I don't need to care too much about my air consumption or bottom time. The so-called "Sweet wreck" lies in the shallows of the Croatian Adriatic, close to the picturesque town of Rogoznica. The local dive center's instructor simply call it "small wreck", so I had to look for information in the internet. For my surprise a website says it was a 2nd world war Romanian cargo ship and it sank with full of chocolate. This is the meaning of "Sweet" wreck nickname.

The dive is quite easy. The dive boats anchor near Smokvica island. We use to start diving in the shallow, and in 3-4 minutes we reach the largest intact part, the stern with the wheel. The depth is only 20-23 meters, it's easy to swim around the small hull, look into the holes, look for crabs or another fish. The current is rarely strong, the visibility is not bad, so even a beginner would enjoy diving this wreck. Most of the divers like to pose at the ship's wheel, and try to identify the different parts of the wreck. It isn't easy because of the condition of the remains.

When we spent enough time with the stern, we head back to the shallow to see the deck: it separated after the explosion and lies a few meters away. Under the huge steel plates there are hiding animals like scorpionfish. During the safety stop I like to look for octopus on the rocky bottom and usually I find some of these cute animals. One of my favorite spots in the Rogoznica-Razanj area- I always like to dive this wreck when I travel here.