Sretno Pola Nove Godine!

Mark and I got off the bus and ran into Kevin, who was on his way back to Florida due an family emergency. He informs us that we have returned on the right date since the entire town is partying. The title means Happy Half New Year and as we arrived to Korcula from the other side of the island the entire town was celebrating. People were playing music on the streets and there was a live performers of all sorts on the beach. There were grills and food stands everywhere.



We decided to eat at the 40kuna restaurant that was directly across the main square from our hostel. There were so many people there that it took a while to squeeze through the hordes of people. I had no idea Korcula had so many people, but I was later informed that people from all over the islands come and visit Korcula for this event. That night I had fish; fish that was no de-boned. No matter, I am Chinese and we're skilled at eating just about anything, boned fish is a walk in the park.







My original plan was to get some rest after two rigorous days of diving. However with the entire town in party mode that was not going to happen. I hung out in the crowd for a while until I got tired. Music started to play as the dusk set in and there were three main performance stages. It was great to hear live music. However late into the night around 4 or 5am they were still playing. The strange thing was that it was not just young people partying. There were plenty of parents and grandparents out as well.





The next morning we hop on a bus that is destined for Dubrovnik which is the peninsula at the south end of Croatia. The bus will take a ferry and then drive the rest of the way there.

Scuba Diving Vela Luka

In the morning hours, Mark and I say good bye to Korcula and take the first bus across the island to Vela Luka. There we have arranged two dives with the local dive center. Upon arrival, the owner of the dive shop picks us up and we immediately start picking out our equipment. All the dives are do are boat dives and the boat is small inflated air boat. This requires that the dive a back flip dismount into the water. In previous dives I have always down the giant step, and the flip is much more fun. One of the first things I noticed when I got into the water is how clear it was. I could immediately look below and see school upon schools of fish swimming beneath me.



The day we dive Kitty's Dock and Vranine and the following day its the Blue Hole and Saint Ivan's Bay. All of these dive routes are made up and discovered by the local divemasters. For each dive the waters are crystal clear and thus visibility is exceptional. It is sad, but I left my underwater housing for my camera at home so I was unable to get any underwater pictures. The waters are warm, but at the depths we went to I was glad to have a 5mil wet suite. My favorite was Saint Ivan's Bay. We drop off to about 18meters (60ft) and swim along the a cliff drop off.



The owner of the shop even let us stay at their instructors lodge for the night. It is about 45C (115F) in Vela Luka and there is no air conditioning. We decide to take a siesta after the first day's dive. I am exhausted and at around 6pm I pass out and do not wake up until the next day. The night is bit cooler, but not by much. Mark sleeps outside that night. After the diving the next morning we hop on the next bus back to Korcula Town.