Croatia · about 22 km from Split
Špilja Poganica
- Max depth60 m
- CertificationFull cave
- Water temperature≈ 16–23 °C, varies with the seasonestimated, no reports yet
- SpecialSidemount
Diving and fills
Dive here with
No dive centre guides here yet. Do you dive here with guests? Add your centre for free →
Fills nearby
- Fill stationDiving Center Pongo (Primošten)Air, nitrox (30–36%), oxygen and helium (ask); stage cylinders and 3-litre rebreather cylindersRoute ↗
- Fill stationDiving Center B-24 (Komiža, Vis)Air, nitrox, trimix, O₂; booster (Dräger) to 300 barRoute ↗
What it looks like
Poganica Bay: A Cave Diving Disaster | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror Cave Exploring Gone WRONG | The Poganica Bay Cave Diving Disaster Croatia’s Deadly Poganica Underwater Cave Incident - WHY DIVERS SHOULD NOT GO INTO THIS CAVE Poganica Bay: The Croatian Cave Where A Diver Stabbed Himself
All 4 videos and posts
Videos and posts
From other divers, via YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. They only load when you click; after that, Google's or Meta's privacy rules apply.
Poganica Bay: A Cave Diving Disaster | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror Cave Exploring Gone WRONG | The Poganica Bay Cave Diving Disaster Croatia’s Deadly Poganica Underwater Cave Incident - WHY DIVERS SHOULD NOT GO INTO THIS CAVE Poganica Bay: The Croatian Cave Where A Diver Stabbed Himself
Search for more onYouTube ↗Instagram ↗Facebook ↗
Other people's footage, not advice: how someone else dives here says nothing about what suits your team. Dive within your training.
The dive
A submarine fissure cave with an irregular, branching profile.
2 earlier accidents or incidents have been reported at this cave. Read what happened ↓
Profile and sections
A submarine fissure cave with an irregular, branching profile. You go in through a small opening in a horizontal rock shelf, and below it a tunnel just wide enough for one diver drops until the cave spreads into a tangle of sloping and horizontal passages. Deeper down there is a second, lower entrance. The water starts very clear, but exhaled bubbles and the muddy floor quickly make it murky. Visibility outside averages ~18 m; the water is 16–23 °C.
The cave is notorious in Croatia: four divers died here in 2002 and 2015. Croatian mountain rescue (HGSS) describes it as more of a pit than a cave because of its steep entrance.
- Depth and profile
- Vertical tunnel from -8/-10 m to ~-35 m (stranypotapecske: -33 m), where the cave branches; second, lower entrance at ~-50 m; max ~-60 m
- Configuration
- Narrow vertical fissure cave: sidemount or a small rig works best; backmount and CCR are probably possible, but the silt comes loose quickly.
- DPV: Not DPV-suitable (estimate)
- Narrow vertical fissure; no point.
Who can dive where
- At least Full cave
- Configurations: Backmount / twinset / Sidemount / CCR / Small cylinders / no-mount (speleo sumps)
- Goes down to 60 m (trimix or deco may be needed)
- Experienced divers only
This is how the planner decides who in your team may dive this cave. Rules your own trip adds (organizer, a mail, the AI) show with your trip.
How to get there
By boat; entrance in Poganica Bay (Uvala Poganica) on the south side of Šolta near Maslinica: a narrow vertical tunnel starting at -8/-10 m.
Around Špilja Poganica
Fills2 fill stations · nearest 34 km
Diving Center Pongo (Primošten)
Raduča ul. 11, 22202 Primošten
Air, nitrox (30–36%), oxygen and helium (ask); stage cylinders and 3-litre rebreather cylinders
Not stated — ask
Dive centre with two Bauer compressors and a nitrox and trimix blender; TDI tech courses up to normoxic trimix and gas blender.
Diving Center B-24 (Komiža, Vis)
Obala Pape Aleksandra III 8, 21485 Komiža, Vis
Air, nitrox, trimix, O₂; booster (Dräger) to 300 bar
Ask
Full rebreather support: absorbent and 3 l cylinders for rent; rental CCR ISC Megalodon and Pathfinder (€80); O₂ stages 7 or 11.1 l. Tech wreck dives in the -40 to -120 m range. Closest to Medvidina špilja (Biševo).
The links to Booking.com are affiliate links: if you book through one, DiveTripPlanner earns a small commission. You pay the same.
Caves nearby2 within 50 km
News
All (2)
Accidents and incidents
What happened at this cave before, with the sources. No names are given; read it as a lesson for your own planning.
- In 2015 a diver from Split and his friend from Germany died here after losing their way in the cave.
- In 2002 a Czech diver died here, and so did the police diver who tried to recover him (a second police diver suffered severe decompression sickness). With the two deaths of 2015, at least four deaths.
Access and rules change: check what applies locally right before your trip. Source: GDELT Project and the news feeds of diving magazines. Search for more news ↗ Searched automatically, last on 13 Nov 2026.
More of the latest in Croatia: conditions, closures and news →Going to Croatia with your team?
Marcel finds the sites that match your team's certifications.
Plan a trip