It is well worth taking a tour off the conventional tourist route to visit this ancient island just 300 km offshore from the mainland town of Brodarica, Croatia. Karpanj is the smallest and lowest inhabited island of the Adriatic at only 7 m above sea level at its highest point. A nobleman by the name of Juric purchased the uninhabited island in 1436 and donated it to the Franciscans who built a monastery there. When the Turks started plundering the coastline, the monk sheltered refugees from the mainland and eventually allowed them to build a settlement on the island.

The settlers were originally farmers who had to turn to fishing to scrape a living. Their fortune changed at the beginning of the 18th century when a visiting friar from Crete taught them the art of sponge harvesting and processing. Individual sponges were harpooned from a boat and a skilled operator could spear one at a depth of 15 m. The market for sponges proved a highly lucrative one – the Venetians couldn’t get enough of them and buy the mid 19th century there were 40 boats operating from Krapanj exporting sponges to Venice. In 1893 the first diving equipment was introduced, which enabled the spongers to harvest at much greater depths and soon earned them a reputation as skilled divers.

Karpanj has awesome atmosphere – you can spend your time in one of the waterside coffee houses chatting to the locals, visit a monastery stuffed with antiquities and works of art or wander through the picturesque streets of the town. Above all, this is a terrific little place to learn about the underwater world and improve your diving skills under the guidance of friendly locals who are happy to share their generation of experience.

When to go: May to September. Population: 2,500. Getting there: Boat from Brodarica, 8km south of Sibenik, which is well connected by bus or train with Split, Zagreb and Zadar. Photos by: darkfloyd60