The nautical blog Sailing Europe published a heartwarming piece about the often overlooked Croatian island of Krapanj near Šibenik. While the original article is of some age now, it's unusual to see Krapanj mentioned in detail by anyone outside of Croatia, as media coverage about the lowest-lying Croatian island, famous for its long tradition of sponge diving, is unfortunately not all that frequent.
As Morski writes on the 26th of January, 2019, the island of Krapanj is the smallest and lowest-lying inhabited island in the whole of the Adriatic sea. Located just south of the historic Dalmatian city of Šibenik, it rises only 1.5 metres above sea level, making it the "lowest" Croatian island of all.
About 200 inhabitants live permanently on an area of less than 0.5 km². Not so long ago, there were about 1,500 people living on Krapanj, which once made it the most heavily inhabited island in the Adriatic. The island fosters a long tradition of dealing with sponge, a way of life which has been known on Krapanj for centuries now.
The sponge tradition on Krapanj is over 300 years old, and in 1893 it became a real job, because then the first set of heavy diving equipment arrived at the island, and an official diver's cooperative was established. The secrets of sponge diving on the island were originally brought there by a Franciscan, who arrived there from the Greek island of Crete.
He taught local divers from Krapanj how to handle the raw sponges, which is this unassuming Greek could easily be considered a reformer of the local economy on the island. You can find out more about the history of the island in the monastery of Sv. Križ, surrounded by a thick pine forest, in the very centre of the island.
Krapanj is connected to the mainland by a boat which operates daily, while a taxi service is available on request.
The author of the text warns nautical drivers to take care of the varying depths of the sea, especially when they approach Krapanj through the very small group of islands located just in front of it.
Detailing further, the author of the text on Sailing Europe states that even though Krapanj is not the most popular Croatian sailing destination, one should be sure to visit it.
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