Slovenia – Coast
Slovenia has under 50 km of coastline, all on the shallow, sandy Gulf of Trieste, so diving here is easy and close to shore rather than deep and dramatic. The centre of activity is Fiesa near Piran, where several dive centres share a house reef full of small wrecks and night-time seahorses, cuttlefish and octopus. Around the tip of Piran the Rt Madona underwater monument has the coast's best rocky reef, and Portorož bay (Bernardin) stays calm when the bora blows. Further north the Strunjan and Debeli rtič parks protect seagrass meadows and pen shells – parts are closed to scuba or need the park's consent. A few Second World War wrecks (a barge, a German landing craft, a seaplane) are dived by boat from Fiesa.