Krapanj

Krapanj lies a few hundred metres off Brodarica and is the smallest inhabited island in Croatia and the lowest, rising only a couple of metres above the sea. Its trade was sponges: a Franciscan from Crete is credited with teaching the islanders to harvest them in the sixteenth century, and Krapanj divers worked the Adriatic beds for centuries, later using hard-hat diving equipment. Disease in the sponge beds and changing markets ended most of it, but processing continues on a small scale and a museum in the village covers the work. The island is walked in twenty minutes and has no cars.

What you actually see

• The smallest and lowest inhabited island - a couple of metres above the sea.
• Sponge diving since the sixteenth century - taught, by tradition, by a Cretan friar.
• Hard-hat diving history - the equipment the later divers used.
• A village walked in twenty minutes - and no cars on it.

When to go

June to September. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The sponge trade is largely finished and what is sold is limited. The island is tiny with few services and thin boat schedules off season. There are no real beaches, just shore and concrete.

Nearby

Brodarica is across the channel; Sibenik is north.