The final destination of our Croatian summer holiday experience took us back to the sea. With about 6,300 kilometers of Adriatic coastline, including over 1,200 islands, where does one begin? I basically randomly stuck a needle in the map with only one caveat; it must be within easy driving distance to Split for our return ferry to Italy. I also wanted this last place to be about relaxing by the sea instead of tourist activity. After looking at dozens of potential locations and scores of rental apartments, I chose this place on the island of Pag. I chose it primarily because it has an awesome view, we could walk down a short trail to our own secluded beach, it had its own swimming pool, and it was relatively close to villages with restaurants. Sounds good, right?
But wait, on the way to the coast we had a last-minute notion; what about rafting on one of these unique rivers? After a couple of quick phone calls and an early morning departure, we ended up in the middle of nowhere at the edge of the Zrmanja River. The rafting company runs two-person duckies down about nine kilometers of the river. It takes about four hours. As you might imagine from the previous description of travertine rivers, they have stretches that are quite flat until you come upon one of the cascades, which can be anything from a 20-centimeter drop to a waterfall of several meters. The old dog (no, I’m not talking about me) couldn’t go, so she and I explored the rural valley (including an active monastery) a little before meeting the duckie trip at the take-out, which has recently evolved into a summer destination, with several seasonal bars overlooking waterfalls and swimming holes. The girls had a beautiful and fantastic time, getting their own duckies because of their extensive river experience!
The island of Pag is the fifth largest in Croatia and has very little vegetation (particularly on the eastern side), though there are vineyards that produce some good wine. The island is more known for salt production and seafood. And, as it turns out, Pag is a party destination for young British tourists. Thankfully the club scene is quite easy to avoid and, in fact, we never really saw it. Instead, we were more than content with the view of the sea from our balcony, our own little rocky beach, and not having to be anywhere. The pool in the shade was also a nice refuge when the sun got too intense. We ventured into the town of Pag for dinner on our first night, overlooking the boats returning to the bay at dusk. A couple of days later we drove up island a short distance to the village of Simuni, where we rented a kayak for a late-afternoon paddle along the coast. We had fresh-caught fish for dinner, within sight of the boat that caught them.
On our last day in Croatia the Panda slowly took us back to Split to catch the same overnight ferry back Italy. The vacation had gone far too quickly, but we definitely achieved our objective of swimming as much as possible.