Croatia Travel Blog

This week The Independent ran an interesting article with an unusual angle on sailing in Croatia.  Titled
“Woman overboard: A Croatian sailing holiday provides a horticultural treat”, the article describes not a sea tragedy but the author’s sailing adventure through Croatia’s northern islands including the Kornati Islands, Croatia’s premier sailing destination. These unique islands, part of the Kornati Islands National Park, feel “as if you are looking at the earth’s skeleton, not yet fully fleshed out” notes author Anna Pavord. She goes on to describe the greenery (such as it is) there and on other Croatian islands in a particularly evocative way. It’s not often that you see a sailing Croatia article in the Home and Garden section. See the article here.

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Sipan (pronounced shee pan) Who would have thought? Today’s Telegraph highlights Sipan (one of the Elaphiti Islands) as part of an article discussing property in Croatia. With properties in Dubrovnik selling for a mind-boggling £9,500, sun-starved Londoners are looking for something a little more, uh, affordable, like buying on one of Croatia’s less travelled islands. Continue Reading »

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You’d think that with 1185 islands, Croatia would have enough. Well no. It turns out that subtle subterranean shifts are slowly–very, very slowly–producing more Adriatic islands. It’s all about plates. Tectonic plates. According to an article in the New Scientist, geologists have found that the Eurasian and African plates are creeping ever closer together. As the Adriatic sea sits atop the African plate, its seabed is getting squeezed which will cause new islands to pop up. But not that soon. If all proceeds as expected, Italy will edge ever closer to Croatia and in about 50 to 70 million years all of the islands will get smushed together in one landmass. No more Adriatic sea! No more sailing the Croatian islands! This would be very bad for tourism. And what would the new landmass be called? Croitalia? Italy and Croatia have a long and frazzled history squabbling over the Adriatic coast. Their most recent quarrel is over Croatia’s implementation of a protected fishing zone to keep out Italian fishing boats. One can only imagine the fireworks when there’s a whole new landmass to claim. At least there’s a long time to think it over. See more about Croatian islands.

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It’s no joke. It’s Caulerpa Racemosa, an invasive subterranean menace that has already devastated parts of the Mediterranean seabed, and is now threatening havoc in the Adriatic, including the incomparable Croatian islands.  Picture a creeping green carpet of slime that replaces mollusks, coral, sea flora and everything else on the seabed.

“Who cares? I won’t see it!” If you were a fish, you’d care plenty. Some fish feed on the smaller marine life that will fade away under the algae; others require a sandy bottom to thrive, not a slimebed. So much for Croatia’s fishing business, not to mention Croatia’s scuba divers who prefer life and color underwater.

Croatia is not alone in facing this scourge. Italy, Montenegro and Italy have the same problem. That’s small comfort to the marine life around the Pakleni Islands, Mljet Island, Lokrum Island and, soon, other islands on the Dalmatian coast. Ecotourism anybody?

There are solutions. Posidonia seaweed acts as a natural barrier and there’s a variety of Australian snail that feasts on Caulerpa Racemosa. Bring ‘em on! More drastic methods include covering the algae with foil, which could have other undesirable consequences, or banning big cruiselines from anchoring in the Adriatic. The big anchors sink deep, disrupt the algae and let it spread further. A ban on cruise ships around Dubrovnik? Don’t hold your breath.

Source: Balkan Investigative Reporting Network

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This issue (November 2007) of Islands magazine features an enticing article on remote Vis Island, giving the island a well-deserved boost of publicity. Writer Jeff Greenwald started his Croatia island journey on better-known Korcula Island, staying in the Hotel Korcula. After listening to local tales of the Marco Polo-Korcula connection (islanders are convinced the legendary explorer was born in Korcula Town) the writer heads out to farther shores, that is, Vis Island.

“It is impossible to be bored on Vis” writes Greenwald. True enough. Just scuba diving through Vis’s fascinating underwater life, replete with ancient amphorae, shipwrecks, sponges and fish is an exploration of the island’s remarkable historical and natural heritage.

“No guidebook can account for the breathless, suspended feeling I get exploring Vis” writes Greenwald who made his way to both Vis Town and Komiza, the two main island villages. Staying in the Hotel Tamaris in Vis Town, Greenwald notes the difference in attitudes between the rival villages, finding Vis Town more artsy and Komiza with more of a fishermen’s feel.

Instead of doing the touristy thing and boating out to the Blue Cave of Bisevo, Greenwald visits Vis’s local celebrity, sculptor “Ico” Bulic whose whimsical wood and frond fish sculptures have already created a splash (sorry) in Zagreb. His description of the solitary, lighthouse-dwelling artist with “a resemblance to George Clooney” should do wonders both for Bulic’s social life and the Vis Island tourist business.

For those who want to sample more of Croatia, the article points out a number of interesting products: Vis Island wine, Brac Island marble, Hvar Island lavendar, and lobster from Mljet Island. There’s even a sidebar on the sponges from Krapanj Island.

Sadly, this article is not available online.

Read more about Croatia’s islands.

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