More about Dugi Otok

Until recently, I’ve usually been rather wordy with my blog posts but in the last few posts, I’ve tried to let the pictures tell more of the story. And I’m going to do the same again by posting some more photos of Dugi Otok to try and give an indication of why I fell in love with the place.

Limestone Cliffs on the west coast of Dugi Otok © Ricky Yates

The southern end of the island, immediately to the south and west of Sali where we were staying, is designated as the Telašcica National Park. It is an area of amazing beauty with its karst topography, limestone cliffs and the long Telašcica Bay which is dotted with islands. The best way to really appreciate the area is no doubt by boat, something we didn’t manage to do. But it is possible to drive part way into the park . . . → Read More: More about Dugi Otok

Two funny pictures & one facinating one

Makes a pleasant change from the police taking your car away!! © Ricky Yates

Only German fish sold here? © Ricky Yates

A family grave in Sali churchyard whose ancestors go back to 1580 © Ricky Yates

‘The Beach’

Sali 'Beach' and sunbathing pier © Ricky Yates

As elsewhere in Croatia, what is called ‘the beach’ on Dugi Otok isn’t what one normally would think of as a beach. There are no long stretches of sand gently sloping down into the sea. Instead, in each of the island’s coastal settlements, there are man-made places where it is possible to enter the sea and swim and sunbathe on the shore.

Sali 'Beach' © Ricky Yates

The two pictures on the left are of our nearest ‘beach’ in Sali, about ten minutes walk from the apartment.  They illustrate what I mean by ‘the beach’ being man-made. The handrails do make entering the sea that bit easier and the sea itself was very pleasantly warm. However, there is no chance to gently wade in as the sea-bottom drops away quite steeply. This part of ‘the beach’ is quite shaded but . . . → Read More: ‘The Beach’

The interesting effects of Croatian bureaucracy

A 24 year old German!!!

Officially, if you stay overnight somewhere in Croatia, your presence needs to be registered with the authorities. Therefore we had to give our passports to Darinka, the owner of the apartment, so she could take them back down to the Tourist Office and register the fact that we would be temporarily resident in her apartment for the next ten days.

When our passports were returned, inside each of them was an official slip of paper. Both slips were entitled in ‘Crenglish’, (a language very similar to ‘Czenglish’), ‘Temporary of Permanent Residence’!! But apart from that, the one issued for Sybille was completely accurate.  However, when we examined my ‘Temporary of Permanent Residence’, we descended into howls of laughter. Whilst they had got the day & month of my birth correct, they had put my year of birth down as 1985 thus making me only . . . → Read More: The interesting effects of Croatian bureaucracy

Dugi Otok

Jadrolinija Ferry for Dugi Otok arriving at Zadar © Ricky Yates

Having arrived in Zadar on the afternoon of Tuesday 7th July, we decided that now was the time to head for an offshore island for the time of relaxation that we had promised ourselves. We found the booking office of Jadrolinija Ferries on the Zadar quayside and enquired about booking a ferry crossing for ourselves and the car for the following day to the island of Dugi Otok.

There are more than a thousand islands along the Croatian coast of which more than one hundred are inhabited. Some are so close to the mainland that they are connected by a bridge, whilst others are so small and isolated you would have to take everything needed for your stay with you. We opted for the island of Dugi Otok because it fell into neither of these categories. . . . → Read More: Dugi Otok