A boat trip to one of the most beautiful collection of scattered islands in the world – Kornati National Park.
The Kornati, the densest island group and a unique cluster in the Adriatic, consists of 150 islands, islets, cliffs and rocks – stretching for 35 km in length and about 13 km in width. Kornati spread over the central part of the Adriatic Sea in northern Dalmatia and close to Šibenik.
View of Kornati is so striking that no wonder Irish writer and Nobel laureate George Bernard Shaw, after visiting the islands in 1929, wrote, »On the last day of the Creation, God desired to crown his work and thus created the Kornati islands out of tears, stars and breath«. The Kornati are uninhabited and wild, bringing anologies of a different planet covered in stone desert.
A boat trip to Kornati is something extraordinary. One gets on a wooden boat and is immediately welcomed with a local made brandy (autochtonous rakija). The boat has indoors and outdoors area for sitting and watching the crystal clear tourquise water passing by just as gracisously as the spectacular cliffs and rocks. Not rarely, a laughing dolphin comes by to show off his jumping skills and feed its curiosity about the newcomers.
During lunch time, the stunned visitors get served Dalmatian proscuitto and cheese, marinated sardines, octopus salad, salmon carpaccio, and one of the most famous, not just Dalmatian but also Croatian, meals – the Skradin risotto, which even knocked of the otherwise unshakable Anthony Bourdain’s feet.
Skradin risotto (Skradinski rižot) is a proper meal for the trip to Kornati because Skradin risotto is, similarly to Kornati, otherworldly. Namely, the vegetable bouillon for this risotto needs to be cooked for unbelieavable 20 hours, while the meat for at least 6-7 hours so it turns into a soft pâté. And following the Dalmatians saying that »A fish must swim three times: in the sea, in olive oil and in wine« the lunch is accompanied by a local wine. Of course, vegetarians also get served a vegetarian meal on request.
After lunch, the visitors get a few hours of time to swim in the one of the cleanest sea-waters in the world, go on the »under-surface excursion« to the sea bed covered in red corals and pearly shells. They can also visit a nearby salt-lake that, surprisingly, is located on the island, or they can walk onto the island’s peak and have a spectacular view of the archipelago and shed a tear, feel like a star hit their head … and get their breath taken away. Yes, it REALLY is that beautiful.
Category: | Active / Culinary / Cultural |
Best time of the year: | April – October |
Duration: | All day |
Number of participants: | Min 20, Max 200 |
Location: | Šibenik-Knin County, Dalmatia, Croatia |