We can positively state that Croatia is a country of islands, knowing that there is more than a thousand of them. Statistics says there are 1185 islands and cliffs which leads to a simple conclusion — Croatia has an enviable number of islands. Only 66 of them are populated.
So many islands, every one of them has its story, its history. No matter which one you decide to visit, whose core you plan to explore, you will not be disappointed. They are all surrounded by the pure blue Adriatic Sea, and are full of beaches suitable for everyone’s taste, sunshine and smiling people.
The northern part of Croatian coastline is enriched with a national park Brijuni, an archipelago of 14 islands.
Other islands, every single one of which is a little world by itself, are Krk, Cres (Croatia’s largest island), Lošinj, Rab, Pag, Goli Otok, Ist, Molat, Silba, Olib, Unije and Sušak.
Even though each of them is special due to its shape, history, vegetation and other distinguishable features, a few of the northers Croatian islands stand out — Cres for being the largest and holding a myth of Lake Vrana about a castle under the lake, Krk — for being the second largest island and the most populated one, and Pag — having the largest coastline.
Northern Dalmatia consists of plenty of islands such as Dugi otok, Vir, Pašman, Ugljan, Iž, Prvić, Murter, Zlarin, national park Kornati. They all present worlds within the world but some of them are more easily distinguished. Zlarin is famous for its museum showing the coral and sponge exhibits. Telašćica, a park of nature, makes Dugi otok widely known. National park Kornati represents an archipelago made of about 150 islands.
Central and southern Dalmatia seem to be overloaded with top destinations. The island of Hvar is the longest and sunniest island surrounded by pure sea. It’s full of overcrowded beaches and inner towns. Brač happens to be the highest Croatian island covered in trees. It is famous for its Brački kamen (stones of Brač), used for building a lot of notable monuments, Diocletian’s palace is just one of them.
Zlatni Rat, one of the Croatia’s most beautiful and visited beaches is situated on the southern part of the island, in the town of Bol, a big tourist destination. Mljet is another national park situated in Adriatic with plenty of gorges and chasms. Other islands are Korčula, known for its traditional war game Moreška, Vis, that was Tito’s hideout during World War 2, Lastovo, Biševo, Šolta, Lokrum, Palagruža…
Kornati Islands
Wild and marine life conserve area spread across hundreds of stunning islands
Also known as the Stomorski islands, the Kornati archipelago of Croatia is located in the northern part of Dalmatia, south from Zadar and west from Sibenik. With no permanent settlements except for a few landowner’s temporary shelters, the Kornati Islands truly are a site to behold and a true representation of natural beauty. Most of the terrain in the Kornati islands is karst-limestone which, in the distant geological past, arose from sediment from the sea. In the stone on the islands there are numerous fossils of crustaceans and fish.
Apart from sea-gulls, which are the most numerous animals, there are some lizards and ring-snakes, and 69 varieties of butterfly, some amphibians and rodents. Not only the land but also the sea is within the protection of the National Park. Fishing is extremely limited in order to allow the regeneration of fish shoals that had been severely over-fished.
With 35 kilometres (22 miles) length and 140 islands, some large, some small, in a sea area of about 320 square kilometres (124 sq mi), the Kornati are the densest archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. Geographically the Kornati Islands can be divided into two main groups – the Gornji (Upper) Kornati which is closer to the mainland, and the Donji (Lower) Kornati which is mostly facing the open sea in the southeast.
The islands known as Gornji Kornati include the northernmost island of Sit and the surrounding islets, divided by a channel from Zut and its surrounding islets to the south. Zut is the largest and most indented of these islands. None of these islands are covered by the National Park but in 1980, the eighty-nine southernmost of the 140-odd islands, islets and reefs of the Kornati archipelago were declared a national park.
Whichever island you decide to visit, please keep in mind that they are very positively addictive — favorable climate, blue sea, wonderful beaches seem to have a huge impact on people.
