The superabundance of calamari is a good-news story for Susak, which lies far out into the Adriatic among the northern islands south of Pula, and it is thanks to the fertility of the surrounding sea. These coastal waters were recently found by the European Environment Agency to be the cleanest in the northern Mediterranean — so there is arguably no better place to swim or to dine on seafood.
The other section of the Susak economy that’s doing well is the day-trippers who come across from neighbouring Losinj to sample its unique ecology: for this is the only properly sandy island in the northern Adriatic.
Despite Croatia’s overall profile as a beach destination, its shorelines are almost entirely rock and stones. A proper “beach”, as we understand it, is so uncommon in the country that many Croatians come across by boat to bury their toes in Susak’s sands.
On the ferry, having flown in to Pula, I talk to a man who remembers coming here as a child on a school trip, and being given diluted island wine to drink, because the island’s sand struggled to retain fresh water. “We’d return home drunk,” he said. “It was great.”
Susak is a car-free town
XBRCHX/GETTY IMAGES
Thanks to that wine, Susak boomed in the first half of the 20th century, because the sand protected the vine roots from the phylloxera that devastated the mainland. Today, though, it’s a different story, production has dwindled and “the wild boar are eating all the grapes”, says Barbara. Which has to be one of the more unusual reasons for a poor vintage.
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There’s no doubt about the clarity of the seawater, though. At a time when we are increasingly concerned about the cleanliness of our bathing waters in the UK, it is a real treat to plunge into a warm, limpid sea, a giant windscreen for fish, so gentle it can barely summon up the energy for a wave.
And therein lies the rub — or rather lack of it. This part of the Med is so gentle that there’s not enough wave action to pulverise the limestone. Which is why sandy beaches are so rare. The sand of Susak is an exception, and it is identical to sand found deep inland; nobody really knows how it got here.
I have come to Croatia as beach inspector, budgie smugglers on and notebook in hand, to find proper sand (it’s a tough gig, but someone has to do it). Because for those who want to spread out a blanket, to wander barefoot and have their children entertain themselves for hours, a stony shoreline simply doesn’t cut the mustard. And thanks to a steer from the tourist board, though there are a handful of other sandy beaches, I am focused on Susak and its fellow islands in the Kvarner Gulf. These places, such as Cres, Krk and Rab, may be lesser known internationally than the resorts and beaches towards Dubrovnik that are the darlings of the colour magazines, but they do have occasional skirts of sand. And for a lot of mainland Europeans, who come here by car, they are much cheaper and much easier to reach than the glossy Dalmatians.
To get here I’ve crossed from the Istrian mainland on a 20-minute ferry. I drive down the spine of Cres island, which is connected by bridge to Losinj, under wheeling griffon vultures with 10ft wingspans. The eastern flank of these islands is barren and unforgiving, razed by winter’s Bora winds. But there’s a surprising oasis on Losinj’s southern point, where Aleppo pines shelter a nest of upmarket hotels and villas around Cikat Bay — an inlet that would in other parts of the world inevitably be sullied by grey water. Here, though, they understand the sanctity of their biggest asset, so you can see the sea urchins grazing three metres down.
I am staying in the Bellevue, a lavish hotel where breakfast is something of a fashion parade and whose excessive marble betrays Russian investors. It is within easy reach of town, and the day-trip boat to Susak.
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Mali Losinj turns out to be one of those sheltered harbours lined with handsome sea captains’ houses that is typical of the islands. One of them is a museum dedicated to what its curator describes as “the most valuable piece of art in Croatia” — a 2,000-year-old Greek bronze of an athlete, Apoxyomenos, discovered by a diver on the seabed nearby. He’s a handsome chap, and he looks none the worse for his underwater experience.
After my Susak excursion, this beach inspector has one other local appointment with sand, this time back on bridge-connected Cres. Visiting Meli Beach is billed as a barefoot adventure, involving a 4×4 transfer down a bumpy track, which certainly builds the anticipation. You can either park up and wait for the half-hourly transfer (no need to book, £5 return) or you can walk 30 minutes downhill — but uphill back. The beach bar with its rattan roofing has a Maldivian vibe, for sure, but Meli’s sand is below the water level, so to reach it you have to wince out across stones. Nul points for that one.
The beaches of Rab were popular with King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson
ALAMY
From Cres I travel by ferry via neighbouring Krk to Rab, and am met by Luka Percinic from the island tourist board. Together we drive up bumpy roads to where the Lopar peninsula, shaped like a crown of thorns, buries its head in the sea. There are vehicles parked at random here in the shrubbery, suggesting something smutty. But it turns out to be merely skinny-dipping, on the dozen little beaches reached down twisty pathways and squeezed in between Lopar’s rocky toes. Luka tells me that naked swimming was pioneered on Rab by our very own royal family, when King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson stopped off here on an island cruise in 1936.
Lopar’s key difference is in its geological make-up — seams of softer sandstone among the harder limestone — and this is particularly evident on the peninsula’s south-facing neck. Here the sandstone, which is basically sand grains glued together, has become unglued on a massive scale, creating the mile-long Paradise Beach. Broad, flat, soft, backed by bars, shops and a large campsite, Paradise is an all-singing, all-dancing family strand straight out of the Spanish playbook. But even here this valuable commodity needs to be curated: in winter, sand that has drifted out is pumped back ashore.
From Paradise, Luka takes me further south, into the greenery that surrounds Rab town, cloaked in holm oak and olive groves. Here we go beach-hunting along the shoreline at Pudarica, studded with tiny hard-to-reach bays, each with its own handful of colonisers, some of them, like royalty, going textile free. With my pedantic beach inspector’s hat on I am forced to note that they have very tiny stones rather than sand, but the clarity of the water, and the peaceful seclusion, is something else.
Eventually we end up in Rab itself, an enchanting Venetian cruise liner of a town wedged onto a tiny peninsula, its old town surrounded by 15th-century walls, and with four bell towers in a line masquerading as masts and funnels. During the day I take the taxi boat across its sheltered harbour for a final swim at Padova, the town beach, its fine sand curated into a croissant with a view back to town.
On my last evening I join the throng of dressed-up visitors doing the passeggiata down Rab’s main street, along shiny flagstones beneath balconied Venetian palaces. At around 8pm a thunderstorm rolls in, as they tend to do at the end of summer. In an attempt to shelter from the onslaught I serendipitously find myself under one of the four bell towers in a church where a piano recital is about to start.
The storm, and the concert, become a musical co-operation between man and the divine. Lots of glissando and adagio under the retablo, with God providing the fortissimo outside.
Afterwards the audience files out into the dripping night. Looking skywards, I suspect many of us have similar thoughts. Viz, the season’s changing, so we must make the most of what remains.
Andrew Eames was a guest of the Kvarner tourism board (kvarner.hr) and the Croatian National Tourist Board (croatia.hr). Ten nights’ B&B in three to four hotels in the Kvarner Islandsfrom £1,140pp, including flights, car hire and ferries (completelycroatia.co.uk)
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More sandy beaches in Croatia
Try these trips to more sandy spots on the country’s coast and islands
Kraljicina beach, near Zadar
This beach is one of the longest in Croatia
Also known as Ninska Laguna, this beach is on the mainland not far northeast of Zadar. It’s one of the longest in Croatia, but it can get very popular with families, many of whom also cover themselves in peloid mud (free and supposedly good for rheumatics, arthritis and skin conditions) in an adjacent wading pool. Stay in Sibenik, south of Zadar, at the Amadria Park Hotel Andrija, with pools backed by shady trees, a kids’ fun park with waterslides, and right by the beach (amadriapark.com).
Details Seven nights’ room-only from £488pp, including flights (easyjet.com)
Bacvice beach, near Split 
Visit Bacvice beach early season or late season, if you can
Its closeness to downtown in the popular tourist destination of Split makes Bacvice beach super busy at peak times, and cleanliness can suffer. It is also a hotspot for picigin, a sort of water volleyball unique to Split. Visit early season or late season, if you can, and stay at the Brown Beach House Hotel & Spa, a four-star in an old tobacco shipping station by the beach and with a pool, a few miles from Split.
Details Seven nights’ B&B from £865pp, including flights (tui.co.uk)
Velika beach, Omis, near Split
This beach is just a short walk from the old town of Omis
Velika beach, about 15 miles southeast of Split, has soft sand and clear water that is shallow for a long way out, making it ideal for children. It’s a short walk from the old town of Omis, dramatically located where the Cetina River slices through the mountains to reach the Adriatic. The Hotel Plaza Duce, backed by craggy cliffs, has smart modern rooms with sea-view balconies.
Details Seven nights’ B&B from £504pp, including flights (jet2holidays.com)
Velika, Mala and Blaca beaches, Mljet
Saplunara bay on the island of Mljet
The Dalmatian island of Mljet, about 25 miles northwest of Dubrovnik, and under two hours by ferry, is heavily forested and less developed than its neighbours, so its beaches are more pristine. The bay of Saplunara derives its name from the Latin for sand — sabulum — and has a choice of three beaches, Velika, Mala and Blaca. Hotel Odisej has light, airy rooms, a pizzeria overlooking the sea and a beach bar.
Details Seven nights’ half-board from £406pp, including flights (firstchoice.co.uk)
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Publish date : 2024-09-22 07:00:00
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