"On the last day of creation, God wanted to crown his work, and so he created the Kornati out of tears, stars and breath". When the Irish poet George Bernard Shaw wrote this sentence, he had no idea how often it would be quoted.The archipelago of 147 islands could hardly be described more aptly. Nowhere else in the Mediterranean is there such a beautiful group of offshore islands. The karstic rocks with hermitages hidden in fjords have been one of the top destinations for nautical tourism for years.
While the kurnatars - as the hermits on the Kornati islands are called - were once fishermen or sheep farmers who lived in poor conditions, today they usually run a konoba with a jetty.
Business is booming and there is no end in sight. Where there used to be stone huts, there is now a respectable restaurant. And where oncethe wooden boat with lateen sail was moored to the self-built pier, today yachts moor comfortably to murings in a private marina. Over 20,000 crews now visit the Kornati Islands every year, most of which were declared a national park in 1980.However, such a large number of guests also causes problems: Areas of seaweed destroyed by anchoring, empty fishing waters, mountains of rubbish and thousands of emptied faeces tanks.
The Kornati National Park administration is well aware of this. Five years agothe biologist and national park director Dr Robert Bobinacagainst viewing yacht tourism solely as a source of income. He called for modern waste disposal systems, moorings on floating pontoons, faeces extraction stations andpublic toilets and showers with modern sewage treatment plants.And he demanded that the ticket for the Kornati National Park should also be valid in the neighbouring Telašćica Nature Park. He said it was a rip-off to ask the boat crews that cross a virtual line on the water to pay twice.
In view of the average age of the boaters, the biologist called for a medical emergency room at the national park centre in Vrulje with an emergency doctor to be able to treat patients with heart attacks or strokes. This shoulda speedboat and a seaplane in the centre of the park be stationed here. Similar to the national parks in Canada or the USA, he wanted to ensure that guests were not only charged, but also received something in return. Dr Bobinac was only director of the national park for a short time.
Nothing has been improved since then. But the entrance fees have risen and risen. In spring 2017, the Kurnatars, most of whom live in Murter, protested against a further increase in entrance fees in front of the national park administration based in the same town.
They fear that fewer and fewer crews will be prepared to pay the horrendous prices and that the conobas will therefore receive fewer guests.It was no use - the fees are at a record high and the money seems to seep away into the Croatian state bureaucracy as it has done for decades. Currently, the ticket for our 43-foot boat costs a whopping 900 kuna (120 euros) for one day in July/August when purchased within the park. The widely staggered fee structure can be found on the national park's website: www.np-kornati.hr
The continuing fee increases on the part of the park administration have ultimately led to acurious practice to completely avoid the state fee system. The konoba owners now tell their guests behind closed doors that they will most likely not be charged if they moor as quickly as possible at the pier or the pontoon of the restaurant. This is private property and the state is not allowed to collect money. Strictly speaking, this is not correct, because according to Croatian law, the first six metres from the water's edge always belong to the state. Nevertheless, the Kurnatars have managed to keep the state collectors away. As a result, the national park fee saved is diverted to the konoba.
All the boat crew have to do is manage to take the shortest possible route from the open sea into the national park, immediately grab the mooring line at a konoba and throw the mooring lines ashore. The landlord will help. Anyone who arrives too late and has to spend the night at anchor or on a buoy will be charged by the rangers.
We spent a week visiting the most beautiful bays in the national park and the neighbouring Telašćica Nature Park and gathering our own experiences.
From the charter base in Marina Mandalina near Šibenik, we steer our fast and manoeuvrable Azimut 43 through the Šibenik archipelago to the south-west, leaving the island of Žirje on our port side and after 20 nautical miles we have the southern end of the Kornati islands in front of us. Our destination is Vrulje in the centre of the national park. We have a choice: either enter the Kornati Channel at the island of Smokvica and then head there within the park or continue motoring north-west on the open sea until the village comes up on our starboard side.
We decide in favour of the latter option, as it allows us to cover a further 15 miles at an economical gliding speed. As the sun colours the Adriatic red in the west, we take the shortest route to Vrulje. The mooring places at the jetty of Konoba "Ante" are occupied by sailors. We are lucky, there is a free berth alongside behind the pier where the fishing boats are moored. Konoba boss Jure, the son of the namesake Ante, helps us moor, adjusts the fenders and gently pushes our twelve-metre boat into the stone box.
Jure places an additional table on the pier. Our pulpit reaches right up to the pub table, which is quickly set with aAppetiser platter of sardines, olives and squid salad. We are served red wine from Pelješac, sparkling in the last light of the evening. Jure explains that fishing is no longer permitted in the national park and asks if he can grill a gurnard from the Adriatic for us. The gurnards with the wing-like fins live in the depths of the sea and areValuable edible fish. Until it is grilled, we hike a little way up the Vrujsko mountain.
From the top, you have a fabulous view over the karstic island world. Almost all the guests at the konoba have climbed to the top before the main course and can't get enough of the view.
As the sun sets, a tantalising aroma wafts up the hill. We savour the delicious gurnard and the magic of a place that, although in Europe, is neverthelessso far removed from modern civilisation is situated. Vrulje consists of almost three dozen old stone houses and isthe largest settlement in the Kornati islands.
In addition to the konoba "Ante", there are the equally excellent restaurants "Ivo" and "Robinson". The latter has its own floating pontoon where you can moor. At the western exit is the outpost of the national park, where an information centre with a small museum has been planned for years. I knock and enter a bare room where a young and an older ranger are stirring their coffee. When I ask about the park's information centre, the older man laughs uproariously. "That should have been finished ten years ago. There are only a few camp beds for us here."
As we continue walking along the shore, the rangers leave the house, get into their RIB and drive to the "Ante" tavern, where they moor next to our yacht. We'll have to pay now, I think. The uniformed men go into the village and come back a minute later. Without paying a single boat crew, they drive the short distance back to the future national park centre and are never seen again.
We continue our hike on the donkey path along the bay. After 300 metres, the path ends at the new Core Lounge Bar & Restaurant. It has its own jetty with moorings for 16 yachts and buoys for a further eight. International cocktails are served in the lounge bar. The restaurant is orientated towards Dalmatian tradition. Fish and lobster come fresh from the Adriatic, and if you book in advance (about 4 hours beforehand) you can also order peka made from lamb, fish or squid. The jetty is unprotected in westerly winds or jugo. http://www.core-kornati.com
Distances in the Kornati are minimal. Today's destination, Strižnja Bay, is two nautical miles away. There are two konobas with their own piers. We decide in favour of Darko's jetty to the south, where we tie up with a mooring line between two sailing yachts. Darko drives to his nets in the morning and fetches the fresh catch. Meanwhile, daughter Marina and son-in-law Hrvoje help the guests with mooring and Darko's wife in the kitchen.
It is atypical family businesswhich emerged from a former hermitage. Today, there are around 40 such konobas in the Kornati islands and in the neighbouring bay of Telašćica. They are the daily destinations of yachties and the economic foundation of the kurnatars, and what Darko catches from the nets is grilled in the evening and served with olives, chillies and garlic. http://www.konoba-striznja-kornati.hr
The culinary delights and ambience are hard to beat.
It is not easy to decide which hermitages to visit in a week. As the weather is a little unstable and a thunderstorm with strong winds is forecast from the west, we decide to drive to Levrnaka. Anica Bay, which leads deep into the centre of the island, offers protection from westerly winds.
We pull up to the floating jetties of the "Levrnaka" tavern and junior manager Daniel Ježina hands us the mooring ring.
The stone house at the head of the bay was built in 1980 by fisherman Mladen Ježina as a fishing lodge. The first guests arrived by boat in 1994.The fisherman's hut was transformed into a modern restaurant. The stone pier for the cutter has been extended by floating jetties to create a mini marina with 20 guest berths. There is electricity from the generator from 7pm to midnight. The water comes from the cistern.
The "Levrnaka" tavern has become one of the best restaurants in the national park. Specialities include Kornati lamb as well as fish and seafood from the Kornati islands. The konoba is very popular, and during the season you should book a berth and table (tel. 091-43 53 777). http://www.konoba-levrnaka.hr
The expected thunderstorm came at night, although we didn't feel much of it at the mooring. In the morning we visit the nearby beach in the south-west of Levrnaka. It's so beautiful and lonely here. I throw my things away and am about to jump into the water. It's just after 11am. Suddenly it gets loud.Hundreds of touristswho have arrived on excursion boats annex the beach.
Let's get out of here!
While we are back on board, a RIB from the national park jets into Anica Bay. The rangers pick up two crews whose boats are anchored in the outer part of the bay. Then they turn away again - even though there are still plenty of boats moored at the floating jetties of the "Levrnaka" tavern.
We head three miles north from Levrnaka and then into the Šipnate fjord. The wind is now gusting from different directions and we are unsure where to moor. The young owner Snježan Rameša comes out of his konoba and heads towards us with his boat. He thinks that we are lying alongside behind his floating pontoon relatively well.
Snježan drives ahead and helps with the mooring. Ivana and Snježan Rameša live in Šipnate every summer with their three children. They have converted the hermitage of their ancestors, who have been breeding sheep in the Kornati islands for over a hundred years, into a konoba. As it is only 1.6 metres deep at their pier, they have installed a floating pontoon on the southern shore of the bay, where boats with a draught of up to two metres can moor. There are also four buoys in the bay.
Ivana says her specialities areLamb pekaorOctopus peka. But a peka should have been booked four hours in advance. She harvests onions, tomatoes and peppers from the garden and makes a salad for us. Then she coats two small fish and a lobster with her own olive oil and puts them on the grill. The food is excellent and the price is surprisingly moderate by Croatian standards.
We are still in the national park, where strict rules apply to protect nature. As we continue north-west towards Telašćica, we discover a new or at least significantly extended pier at Suha Punta. We go alongside on its sheltered inner side. Miljenko Spralja from the "Suha Punta" tavern takes the lines. I ask him who built the jetty. He raises his shoulders: "Suddenly it was there." He winks at me. Two surveyors from the Hydrographic Institute then came and marked the pier on the nautical charts. Now it has been legalised and thehe guests of the konoba can also moor with large yachts.
In the konoba "Suha Punta" you can get the most deliciously prepared squid in the Kornati islands. Miljenko's wife Zora is keen for us to try her crispy grilled squid rings and homemade wine. The Miljenko family runs theonly vineyard in the national park. As we savour the delicious red fish, time flies by until the squid are ready. Whilst we are enjoying ourselves on the pier, a RIB from the national park approaches within speaking distance. Miljenko shouts something to the rangers. They take off.
We have now moored at five hermitages in the national park. No ranger wanted to charge us.
The unwritten law that you don't have to pay if you are at a konoba still seems to apply.
In the afternoon we head for theVela Proversathe southern of the two navigable passages towards the mainland. Today, it forms the border between the Kornati National Park in the south and the neighbouring Telašćica Nature Park in the north. The island of Katina on the northern shore is therefore part of the nature park. There, the Šešela family runs the "Mare" restaurant with a small marina where 15 yachts can moor at Murings. Ju-
nior boss Duje guides us to the comfortable pitch alongside the pier. There is electricity (18-24 hrs), water (8-12 hrs) and wifi.
The Šešela family has lived on the strategically important passage since 1914. In the past, fishing trawlers anchored here when the weather was bad on the open sea. The Šešela family always had a warming fire, fish soup and a tasty drop of wine. From 1965, the family ran a provision shop for fishermen, which grew into a tavern for sailors around 1973. At that time, nautical tourism was still out of the question. It is said that the "Mare" was the first konoba in the Kornati islands.
The "Mare" always serves fresh catch. The house speciality is lobster, which is fished live from the seawater aquarium. http://www.restoran-mare.hr
The "Mare" has been considered one of the best fish restaurants in the archipelago for decades.
We head into Telašćica, one of the most beautiful bays in the Mediterranean. The Telašćica hasmore than a dozen sub-baysSome of them have buoy fields belonging to the nature park. There are no konobas where you can moor in the Telašćica.
Our destination is Kruševica Bay, where the hermit Goran Jagić runs a rustic tavern. Goran looks like aOld hippie: His hair and beard reach down to his chest. He is the grill master in his "black kitchen", serves the guests and always radiates good humour.The food is simple, good and reasonably priced. Call 098-160 79 02 to reserve a berth at the buoy, which he marks with a surfboard.
In the morning Goran rows with thefloating "Toni's Supermarket" Toni Toni is the name of his father, who invented the floating market. The name Toni is a reminder of his father, who invented the floating market. And in the morning, we are finally visited by two rangers from the Telašćica Nature Park, from whom we buy tickets for two days. The rangers are very friendly and take our rubbish with them. We pay 380 kuna (approx. 50 euros) per day for our 43-foot boat. The table of fees can be found on the nature park's website: http://www.pp-telascica.hr
We spend the last evening at the northernmost tip of Telašćica. In Magrovica Bay, you can anchor safely at around three metres in all winds. The harbour on the shoreTaverna "Goro" has had cult status for yearsthanks to the entertainer Goran Rogulj. He set up the taverna with his wife Franciska at the end of the 90s. On the wooden benches under the roof of vine leaves satPrincesses travelling on mega yachts, Russian billionaires and Arab sheikhs.
After the death of his wife, Goran retired and handed over the helm to his son Jakov. In autumn 2016, Goran, who was so popular with boaters, passed away after a serious illness at the age of 64.
Goran's slogan was: "I'm the king of the Peka".
His son Jakov continues the tradition and prepares the best peka far and wide. The dish has to cook for three to four hours. Enough time to drive to the steep cliffs of Dugi Otok in the evening light.
Jakov gets a taxi in a few minutes for just a few kuna. The 166 metre high, vertical rock face of Dugi Otokis one of the highest cliffs in the Mediterranean. From the cliff we have asensational view over the bay of Telašćica and across to the Kornati islands. This is how we say goodbye to one of the most beautiful areas of the Adriatic.
