Croatia – An Activity Holiday
Another holiday? Yes, this one was booked quite a while ago and ended up somewhat shoehorned in between our recent trip to Sweden, the Traws Eryri next week, and a few upcoming weekends away as well.
Fortunately, it was also a package holiday, so there wasn’t much organising to do and little in the way of logistics to sort out. We could just turn up at the airport and be whisked away to a resort in Croatia. Of course, getting to the airport isn’t always easy for us and, as usual, we needed a night in Birmingham first so that we could catch an early flight the next morning. We therefore decided to have a day in Birmingham wandering around the shops and even taking a short train ride to the University so that we could geek out in the Lapworth Museum of Geology!
The following morning we boarded a flight to Split and then jumped on a coach to the little village of Starigrad, nestled below the imposing limestone mountains of the Paklenica National Park.
Alana Beach Resort, Starigrad
The holiday was a Neilson activity holiday and we were staying at the aptly named Alana hotel. Our room was nice and had everything we needed, including a balcony overlooking one of the pools and a glimpse through the trees to the sea.
Starigrad is on the coast of a long inlet of the Adriatic Sea, protected by long fingers of land and islands to the west. The waters are generally calm and protected, but there can at times be a fierce katabatic wind called the Bura that flows down the mountains and out to sea. We’d picked this resort as it was in Croatia, a new country for us, and had some decent windsurfing kit should the winds fill in. It was unlikely to be windy at this time of year, but if it was, I wouldn’t have liked to sit around without any windsurfing kit to play on!
Facilities and Equipment
As well as the selection of RRD windsurfing kit, there was plenty of other activity to keep us busy. There was a large fleet of sailing dinghies (Lasers, Picos, Zests, Bahias and some Dart 16 catamarans), lots of SUPs, sit-on-top kayaks (singles and doubles), mountain bikes, tennis courts, pickleball courts, a 50 m pool, two smaller kids’ pools, a spa and wellness centre, a gym, various workout classes, Zumba, Pilates, yoga and even a small climbing wall.
Food and Dining
There was also plenty of food to keep us energised, with a huge breakfast buffet every morning, a large lunch buffet and a further dinner buffet most nights. There were a few nights when the dinner buffet wasn’t included, but that gave us an excuse to try out some of the local restaurants in the town. This included a lovely pizza restaurant called Fratelli’s and an authentic Croatian restaurant on the edge of the National Park called Marasovi?.
The food was good both at the restaurants and in the hotel, and there was more than enough of it with a varied selection too. We didn’t manage to try it all, but gave it a good go! The hotel also had a couple of bars for drinks during the day or a sunset cocktail overlooking the bay. The hotel grounds were nice too, with plenty of sun-loungers, plenty of shade from the olive and tamarisk trees, and a chilled vibe.
Tow Sports: Wake-boarding, Water-skiing and Knee-boarding
As far as the activities go, we each had two free goes at either water-skiing, wakeboarding or knee-boarding. We booked onto these early and had our first go on the Monday morning. Anna went first and tried water-skiing. She didn’t quite manage to get to her feet but had three or four attempts to do so. I then tried wakeboarding. I hadn’t done it before, but did kitesurf many years ago, so the muscle memory kicked in and I got to my feet straightaway. I cut across the wake a couple of times, then after about a 30-second ride I caught an edge and fell off, and that was the end of my go. I was expecting at least another attempt, but there wasn’t time, which was a little disappointing.
We did have another go on Wednesday morning and this time I went first and had three little tows. I got to my feet each time and managed to cut back and forth under control, and even tried popping a little jump off the wake. Anna decided to try knee-boarding this time. She didn’t quite get to her knees, but seemed to be enjoying the ride all the same. At least, I think it was a big grin and not a grimace!
Mountain Biking
I took a mountain bike out a few times. First on my own around a ‘red’ Strava route they had set up. I also joined a very relaxed group ride, but decided I preferred to be on my own. So, the next time I headed off on a 52 km Black Route. This took me around the bay and over to the other side, crossing the impressive Maslenica Bridge and allowing me to visit Posadarje. It was a nice ride out and a chance to explore some of the surrounding countryside. The weather up to this point and throughout the day was sunny and fairly hot, in the region of 20–30°C.
Paddle-Sports: Kayaking and SUPing
There wasn’t really any wind though, so I didn’t get to go windsurfing. We certainly didn’t get to experience the Bura wind. We did go out for a couple of little kayak paddles together and joined a guided ‘kayak safari’. These were nice little paddles, but having not long got back from sea-kayaking in Sweden, where we were free to roam wherever we wanted, the area we were allowed in felt quite restrictive. There were three buoys, each about 800 metres from the beach safety tower at the resort, and we had to stay within the confines of these. Having spent a few days exploring the 6,000 islands of the Sankt Anna Archipelago and paddling 20 km or more to get to various places, this area felt quite small. Even the ‘kayak safari’ only took us just outside of the area.
It was the same with SUPing. Anna didn’t SUP, but I did take one out for a quick tour of the buoys.
Wind-sports: Sailing and windsurfing
As the winds were light, I also enjoyed some time in the sailing dinghies. There is free tuition available in all of the sports, so we did a quick intro to sailing course one morning and then set off on our own in a Laser Zest. The winds were light, so it was nothing thrilling, but it’s always nice to try something new. I also took out a Laser one afternoon when there was a bit more of a breeze, which was a little more interesting. Anna didn’t seem too taken with sailing though, and preferred to chill on a sun-lounger rather than in a boat!
There certainly wasn’t enough wind for me to windsurf, but there were plenty of people out learning the very basics.
Racquet Sports: Tennis and Pickleball
We also did an intro to pickleball course, which was fun. Racquet sports aren’t really our thing though and booking a pickleball court was a little difficult as they seemed really busy. We didn’t have anything to do with the tennis, but it seemed as though that was the main reason many people were here.
Swimming
As well as free swimming in the pool, I did a coached swim in the pool too. It was basically a drills session, but at a decent level as It was just me and too other decent swimmers. I went on an open-water swim too.
Spa and treatments
Anna went to the spa for a treatment one morning while I was out mountain-biking. The spa treatment wasn’t included in the price, but wasn’t extortionate and Anna seemed to enjoy it.
Climbing
I also paid for a climbing session in the Paklenica National Park. This was a good excuse to leave the resort and head into an impressive limestone gorge. The climbing was good, just what I needed really: nothing too technical or scary, but a decent test and a chance to go through the motions of climbing without too much of a safety risk!
And with that, all too soon it was time to head home again. At least this time, all the travelling was done in a single day. We left the hotel at 9:30 am sharp and, after a coach, plane, shuttle bus and train, made it home by around 7 pm.
All in all, it was a lovely, stress-free holiday with plenty to do and plenty of food. The hotel, facilities and staff were all really good. It was nice not having to think about anything and just having all the kit there ready to go. It was all in good condition, all ready to use, and you could use as much of it as you wanted.
We did have to put up with beach closures on two afternoons due to thunder and lightning, but that couldn’t be helped. The level of activities was also fairly basic for someone such as myself, who would probably be considered fairly advanced at many of the sports. It’s really aimed at people who don’t do such activities at home. That said, it was nice to try some new things and, if there had been more wind or more extreme conditions, it may have felt different — assuming they don’t close the beach when the wind gets strong!
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