The Second Time's A Charm.
Rab is a popular island and can be over-crowded and touristy.
So why would we go here?
Because, with a little planning, a little luck, some talking around and fact finding, and a willingness to perhaps shed your clothes and shake off the prudish American ways, you can find the quiet, discover the charm, and have some very relaxing days in this beautiful town.
We were on Rab back in 2012, and fell in love with the island that first trip. We had a car that time, and so we did a little exploring, but with limited time on that trip we left just knowing that we wanted to return.
This time we had four full days to explore, and what we found surprised even us.
Rab really is a fun island, the kind of a place where you can fortify your constitution at 8:00 at any cafe, no questions asked or eyebrows raised; where you can stay out past midnight enjoying the view, the lights, and the people watching; where you can sleep warm and naked on top of the sheets soothed by the balmy breezes and swim in crystal blue-green water so clear you can see deep, deep into the Adriatic.
So perhaps this blog post will help you plan a trip here.
When we return, it will be for at least a week.
We are staying in a small apartment, rather than a hotel. Apartments seem to be a better price and value on the island, and the extra room plus things like a refrigerator and stove are handy to have. Be prepared to go to Kozum (the local store) to buy stuff like shampoo, toilet paper, bottles of wine, coffee and snacks.
Our place is the Astoria. We stayed here before, and we have had two different apartments. Both have been really nice at good fair prices. The links are provided above, or just email Matthias direct as he also has a wonderful house with direct access down to a beach, for rent (It is on Air B&B but better to just contact him directly and save some money.). It is about 8 km out of Rab town so you would need to have a car. We went to go see it, and it is charming, rustic, and quietly surrounded by the grape vines.
His parents also have some edge-of-town apartments being built at the winery, and they may be done as well.
Our current apartment looks out over the cafe and harbor, right in the old town, and is close to the ferry dock, about 8 minutes walk from the bus station, and 3 minutes from the boat taxis and boat on to Losinj (read on).
We were greeted with "welcome" drinks, including "...the best Pina Colada I have had..." says Gail.
The island itself is shaped kind of like a lobster. The center part of the island is a valley, with hills on one side up the claw, and larger hills-almost-mountains-but-not-really running up the side facing back to the mainland.
When you come to rob from the car ferry just south of Senj, you think, “Oh crap. It’s a desert. It doesn’t look like any of the photos…” But once you drive up, the center of the island opens up and you have scrub brush, then actual pine trees, palms, figs, vineyards and olives. There are a couple small villages on Rab, but without a car I would not stay outside Rab town, since most resources are there.
We had a car the first time, this time we don’t, and next time I would do it without a car again. More relaxing that way.
Anyway, as you head across the island, you can see the four spires of Rab rising up above the walls from a ways off.
Rab the town is built on the tip of a peninsula sticking out into the Adriatic.
You can easily explore Rab in a couple hours. It isn’t that big. But there are a lot of little details to see, if you take the time to look, and hidden places to explore. There is a part of the old city wall you can access for free for good photos, and back into some of the twisty streets there are good, local restaurants. There is a big town square with a lot of activity at night, a smaller square up where we are that has the occasional concert, and an outdoor movie theater with nightly shows (there was one on Vis as well).
Eufemija is popular here, just like in Rovinj. She really got around.
Imagine that Rab town is like an iscoceles triangle. Two long sides and a short base. The base connects to the island; there is a walk across it. One long side of the triangle faces into the harbor, that is the front side of Rab. The other side faces out to the sea. That is the back.
Then, there are the beaches.
Rab has it all: sandy crescents, small pebbles to larger cobbles, and the flat rock type. And a lot of them are backed by pines, many have convenient bars or full on cafes, with beds and umbrellas for rent.
There are the hidden coves and little bays scattered here and there, and easy access to several other close, uninhabited islands via water taxi. That's why Rab is such a vacation destination for the (mostly northern) Europeans.
So, three beaches, three different experiences. Choose one that is right for you.
We got into Rab mid afternoon the first day, so there was not much time. We dropped our things, grabbed two towels and headed through the park, out the gate, outside the city walls down to the walkway along the back side of the town under the walls.
There is a walkway, a promenade about eight feet wide, maybe five feet above the rocky ocean shore. It stretches from Rab for about a mile back, ending at a small beach with concessions.
Here and there along the walk are little stone pocket beaches or flat rocks. People are on the beaches, laying on blankets along the walkway, on the flat rocks, everywhere.
Some of the sitting benches are turned into makeshift beds, some people on the sunny sections have sun shades, other people have picked the shadowy places by the pines. Families, couples, young, old, topless, fully dressed... a long, walk through public beach, free and easy to access from the city.
Free, easy access, good views. Busy, noisy, no services.
It has been voted "Best Beach In Croatia" by whomever had whatever people vote in something.
Gail likes this one; fine grained golden sand in a wide crescent around a shallow bay.
It is packed shoulder to shoulder with beds and umbrellas, a teeming mass of people.
The back is lined with bars and cafes and stalls selling every trinket and water you. You can rent a paddle boat or go down a slide.
Did I mention the water is shallow?
So shallow that you wade a half mile off the beach to the rope marking the safe swimming zone at the mouth of the bay, and you are still only chest deep in the water. Of course the water is warm, and because of the sandy bottom it appears brown rather than the crystal blue-green of other areas. Not that the water is dirty; you can see fish darting about the whole way out.
We spent lazy hours here, in the jumble of people, kids running through kicking up sand, babies screaming, people fighting or just out having fun, staring around at you, in a daze.
Not my favorite place: too crowded and noisy for me, kids screaming, music going, and the water is too warm. Plus that fine sand sticks to everything, and you have to pay to shower it off.
BUT...
When the Zoomba Class started up... that's when I was ready to go.
Overly perky, bouncy yelling lady:
Chooga chooga chooga! Right right! Dance dance! C’mon everybody ...
"Bra-ah-vo!" She yelled, making it a three syllable word.
OK. To go to Paradise, take the island bus at the bus station. Not quite hourly, it takes about 30 minutes to go 10km.
Cost is 22 kuna each, one way. Umbrella and two beds, 60 kuna. Bathroom access 4 kuna a shot, shower for 2 kuna. Total cost, 158 kuna and up.
"Bra-ah-vo!”
The rest of the story in brief: Croatia, then the rest of Europe embraced it, now "naturist" or FKK beaches are everywhere, and most all other beaches have a mix of semi-clothed and clothed people.
Fact check: 1936, King Edward the VIII, wife, and "naturalism" or nude swimming actually began over 10,000 years ago.
So, Kandarola is still proudly the oldest "Nudistička Plaža" in Croatia. Technically, it is "clothing optional," but you'll see in a moment why that doesn't really work.
There is a dedicated water taxi to the beach that leaves at 9:00 and returns to pick you up at 19:00.
Cost is 25 kuna each, one way. Or you can pay more for a normal taxi, or put in some time walking for a 15 kuna taxi that drops you close (15 minutes walking away) and runs (sort of in very loose terms) hourly.
We threw down our 50 kuna for the taxi, and with the crowd of two others rode over to the beach, tucked back in a little bay, about a fifteen minute scenic ride. It cost us 40 kuna more upon disembarking, which fee keeps out the riff-raff and entitled us to an umbrella and two beds for the day. Plus free use of the bathrooms, showers, and there is a full restaurant with a full pig on a skewer slowly turning over a wood fire and bar.
Music For The BEach: Click and Enjoy
We chose one semi private terrace on a higher ledge looking out over the bay and the island of Pag in the distance.
A perfect location, ten steps from getting in the water, close to the bar and bathrooms, within sight of but separated from the neighboring pads. Our own umbrella, big enough to choose shade or sun all day long...
and...
It is beautiful. The water is clear over thirty feet deep and an even darker color of blue.
It is quiet.
These "naturists" are not a rowdy party bunch. There are families, old couples, young couples, singles, seemingly mostly German. At least that is the common language.
The kids are happy playing and swimming, going down the slide at the head of the bay, but they are not running through everybody screaming.
In fact they seem very polite, considerate, could you say well mannered and disciplined.
And so it is quiet here except for the lapping of the waves and the buzzing of the locusts. An occasional voice drifts over but most people are swimming, reading, napping, floating on floaty-pads, snorkeling, or gathered in small groups chatting.
And there is no trash, no litter. In fact it is unusually clean everywhere.
The only odd part, the one thing you have to get used to, is that everybody is naked.
And that is why the "clothing optional " isn't really accurate and doesn't really work.
Oh sure, you could wear your swimsuit, or just go topless, but you really stick out. And nobody wants to stick out in a crowd and be stared at. (And yes I wrote that sentence just like that on purpose. Thank you. I laughed too.)
People look at you then. It is actually less intimidating and much more comfortable to just lose the clothes.
And so we did.
"Bra-ah-vo!"
And what followed was two days of bliss.
9:15. First order of business: glasses of white wine to fortify our constitutions.
Day two: macchiato and iced coffee with a white wine chaser. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, "Having coffee with a view."
Strip down.
Jump into the sea and swim. Something nice about swimming in the salt water first thing in the morning. Shower off. Stand at our little platform, warm warm sun, breezes caressing us.
Lay in the sun or shade. Adjust. Podcast or read or nap. Swim. Drink. Swim. Drink.
Swimming in the blue blue crystal seas. No crowds. Quiet.
Around noon we took a snack of fries and beer.
Back to the morning routine.
The first day we cut our time short; we were meeting Matthias at 15:00
But the second day we stayed until the last boat home at 20:00, enjoying a great lunch at the café, along with more wine and beer and swimming and napping, and the sunset.
"Bra-ah-vo!"
So, what did we learn?
Even on a crowded vacation island you can have the beach vacation in paradise, for less money and wasted travel time, if you are willing to stretch your personal boundaries a little, and drop the inhibitions. (And don't have to worry. Trump is not here to grab your pussy.)
I have to say that mentally and spiritually and physically it is very freeing. We have been to the baths before where you strip down, and stumbled onto the FKK beaches by accident, joining in. But this time it was a deliberate choice, and a great one at that.
This place is wholesome. It reminds me of when we took our kids hiking in the back country of Lassen Park and we would skinny dip in the lakes and streams.
It is surprisingly ecological here. Or perhaps it is not a surprise, coming from people who want no boundary between their skin and nature. Signs everywhere to put trash up, recycle... they asked me to return the empty beer bottles when we were done. I even went down into the rocks to retrieve someone's errant water bottle.
The questions you want to ask, answered:
1. That is why sunscreen was invented. Use it. Or adjust your lounger to keep those parts in the shade.
2. No. Nobody cared what the hell we looked like.
3. No. I didn't care what anybody else looked like either.
4. Yes it is very very freeing. Like skydiving. Think about it.
5. Sure. I may be a tiny speck in somebody's vacation scenery photo, but really, look at my photos. You can barely see the people let alone any details. See # 2 and 3 above.
6. OK. So it works out that my "price" for going naked in public is about 30 kuna ($4) plus half an hour of saved travel time plus quietude for the day. I'm a cheap date. So sue me.
7. Looking for a hookup or wild naked time? This ain't it. The place is full of respectful people, environmentally conscious.
8. I am too old to really give half a damn about what other people think.
9. Yes, you get dressed again to go eat in the cafe. Half and half about people just walking by.
10. And finally, my PCI (personal comfort index). I have skinny dipped in lakes and rivers around the western US my entire adult life. I don't even think twice about stripping to jump into a hot spring in Big Bend on the Pit River or in the middle of the Nevada Desert. I raised my kids swimming nekky in the mountains, and Gail and I have enjoyed the baths and spas throughout Europe. So this is one small step up the ladder I guess.
"Bra-ah-vo!"
The first night we ate at the Restaurant Astoria, owned by the people who own our apartment. Pretty good food.
I had an excellent Shrimp scampi cream soup, with generous pieces of shrimp plus a whole scampi lurking below the surface which surprised me when it charged up out of the soup.
The Scallop au gratin served in the shell was ok.
But the gnocchi with shrimp, pine nuts and rucolla was excellent.
Gail had a plate of sheep cheese which was nutty, strong and firm, followed by a vegetarian plate that was beautifully arranged.
Our favorite waiter from last trip, Damien, was there and it was great to talk with him again. He brought us some sage honey grappa. We had a bottle of the owners wine, I'll get to that in a bit.
The next night we had tapas with wine; small bites of meat and mushrooms and vegetables, at Kampanel, under the bell tower. Honestly, this might not fill up most people, but it was enough for us. The ambiance is outstanding, the food and wine good, the view great.
The third night we walked out of the old town to Pizzeria Barba Ivo, a Mexican Food/Piazza joint. Damien sent us over, told us it was where all the locals go for the best pizza. And so it was. The pizza was good. We were treated to lemon ginger grappa because we were friends of Damien. It was pink, smooth and sweet, with high alcohol.
The last day we ate at Kandarola beach. It was great! Gail had spaghetti with oil and chilis, bread and white wine. I ordered grilled mackerel (fresh from the boat) grilled right there on the open fire in front of me. Oh my god. And like $6. Add in the liter of wine and water and we were set back a whole $30 tops.
We were eating lunch when a guy asked if the other end of the table was free?
Of course.
They joined us, and so we met and enjoyed a long lunch with Uschi and Ingomar, from Graz, Austria. Their English was as good as my German so we did well. In the end they treated us to a shared liter of Graševina wine.
Later that evening when I got the munchies, I stopped downstairs and Damien fixed me up with another plate of the shrimp and pine nut gnocchi.
Miscellaneous notes:
I notice that every once in a while we get a craving for French fries. Like the McDonalds kind. My friend mark hit McD's twice in three weeks I think. You know what it is? It is our American diet and a craving for salt.
Here in Europe we don't salt the food. It is not even an option at most places. They prepare it correctly and expect you will enjoy it as is.
So, I am used to over-salted everything. And once every week or two I get this absolute craving for...
French fries.
Makes perfect sense, huh?
Thus, pomme frites and beer for lunch.
I notice the moon is getting bigger every night now. Maybe Losinj I can get out late for the photos?
Speaking of Losinj, we were going to take the taxi to the ferry, to catch the bus across Krk to the next ferry, then a bus across Cres and over to Losinj... about five hours and 300-500 kuna.
In the harbor in front of us is a tourist boat, that makes a run to "see the dolphins" and visit other islands.
It goes direct to Losinj at 9:30
I talked to the captain, and for 200 kuna we go one way and he will drop us. An hour trip.
Time to do a load of laundry, but there are no facilities here or on the next island. And I can't last seven more days.
So, thinking back to what I learned in south Italy a few years ago, I loaded up the bag and walked across the harbor to the ACI Marina. Sure enough, for a small "extra fee" the very very nice lady will do our bag of laundry. So I drop it, and later that evening after a full day beaching it, I am now €20 lighter but we have clean stuff for another week or more.
This website is useful. It is for those sailing the world, but let's you know about potential port facilities, including location of washing machines. I bookmarked it for Croatia, just work your way back to whatever country you happen to be in.
Croatia has 1185 islands, 47 of them are inhabited.
At the end of this trip we trip we have stayed on eight of them. If we can get away from going to Vis and Rab over and over, that leaves 39 to go...
Croatia uses the kuna, but they have been part of the EU since 2013. Wish they would catch up on the currency.
However, the conversion is good for mentally working on your seven division tables.
213 kuna is about... $30
After a while, sitting at the beach like this calls for some music. A little Dave Matthews, a little Jimmy Buffet, a little mix of other stuff. Turned low so I can still hear the surf.
In spite of, or perhaps because of? All the drinking and eating, my BMI must still be OK because I still cannot float in the salt water, I have to keep kicking. Isn't alcohol less dense than water? You think I'd be bobbing around like a cork by now.
The advantage of staying with the same people is the familiarity. We have returned to the Astoria because we liked it, and we liked the people here the first time around. So I emailed Matthias directly, and their family treated us like royalty.
Or perhaps just like old friends.
The father, Peter, has two vineyards and produces the wine for their restaurant. And it is pretty good, the local red grape, Plavac Mali.
We drove out and got a tour of his little winery, part of which is being converted into more apartments. He gave us a bottle of the 2012 vintage, I think in celebration of the last time we were here.
Matthias took us round in his truck (a 2011 Toyota Hilux, the European version of my Tacoma, same year) to see his new project: an AirB&B house in the Vineyard.
Then we took a drive up one of the steepest, one lane (paved thankfully) roads I have been on. Up and up, surprisingly high above Rab, to the highest point on the island, Mt. Kamenjak at 408 Meters. (1335 feet)
It is barren limestone up there, some small scrubby plants, but all white rock. You can see all the surrounding mainland up past Senj and the islands of Pag to the south, Krk to the north, acres is west, and beyond is Losinj. Over there is the little barren rock wasteland where political prisoners were jailed.
And everywhere on the limestone top are piles of rocks, stacked in little cairns.
But...
But. They are not real balanced rocks. And if you follow this blog at all you know that one of my secret, most useless talents is stacking rocks.
Well, the rocks were there, I was in the mood and had time, and so we spoke to each other, the rocks and me, and I started in on the inverted pointy triangle balancing on another rock bit.
Matthias was impressed.
So I gave him a quick lesson (Including the helpful advice of "Be the rock, Matthias!") and by god if he didn't get one up pretty quick.
I was feeling centered by now, and we walked over to the rock pyramid marking the summit. Matthias and I climbed the faces for s photo, and at the top I discovered the summit pyramid-shaped rock was loose.
By "discovered" I mean I grabbed it when I got to the top and almost fell off when it just picked up loose in my hand.
Almost.
Rule one: three points on solid contact.
So, after the photo, with a loose pyramid-shaped rock in my hand, what is a rock stacker to do but...
Invert it.
Next people up might notice the smart-ass move, unless it blows over by then.
We stopped over at a cool guesthouse-restaurant just down from the summit. Never in a million years would I have come up here, and in fact Matthias said few people he knows gave been here. It is called the Kamenjak and if you have a car you should really seek it out. The views down over Rab are terrific. This place would easily fit in with the rifugios of the Dolomites. Anyway we shared a bottle of white wine before heading down.
We both liked Rab more this time than last time. And that is saying something. Sometimes a place will disappoint the second time around.
"Why?" Asked Matthias over a final coffee just before we left. I gave some stupid answer without thinking it through, but now I have had time.
Part of it is that we were more relaxed this time round, probably due to longer periods of time in one place and staying in one country longer. You get to know the routines and pace of life.
Part of it is the familiarity. We already knew Rab so we didn't do any "sightseeing" per se. (If you want more photos of Rab and highlights, see my blog photos from 2012). Instead we tried to refine our choice of beaches and see something new. We didn't have to rush to "do everything."
And we already had an idea of what to eat and where to go. Even knowing where the Kozum is, to buy supplies, is helpful.
Part of it was Matthias and his family. It sounds trite, but it's not. The Europeans in general have welcomed us back with open arms, and this was no exception. We were treated so kind and generously, from "welcome drinks" to digging up beach towels for us, to just hanging out visiting and then showing us a "hidden" corner of the island, up on the top of Kalampoo. Like we are in on a big secret.
We really felt sad to leave, and I know when we return it will be to friends. In the meantime, Matthias has a standing invite to visit us.
These have been two of the best weeks of my life. Really, I want to be one of those people who, when I die, people will say, "Well, he experienced all of what life had to offer, and then some."
As a kid I read Erma Bombeck (thanks, mom.) and I believe her words are true.
So...
Truffle pasta, FKK beaches, early morning swims on Vis, coffee in Rovinj...
Oh yea. Life is good.