Отдых на Макарской Ривьере Holidays on the Makarska Riviera

We were very pleased with the GADA 3 * hotel (Gadja). The hotel is new. It has 48 rooms. All with balconies and air conditioning. Windows face east and west. Both sides have sea and mountain views. Quite noisy on the east side. Near the road and pick up garbage early in the morning. We lived on the west side. No noise disturbed our rest. The beds in the rooms are large with excellent mattresses. Restaurant and bar on the 1st floor. There is a panoramic bar on the roof, but it was not working. For breakfast we had a buffet. The repertoire is standard and constant - cuts of cheese, meat, sausages, croutons, sausages, scrambled eggs, cucumbers and tomatoes, muesli, cheese, butter, jams, tea, coffee. Everything is fresh and tasty. We ate. In the evening, a 4-course dinner - first, second, salad, dessert. The second is a choice of 2 options. The menu was different every day. We liked the food. The only negative was the speed of service. Once we spent an hour for dinner. Drinks at dinner are paid and very expensive.
200ml juice 15kn, 100ml wine 30kn. The Croatian kuna is practically equivalent to our hryvnia. Between a hearty breakfast and dinner, you could eat fruits, ice cream and delicious buns. But we wanted to try Croatian cuisine, especially fish. We in Baska Voda dined a couple of times at the fish restaurant Mars. Recommend. Fish dishes in Croatia are very tasty. We ate fish on the grill, in batter, shrimp, and we all really enjoyed it. Very tasty dried prosciutto meat. A fish dish costs 60-110 kn, prosciutto 50 kn. Food in Croatia is prepared from organic products in olive oil. This oil is worth bringing home. It is stored for a short time, but very useful. With food in Baska Voda, everything is fine. Many restaurants, cafes, pizzerias, pastry shops. The lowest prices for groceries in the Konzum supermarket. Prices are at the level and slightly higher than in Kyiv. Fruit is more expensive than ours.


From the hotel to the sea 100m. The beaches are medium-pebble, free.
Sun loungers cost 20 kn. On the shore, Italian pine trees create a natural canopy. You can sit until the evening in the shade. The sea is very clean and transparent, very salty and very beautiful in color. We bought bathing slippers for 40 kn so as not to step on sea urchins. Hedgehogs live only in very clean seas. The water temperature in June was from +21 to +23. The heat is about forty, although it is usually around thirty at this time. Not a single rain.
In the evening with entertainment there is little. We didn't see discos. Live music heard a couple of times. For children only a trampoline. Basically, everyone either walks along the promenade or sits in restaurants and bars on the shore. There were a lot of vacationers, most of them Croatians and tourists from other Balkan countries. Our fellow citizens are few. I can't imagine what's going on there in July-August. We did not see naked German pensioners. A group of Dutch pensioners lived with us at the hotel. In the restaurant they always made an unimaginable noise.
G.
Baska Voda is located on the Makarska Riviera in Central Dalmatia, between the towns of Makarska and Brela. We also really liked Brela. It is quieter, there is no traffic. We really wanted to see the rock illuminated from the sea. From Baska Voda to Brela about half an hour walk. From the Berulia hotel down and along the promenade along the sea to the rock for another half an hour. You can see her in the photo. In Makarska we had an evening boat trip. Makarska is bigger than Baska Voda and Brela. But she didn't really impress us. The air in Croatia is simply amazing. The smell of the sea and pines. Drunk without wine.


We have a day of rest at sea alternated with a day of sightseeing. We went to Dubrovnik, Trogir, Split. I think that these cities are worth seeing. I can't say which of these cities I liked more. Each is beautiful in its own way, in each interweaving of different cultures and architectural styles. In Dubrovnik, the fortress bastions surrounded by the sea are impressive.
In Split - the palace of the Roman emperor, a beautiful embankment and a port. In Trogir there is a beautiful cathedral with a unique portal, narrow Italian streets and courtyards. We were lucky with the guides. But, unfortunately, our excursions were short. You need to come here on your own for the whole day. It takes 4 hours to drive to Dubrovnik from Baska Voda. Split and Trogir are nearby, 2 hours away.
We also had a full day boat trip to the island of Brac. We were taken by boat to the town of Bol, where we rested and swam on the famous Zlatni Rat (Golden Horn) beach. It's a paradise for surfers. There are almost no winds on the mainland. Mountains on one side, islands on the other. Croatia is a country of a thousand islands. Some in Croatia lack a vast horizon. We missed the sound of the sea surf. On the way to Brac, we were treated to grilled fish and wine. Croatian wine is amazing. This excursion is called a fish picnic.
Usually, in addition to Brac, they are also taken to Hvar. And it costs 130 kunas. For some reason, we paid twice as much.
We had another planned excursion to Sibenik and the Krka nature reserve. But there were few applicants. I think without excursions we would be bored. We are not lovers of a purely beach holiday.

As we had a group bus tour we drove back and forth through Hungary and half of Croatia. The roads, I must say, are excellent. In Croatia especially. We passed many mountain tunnels, some of them 5 km long. On the way we visited Lake Balaton, Zagreb and the Plitvice Lakes. We drove through Budapest without stopping. From the bus window we saw the Parliament building and other historical buildings on the banks of the Danube. Balaton is a very large lake, almost a sea, 14 km wide. The water there is clean and very healthy, they say it contains natural antibiotics. But we didn't get to swim. We liked Zagreb, but we were there very little.

On the way back home, we visited the Plitvice Lakes. Words cannot describe this beauty. This is a cascade of 16 lakes and many large and small waterfalls surrounded by virgin forests and canyons. The water is crystal clear and an unusual turquoise color. The maximum depth is 47 meters. But, for the most part, 5-15m. The lakes are full of fish. Swimming and fishing are not allowed here. Electric ferries run along the largest lake, there are bus routes around the lakes. But basically everyone walks along the footpaths along the lakes and bridges between the lakes. It takes a whole day to slowly go around all the lakes. In 2.5 hours we managed to take a ferry and go around the lower lakes at a fast pace. We admired a large waterfall 78m high from afar. Now we dream of coming here specially for a longer period. It is especially beautiful here during the golden autumn.

Croatians are very friendly and welcoming.
Everywhere we heard “dober dan”, “we ask”, “we pray”, “praise”. Everything is clear without translation. But if you are told to go straight, it means to the right. Russian is understood if spoken slowly.
Anyone who thinks that holidays in Croatia are expensive, I want to advise you not to go during the high season and take last-minute tours. A third of our group bought the tour for 305 euros. By the way, take euros with you. Dollars in Croatia do not like.
It was our first acquaintance with Croatia. We hope to come here again. It would be great to go around the entire coast and islands on a yacht. Thanks to the Croats for their hospitality and for taking such care of the environment and protecting their natural and man-made wealth.