One-day boat excursion to Telašćica Nature Park (salt lake) and Levrnaka island (NP Kornati)

Telašćica Nature Park - covers 70.5 km2, of which only 25.95 km2 is land and 44,55km2 sea area, including 13 islands, islets and rocks emerging from the water. Its centre is Telašćica bay with the largest depth of 67m- a natural, safe haven for boats.

The park area is a mosaic: calm, enchanting coves, huge, breathtaking rock walls, pine and oak forests, clearings, vineyards, olive groves and rocky hills with Mediterranean vegetation, which includes more than 400 species of plants, many rare and endemic. In the sea, we will meet about 250 species of plants and 300 species of animals, including beautiful red corals or carnivorous sponges.

Also, a donkey has found its home in Telaščica (about 14 animals). Animals freely walk between visitors in the areas around Mir bay and salt lake. Those places are well known to everyone from the advertising photographs of the Park. The lake is home to an endemic species of eel called "cayman", and the mud from its bottom has healing properties.

Near the lake, you can climb the high rock walls falling vertically into the sea. They make a huge impression both when we are at the top of them and when we sail by boat at their feet. The highest wall in the Park –Grapšćak- is 161m high above the water surface, and the largest depth "under the walls" reaches 85m. This incredible natural wonder was created by tectonic movements, pushing huge vertical shards of rock upwards, and is now the nesting place of many birds, including falcons.

The Kornati archipelago, as a separate and special island group located between the islands of Šibenik and Zadar, covers an area of about 320 km2 and includes about 150 land units, permanently or often located above the sea. The archipelago makes up 12% of all the islands of the Croatian Adriatic – 1264 islands, of which 67 are inhabited. It has long attracted the attention of sailors, divers, mountaineers and other nature lovers.

The average area of the Kornati island is only 0.55 km2, but it should be taken into account that Kornat (32.5 km2) and Žut (14.8 km2) occupy about 70% of the mainland. If we add Piškera, Levrnak, Lavsa and Sita, we get 88% of the total land area of the Kornati archipelago (69,452,963 m2). Only nine islands are larger than one square kilometer, and 76 of them are less than one hectare.

Kornati National Park covers most of the Kornati waters. Due to the exceptional landscape beauty, interesting geomorphology, extremely indented coastline, as well as the rich communities of the underwater ecosystem, the islands were declared a national park in 1980. Nowhere in the world is there such a fascinating, branched, stone labyrinth of islets as the one within the Kornati National Park. This archipelago is known as the most indented archipelago in the entire Mediterranean.

The appearance of Kornati was influenced by many factors. The islands have been developing for many years, and their beauty is that they are actually still being formed. They are shaped by the bora wind, the sun and the sparse vegetation. Throughout history, the human hand has certainly had an additional influence.

The most impressive part of the Kornati landscape are the steeps that rise on the sides of the islands facing the open sea, like those on the island of Mana. However, the National Park does not only covers islands, but also the sea waters, which are extremely valuable and rich. Flora and fauna include 300 different species of algae, hundreds of species of corals, mollusks, polychaetas, crustaceans, fish, dolphins, turtles and other organisms. Extremely important is the seagrass Posidonia, a Mediterranean endemic plant that grows only in the clear sea. This plant is often called the "lungs of the sea", and many organisms grow and develop with it, which it provides a habitat for.

Levrnaka Island - one of the islands of Kornati archipelago. It includes 89 islands, islets, and rocks. The archipelago stretches between Zadar and Szybenik and the National Park was established in 1980 with the aim of protecting the region's natural biodiversity. Most of the islands are uninhabited, they lack sources of fresh water and greenery, which does not mean that there are no plants and animals that feel perfect in these sunny conditions. The greatest wealth of fauna and flora we meet underwater. The bright color of the rocks, and the sharp outlines of the coast make Kornati look like pyramids dived into the depths of the sea. This view impresses.

Levrnaka is one of the largest and highest islands and from its peaks Veli vrh (117m) and Svirac (94m) offers to its visitors a beautiful view on almost the entire Kornati archipelago. On the island Levrnaka there is only sandy beach in the whole Kornati archipelago and it is called "Lojena".