Kite Surfers in Croatia

I spent most of last week hanging out with a bunch of kite surfers (I think ‘bunch‘ is the correct collective noun for a group of adrenaline junkies) in the south of Croatia.

It’s a bit of a hidden spot and most certainly off the tourist trail. Which in all honesty is pretty hard to find in the middle of the peak tourist season in this beautiful country. The place was simple, to say the least. A natural pontoon with the sea one side of the beach and a river the other. This pontoon creates a large shallow lagoon on the sea side with fresh water on the river side. No shops, no houses, just one small bar where the bar staff walked around barefoot. Perfect conditions for those who like a bit of adventure.

The weather obviously play a big part in things here. We soon discovered that in the mornings there was no wind and when there’s no wind there’s no kite surfing. It was strange but we witnessed the same weather pattern every day. Apparently, its something to do with thermal currents. For this reason, the mornings were serene.

Come the afternoon the winds picked up and the kites came out. The sky soon became filled with a multitude of colourful arcs darting from one direction to another. I’ve spent time with kite surfers before, but never this long and I’ve never watched and admired them in such a way.

Kite surfing abilities ranged from absolute beginners to those with decades of experience. Several of who made what seemed some impossible jumps certainly somewhere between 10-20 meters. It’s strange to watch a fully grown human effortlessly float up through the air and softly land in the water below. Obviously it’s not effortless, but these folk certainly make it look that way.

As the sun gets lower in the sky the wind drops too and people head to the bar which looks out to sea and provides an excellent viewing platform. The bar was fun with impromptu performances of all types of live music, singing, dancing.

As the sun goes down the wind disapears and the kite surfers pack up and head back to there van/tent/motorhome or perhaps just to the bar. 

Croatia is a great country and I’ve got plenty more stories, perhaps I’ll share them with you here soon. As you can see in the map below we’re now in Montenegro and enjoying a whole new world of adventures, there’ll certainly be more on that soon :)