Il marina of Jablanac you see it down there, when you are still up on the ridge of the cliff and in front of you you have that nice couple of kilometers of cars lined up and stopped, willing to go just where you want to go. So you learn that corner of the Croatian coast very well, as well as the longed-for island in front of you, only 30 minutes by ferry (and 3 hours of column in the street).
Hungry and very tired, we are there at 13.30. Finally we did it. In reality there is still about ten kilometers to get to the town of Rab, where the agency and the employee who accompanied us to the village of Lopar, the final destination of our journey and home to our apartment. In the meantime, we had already glimpsed practically the whole island passing by by car, but clearly our greatest interest at the moment was the house and above all the food.
THEFlat it was in a quiet area of that village which had the pleasant characteristic of having the 2 main beaches at both ends of the main road. The welcome from the owners of the apartment was simple but nice, with the lady showing us the rooms and the gentleman more interested in offering us a welcome grappa. The apartment was really spacious, with a mega-stay and 2 beautiful balconies; an excellent apartment for a group of kids, free, among other things, to make a moderate mess for the whole holiday.
Before we talked about 2 main beaches. The first one we saw, very quickly however, was the one towards the north, not very wide, in sand, sloping towards the sea at levels from the Venetian Adriatic, although enclosed in a rocky bay. Here there is also the port that leads to Valbiska, on the best known island of Krk, North. The southern part of the country led instead to the beach of Rajska plaža, or Paradise beach, wider (1 km and a half long), frequented and equipped, having a comfortable campsite directly on the beach and some tennis and soccer fields; since 2003 it can also boast the recognition of Blue Flag. Some small shops also allow you to buy what you need for beach life, starting with the umbrella, since it is all free beach.
Only the deckchairs can be hired, but they weren't very successful. The peculiarity of the beach, in addition to being strangely sandy for the north of Croatia, is a rock (Hrik Lukovac) of moderate size that almost closes the bay, stopping cold waves and currents coming from the open sea. In this way, also favored by the shallow water at least until 100 meters from the shoreline, that corner of the sea is transformed into a real swimming pool, with the only detail of the salt water and the fish that splash around in it. Those who want to experience the Caribbean by car, give it a try. You don't go that far.
Always on the beach, a nice kiosk, run by a boy and a girl, who sells fresh and thirst-quenching beers for only 30 kuna (about 1 euro).
Looking at the sea, a cliff rises to the right of the beach which acts as the main one roughness of the island, while to the left there is a marina with small private boats. Continuing on, you will find other beaches that are increasingly smaller and more characterized by a rocky profile, with rocks and gravel. Further on, much further, which would be quite a complicated and difficult exercise to get there by coast, there are some small beaches reserved for nudists, in the eastern end of the island of Rab; therefore, for those interested, one should reach a certain point by car by road, and then descend to the sea along paths immersed in the woods. To see the photos of the beaches it would seem that it is worth it.
For eating, I'd say it's pretty useless as well unseemly to go shopping and cooking in the apartment, I would save perhaps only a supply of fruit from the first kiosk that is on the way home-beach and the necessary for breakfast (the coffee absolutely bring it from home, because there the good one is sold by its weight in gold, and the moka as well, do not use the ones they provide you in the apartments, which are used yes and no once a year, if Italians pass by). I was saying, it's not worth shopping: go to the restaurant Pizzeria (not too bad, beware of the devil, which is really diabolical) or even stop to eat in the places near the beach; we always eat discreetly and spend very little. I remember lunches for € 5-6 and excellent meat dinners for € 10 or a little more.
