Level of difficulty 3 paddles |  Gastronomy 2 pitchers |  Length 7.3 km |  Time 2 – 2.5 hours

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A sheltered bay, one of the most famous marinas in the northern Adriatic and a delightful monastery island in emerald waters. The bay of Punat offers a leisurely paddling tour and is well suited for getting to know the island of Krk for the first time.

General information

• Punat tourist information
• Krk Island tourist information 
• Punat Wikipedia
• Climate
• Wind, waves, weather

Navigation rules

Boat and ship traffic as well as bathers always have priority. Make way for the wakeboarders and surfers in good time. Avoid rubbish or take it with you when you make a stopover along the natural beaches or the banks.

The island of Košljun has been under nature protection since 1969 and may only be entered via official transport companies (taxi boat, etc.).

Dangers and risks

Wind and waves can be very strong on the sea - like everywhere else on the island. When the wind hits three to four Beaufort, it gets wobbly aboard, even in the relatively sheltered bay. The Bora, Croatia's most feared winter fall winds proves that there are hardly any upper wind limits in the region. Although the wind speeds in summer are not in the three-digit range, wind and weather checks are essential before starting your SUP tour.

With the large marina with its more than 1000 parking spaces, there is of course a lot of boat and ship traffic in the bay itself. Especially in the bottleneck of the strait at the entrance/exit of the bay. Therefore, always paddle by the shore and with foresight!

Many of the shores of the bay and the island are rocky and sometimes sharp-edged and therefore difficult to approach. Apart from that, the island may not be approached and entered privately anyway.

Avoid getting too close to the wakeboarders on the north side of the bay! To avoid serious collisions, it is best to keep a distance of at least 30 m. Also, the bay is a popular windsurf spot – one more reason to paddle with foresight and to keep a distance.

As long as you paddle past the beaches, you also have to deal with swimmers, pedal boats and other water sports enthusiasts. Also keep your distance and paddle carefully here!

Directions

From the town of Krk you take the D102, which connects the island from north to south like a main artery, towards the east. At the roundabout after the old St. Donat Church take the first turning on the right and follow the ŽC 5125 Dunat-Punat for 3.5 km. You drive by the old town center of Punat and then come back to a roundabout. Here take the third exit and after 700 m follow the signs to the beach (brown sign - Plaza-Beach).

After another 300 m on Starobašćanska Street you might already find free parking spaces along the macadam road, or you just keep driving down to the sea until you get to the Dog Beach Parking or behind the Medane Beach Bar where you will hit a dead end.

You can also get to Punat cheaply, quickly and comfortably by bus: from the bus stop in Krk, however, you only get to the bus stop in Punat. In this case you start the paddling tour in town instead of on one of the southern beaches. Local bus connections can be found on the portals Omio and BusBud.

Parking

The beaches Punat Beach, Plaža Punta Debij and Medane Beach are next to each other and have two parking spaces. At the Dog Beach parking lot a daily fee of slightly more than 5 € will be charged at least until the early/mid-afternoon (as of 2022). If you get there early enough, you can park for free at a number of places along the access road. Otherwise the parking lot itself seems to be free at least from 4 p.m. on.

If you pass the first parking lot and turn left after it, you get to Medane Beach, which is also a good starting point for this tour. Regarding the parking fees there is however contradicting information.

Swimming

Punat has its own town beach as well as the Dunat Beach. To the south of town you find the beaches Punat Beach, Plaža Punta Debij as well as the Medane Beach.  

But that's not all: the coastline two kilometers south of Medane Beach also offers other beaches and natural bathing areas by the sea, which stretch up to the naturist beach (nude beach) and can also be reached easily by car. People who want to take a dip even further south in direction of Stara Baska can only walk the scarce hiking trails to bathe in solitude.

You can also bathe in solitude over large parts of the bay of Punat on its west and south shore: starting from the D102 several gravel paths lead directly down to the west shore of the bay. Likewise, when hiking around/through the Prniba peninsula (see extra tip Spot Krk/Punat) via gravel paths to the southern shore of the bay. Here, too, you can also drive (at walking pace) almost down to the water.

The northern part of the Punat Bay is well developed with a few beach bars, a restaurant and a small harbor and along Dunat Beach also invites you to swim and relax.

Tour

From Punat Beach straight to the marina, past the wakeboard park and along the western shore of the bay back to the starting point.

Length

7.3 km

Time

2 – 2.5 hours

Start and landing

At one of the bays at Punat Beach.

SUP rental

There are a few rental stations along the beaches, but unfortunately these cannot be found on the Internet.  

Rent a Boat Punat
Obala 107, 51521 Punat
Phone +385 (0)91 457 5566

Sea paddling with a lake feeling

The impressive Puntarska Draga Bay (Punat Bay) is one of the most protected Adriatic bays and is only connected to the open sea by the narrow Usta Strait. It is not only a true natural paradise for divers and amateur photographers, because paddlers can also let off steam here in a water world with hybrid conditions between sea and lake.

To do this, the beaches south of Punat with their countless small bays and bars offer an ideal starting point. At the end of the gravel road there are two partly chargeable parking lots. At the first one I let the attendant guide me to my parking space and I pay a daily fee of just under five euros.

Surprisingly, just a few hours later, around 4 p.m., all the attendants are gone and the parking lot seems to be free of charge again. So it could also pay off to only start this tour in the late afternoon or towards the evening, especially since there are significantly more free parking spaces available. It makes sense to wear sturdy shoes on the parking lot, as the stones on the ground are sharp and angular - as will be the case later on on many of the shores in the bay.

On a nice day it is understandably quite crowded here. There are enough smaller bays available from which you can go into the water. The pebbles are pleasantly smooth and round, but in Croatia you should always board with firm soles, especially if you're a little off the sterile bathing beaches. The coasts are often very rocky, pointed and sharp-edged - no good for bare feet.

Unfortunately, the weather changed when I arrived at the beach and clouds are coming in from the north-west, which dims the light conditions a bit, but also ensures a pleasant temperature.

I follow the other paddlers and leave the bathing zone by simply paddling over the boundary ropes in the water and turning right in the direction of Punat. A slight tug can be felt on the fin, but I don't get caught on the rope. So it's full speed ahead into the wavy sea.

Good footwork is required for the first kilometer, because the sea and the countless boats and yachts whirl up the water and make the start quite wobbly. Here, of course, you don't advance as quickly as on standing water, but this changes as soon as you have left the strait behind you.

Right in front of me are the first boat docks and the promenade of the municipality, which was first mentioned in 1377 and today has around 1800 inhabitants. This makes it one of the five largest of the 68 municipalities on the island. In front of me lie the slightly cloudy slopes of the hinterland with their vineyards and olive groves.

For example, from the quay in Punat you can take a taxi boat out to sea for half a day. If that's not enought just go on a day trip and head to various destinations around the island. Since the providers usually quote flat rates, the cheapest way to travel is in a small group. The little Kosljun Island on the other hand, is right next door and hardly stands out optically from the shore of the bay behind it. This is because the monastery and churches located on it are not visible from this side and are hidden behind the trees.

Drizzle is coming down and I'm now paddling through fairly calm water in a straight line past the marina's yachts. If it weren't for the salt on my lips I wouldn't even know I'm actually by the sea here because it is calm and more reminiscent of an inland lake.

The impressive marina offers space for up to 850 boats in the water and another 300 on land. There is always something going on here and the non-Croatian flags on the yachts show that this bay is also a popular berth for tourists. In the western part of the bay in particular, more and more large and small yachts are anchoring, while the area north of the marina up to the bypass road is mainly occupied by seagulls. Hundreds of them seem to be floating motionless and relaxing in the water over a wide area.

In order not to disturb them in their habitat, I turn diagonally left after the marina and paddle in the direction of the wakeboard facility, because a number of boarders are practicing there. Unfortunately, spectacular somersaults over the kickers remain a rarity, which is why I decide to paddle to the Otočić Kosljun – the monastery island. If you want to take a break here, you have plenty of opportunities on the north shore of the bay, because in addition to many secluded shore areas, there are also a few beach bars.

By taxi boat you can reach the island from Punat and visit the monastery museum - both are only possible in double packs. If you come to the island you have to buy a ticket for the museum or else you have checked in as a monastery guest on the island for a certain time anyway.

The island and its monastery were crucial for Punat's tourist development in the 19th century. As Maria Carolina of Austria, Romanian King Karol I and other nobles began to visit the monastery, tourist interest in the region began to increase. Today the island is known to be accessible to everyone and also protects the cultural heritage of the region. In addition, it has been a nature reserve since 1969.

The water is very clear around the island and I have a good view down to the seabed, which is between one and four meters below me. The shore along the Prniba Peninsula offers great secluded bathing spots away from the crowds, which can only be reached from Krk if you follow the hiking trail #33 (hiking map Krk download) and branch off to the water.

Coming from the island I paddle close to the shore and out of the bay towards the strait. On the way I notice a tiny reef consisting of flat rock formations and ground vegetation. Those who descend here should definitely have thick soles under their feet, because the small rock formations and stones in the knee-deep water can be as sharp as Japanese santoku knives.

A Venetian couple is about to get out of their kayak to photograph the area. This is the ideal moment for me to practice my Italian and to ask if they would like to take a picture of me too, so that I can at least provide proof of having been here.

Just a few paddling strokes later I can already feel the first light waves pushing into the bay from the sea and within a few minutes I'm back in the middle of the strait. Here it is advisable to paddle along the bank for as long as possible - but still stay 20 to 30 meters away from it. As soon as traffic permits, cross to the left in direction of Punat Beach and bend your knees for the last few meters to avoid being knocked out by the waves.

In the beach area there are of course a lot of bathers, but also a number of SUP rookies who are still biting their teeth on the waves. So caution and foresight are called for here. All in all, the bay of Punat offers a technically pleasant mix of light sea conditions and still waters, which is completed by a great all-round view and exotic water colors.

As a culinary finale, the Konoba Marea in Kornić or the Restaurant K'Ribaru in Punat are highly recommended.