Short notes from the water — sea conditions, wildlife sightings and what a day out looks like right now.
Inside the sea cave at Plavnik
Plavnik is the long grey island you can see from Krk on a clear morning. Guests book us for the swimming. The cave is the part they talk about on the way home.
From the outside it is easy to miss — a dark notch at the foot of the cliff, no sign, no queue. We go in slow and quiet.
Inside, the water lights up from below. That is the whole trick of the place: the sun hits the pale pebble bottom and comes back up through several metres of sea, so the walls are lit from underneath instead of from above. Everything turns green. Photographs get about half of it.
We only go in when the sea allows it. A small swell at the mouth is enough to make it a bad idea, so it is a call we make that morning rather than a promise we make in advance. When the cave is shut we swim on the sheltered side instead. Same water, different walls.
Bring a mask. The floor is worth a look.
On dolphins, honestly
No question comes up more often, so here is the straight answer.
There is a resident group of bottlenose dolphins in the Kvarner. They are wild, and they keep their own timetable. Some weeks we see them on most trips. Some weeks a fortnight goes by without a fin. We do not sell dolphin watching, and we will not tell you we can find them, because nobody can.
What we do instead: we watch the water the whole way out, we have a rough idea where they have been feeding lately, and if we do find them we cut the engine and let them pick the distance. No chasing, no circling. That is the law here, and it is also simply how you get the better look — a boat that stops is far more interesting to a dolphin than a boat that follows.
A guest last season left us five stars and wrote, more or less, that they went looking for dolphins and did not see a single one. He is right. He went home with a stuffed one from us instead, and still called it worth every penny.
The sea owes nobody a show. The day is good anyway.
What's actually on the boat
Nothing on this list is an extra. It is all in the €480 and the €680, and it is worth knowing so you do not overpack.
Shade. There is a canopy over the aft deck, which matters more in August than people expect, and cushioned seating under it. Enough dry storage that nobody spends the day sitting on their own bag.
A paddleboard. It comes off the boat at the swim stops. Most people try it once to be polite and then keep it for half an hour.
Masks and snorkels, and floats for anyone who would rather not tread water. Travelling with small children — tell us when you book and we will sort out sizes.
A ladder off the stern, so getting back aboard is not an event.
And somewhere on the way home there is rakija. The family makes it. You are not obliged to drink it, but you will be offered it.
What to bring: a towel, sunscreen, a hat, and a layer for the run home if we are out late. We have the rest.
Tell us the date. The captain replies on WhatsApp.
No card details up front. Pay in cash or by transfer on the day.
