Pag vs Rabac

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First of all a quick aside: my camera broke in Slovenia so none of the usual arty photography attempts for the next two blogs. I have to thank Dawn and Sara for these pictures.

Right, I first heard about Pag Island a few years ago. A party island that not too many people know about, especially not in the UK, sounded very appealing. I expected it would be a bit like Ios, the Greek party island, that again very few Brits have heard of seeing as no package tour operators go there.

It isn’t like Ios. There aren’t the packed little bars and cobbled squares full of dancing backpackers. And the guidebook writers that make comparisons between Pag and Ibiza have obviously never been to Ibiza.

To be brutally honest, Pag is crap. Well that’s not entirely accurate. The whole island has a stark beauty about it and Pag Town, though we didn’t go, is supposed to be very nice. But most people come to Pag to go to the “legendary” Zrce beach. This is where it all happens. Unfortunately what happens isn’t that great.

If you like commercial pop and dance music from a couple of years ago you may well love it. If you can’t get enough of Bob Sinclar “World hold on”, then come straight to Pag because I guarantee you’ll hear it six times a night. Followers of fashion should stay well away, you’ll really stick out. And lads, if you come here with a girlfriend then look out for her. Its about 60:40 males to females, so once the few single girls have been snapped up then the big angry brutes will be after your bird. I was here with three girls who can certainly all handle themselves without my assistance and it was funny watching them swat away bloke after bloke. The blokes also tried to swat me away thinking I was muscling in on their prey:
(Pointing to Dawn) “You are her boyfriend?”
“No”
(Pointing to Alice) “So you are her boyfriend?”
“No”
(Pointing to Sara) “So you must be her boyfriend?”
“No. They are my friends.”
“You are a gay?”
“No”
“Do you have sex with them?”
“No”
“I do not understand.”

Because Pag wasn’t to our tastes, we decided to head north to Rabac Festival. What a good idea that was.

Sitting halfway down the east side of the Istrian Peninsular is Girandella beach. It’s actually more of a series of rocky coves with incredibly inviting water. The sea is so cool and crystal clear that you feel comfortable swimming really far out without getting paranoid of what’s lurking below. You know that there is nothing lurking below because you would be able to see it.

Every year on Girandella beach is the Rabac Summer Festival. The Friday and Sunday night parties actually take place somewhere inland but the big night is Saturday and that’s beside the sea. It has been written, most recently by The Observer, that this is one of the top ten beach parties in the world. Fortunately not many people read The Observer so you can still get a ticket on the door.

You can’t really compare this festival to EXIT which we went to the other week in Serbia. EXIT has about 20 stages, Rabac has two. EXIT has about 180000 people, Rabac has 15000. EXIT had loads of Brits, Rabac had five; the four of us and Dave Clarke. If you don’t know who Dave Clarke is shame on you but I’ll tell you anyway. Probably one of the best DJ’s there has ever been. He doesn’t just put records on he uses the decks and mixer like instruments creating new music as he goes. I realise I’m starting to sound like an arse so I’ll move on.

The only other big name was Sander Kleinerberg who played on the house stage, the second stage being techno. For a dance floor there was a swimming pool covered with boards and for chilling out there was the beach. Great location, great music, really nice crowd, I highly recommend it.

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Photos

Rabac Festival
You can kind of get the idea. Imagine the sea is just to the right.

Alice, Me, Dawn and Sara
I think this was the day before Rabac Festival. See how excited we are.

Kornati Islands
The islands are gorgeous but you spend too long just getting there. I would recommend having your own yacht.

Sibenik
This is a great little town that we stumbled on by accident. Hardly any tourists and beautiful old buildings.

Zrce Beach
Sara, Dawn and Alice demonstrate the enormous cocktail pitchers that you must drink rapidly through long straws in order to have a good time here.

Krka National Park
Given the July temperature in Croatia, this place is as refreshing as it looks.

Hvar Town
This place is definitely my favourite in Croatia this year. The scenery is comparable to my favourite two islands last year, Korcula and Mljet, but Hvar Town has a bit more going on.