Kornati islands

The Kornati are a magnificent work of nature, a group of over 140 islands spread across a relatively small area of 320 km2. It is our most indented island ecosystem, the greater part of which lies within Kornati National Park.

If the creator had until then been mindful of where to place each island, here he lost his mind completely and spilled an entire sack of islands. The Kornati, together with the Šibenik and Murter archipelagos, form a unique group of islands whose sheer number per unit of area probably surpasses that of any other destination in the world.

The Kornati are a sailor’s paradise, and the feeling of sailing through this “fireworks display” of islands is one of a kind. This time our goal was Kornat itself, the largest of all the islands in the group, over 25 km long and up to 2.5 km wide. It is also home to the highest peak, Metlina (237 m). Besides conquering the highest peak, we also wanted to visit Vela ploča at its foot. Vela ploča is the largest single-piece limestone slab in the Adriatic; some 2,500 years ago it broke off and came to rest on a great slope, and ever since it has gleamed with a whiteness that sets it completely apart from the otherwise very uniform surroundings.

The trail to Metlina starts from Kravjačica cove (43.8270206678523, 15.274027218400985). Sailing into this cove with the engine switched off is a special experience, because during the morning calm an incredible silence and serenity reign here. In the little harbour there are a few houses inhabited seasonally. Here the sea is “clearer than the wind,” so you feel as if you were silently floating on air.

As sometimes happens, no matter how carefully you plan, slip-ups occur. This time I had forgotten to download the map locally onto the device, assuming there would be internet available. The internet, however, was nowhere to be found, so we set off eastward from memory in the hope of finding the start of the trail. When we came out onto the rise behind the last houses, Metlina was in our field of view, but the beaten paths we came across were not marked and after a while they vanished into the karst. Without a map, over such rough terrain, we were not prepared to improvise.

The sun was rising quickly, bringing the summer heat with it, so we had to decide fast what to do next. We agreed to climb the nearest peak, which was directly above us. This was Veli vrh (225 m), 12 m lower. For part of the way we followed the beaten path, and then we had to leave it, as it began to veer away, and headed straight for the summit, here and there coming upon paths trodden by sheep. For most of the way we followed a drystone wall, which was a good marker for the return.

It took us about 45 minutes to the summit, from which a spectacular view opens up in every direction. Although Metlina blocked our view to the southeast, where most of the islands were hidden, the countless islands scattered across the blue of the sea in all the other directions of the world were reward enough for the climb. A landscape straight out of a fairy tale…

The descent was literally at a run. We could hardly wait to throw ourselves into the perfectly clear sea and wash off that heat 🙂
Metlina awaits us some winter.