Before I left on my trip, I booked a discounted kayaking tour with Jammin’ Adventures through The Clymb. I’m so glad I did this, because the tour included trips to some national parks that would’ve been hard to get to on my own. I had spent a couple of nights in Zadar (which isn’t worth a blog post since all I did was go out and drink), and Jammin’ picked me up from there to start the weeklong adventure. Our basecamp was an apartment building on the beautiful Murter Island.
DAY 1 – Čigrađa
The tour group consisted of myself and a family of 4 from Hawaii (son & daughter in their mid-20’s are now living in New York). On the first day, our guide Pero took us around Čigrađa. It was an easy kayaking day, mostly used to determine the skill level of the group. Luckily, everyone was pretty fit. The water is amazingly clear, I just couldn’t get over it. The underwater visibility was out of control!
Day 2 – Krka National Park
We busted out some mountain bikes, and rode through the town of Šibenik to Krka National Park. In my eyes, it wasn’t as impressive as Plitvice, but at least we were allowed to swim in the water here. I panicked while I was swimming when my GoPro leashed slipped off my wrist. Luckily, I asked a nearby swimmer for help and he dove down to retrieve it! I handed it off to my guides so they could have some fun with it. We walked around the park, and then rode the bikes to a restaurant. The bike ride was not very challenging, but there were definitely some thigh-burning sections. It was a really nice day, and I even ate some mussels which I usually don’t like, but the Croatian Buzara-style was so amazing!
Day 3 – Vrgada
Back on the kayaks for a long paddle out to the island of Vrgada. We snorkeled around for a bit, and the girl in the group tortured a few sea urchins while trying to figure out how to eat them (how sad and barbaric…). Lunch was the best!! We got a huge platter of grilled octopus with potatoes – omg it was delicious!
Day 4 – Paklenica National Park
Hiked through Paklenica National Park which is known for its many climbing routes. Visited the Manita Peć cave to see stalagmites and stalactites, and then took a dip in the water to cool off. For dinner, we went to a restaurant for a tasty pig roast.
Day 5 – Kornati National Park
This was my favorite day of the tour. Kayaking by the cliffs of Kornati National Park was spectacular. We stopped by a beach with the most turquoise water I have ever seen. The only thing that would’ve made this day more perfect is if we had the grilled octopus from the other day. Absolutely amazing!
Day 6 – Šibenik
For our “free day”, our guides took us to the Saint Nicholas Fortress near Šibenik where some parts of ‘Game of Thrones’ was filmed. We went on a little bike ride and hike in Murter to watch the sunset over the islands. Afterwards, since it was the tour’s official last night, we had a group dinner with fresh fish and some homemade rakija.
Day 7 – Murter
I decided to stay an extra day to go diving with Josef, the man who took us to the Kornati Islands. He’s pretty much a legend, and has been diving for about 40 years. On the first dive, he took me down to 100 feet! I’m only certified to 60 ft, but I guess it’s okay to go deeper with an instructor. It was pretty cool (literally, the water was cold). I was supposed to follow the more seasoned divers on the second dive while Josef worked on certifying one of the other passengers, but my snorkel and regulator were malfunctioning and letting too much water in, so I had to surface after only 10 minutes. What a bummer, but I’m glad I got to dive and brush up on my skills.
I had such a fantastic week with Jammin’. The only downside was the amount of mosquito bites I accumulated over the week. I’m not sure why, but there was a cluster of bites on one of my butt cheeks. It was bad. I took a picture of it (my butt) and counted the bites – there were over 25! Ew. I also didn’t like having to wait around for the other family. They were a little inconsiderate, showing up past our agreed-upon meeting times, scrambling at the last second to sort their stuff out, and really just acting like there wasn’t another paying customer on the tour (what am I, chopped liver?). BUT I don’t regret signing up for the tour at all.
