Our trip was based on exploring inland beauty up until now, when we were just eager for vitamin sea! We took our trip further, saying goodbye to our good friends at camp Biokovo and heading to the coast! MAKARSKA RIVIERA – HERE WE COME!
As until now, our problem was finding a place to sleep over, and looking for campsites along Makarska riviera, we were surprised (and not a good surprise) with the prices. When looking for campsites along the Croatian coast keep in mind you will pay around 20€ per person a night. And although that might not be pricey for you, it was for us, since we could do alot of things with 20€ - as in go rafting! But more about that later. ;)
We drove down the highway and suddenly saw a sign that said ''canyon of river Cetina''. Andrei looked at me: ''Am I turning the car or not?''. I said yes at the last minute and we found ourselves going down a steap narrow road hidden from the traffic of a bussy highway. There were some spots along the road where we could park our car and sleep in it so we were a little less worried of where we're going to sleep for the night. We kept going and ran into a rafting centre Cetina (marked as ''CRO-ACTIVE Rafting'' on google maps). Andrei thought of asking them if there was any place in the area that we could wild-camp. Because in Croatia you can't camp anywhere outside of the official camping spots, even if you have a trailor. If you do so and get caught, expect a ticket coming your way. (Of course, we totally dislike this law.) Anyways, a waitress that works in the rafting centre told us to wait for the boss, but that she was sure he would let us camp on their land. We kept our fingers crossed and the wish came true; he let us camp right beside the centre. Talking about luck, huh? We settled in and decided to chill since it was pretty late. Tomorrows plans were in the works and we hung out with the very nice waitress, Tatjana, and their two very cuute dogs.
The next day we went to the near-by town to the bank and to get a few more groceries. We decided to repay the owner of the rafting centre by going rafting with them since we were actually looking for some kind of adventurous thing to do while on our trip, wheather rafting or canyoning or something similar. They also have really cheap prices, so if you're thinking about going rafting with them while never going rafting yourself, do it because they have really nice and funny staff and their rafting route is suitable for beginners (meaning no extreme waterfalls etc). This is what we happiliy spent our 20€ on(actually 250 hrk/30€). We returned to the rafting centre to make ourselves some lunch and chill before our rafting tour started at 2PM. This was my first time rafting and I was sooooo excited! It was a 2 and half hour rafting route and it was AMAZING! After an hour or so they take abreak so people can swimm and relax from all of the paddling. The next stop was on a 5 metre cliff that people jumped off, including us! The rafting was sooo much fun and our guide was actually a waitor that worked in a club in Zagreb beside my dorm room! We talked about many things and I chuckled at his try to speak Czech with the Czechs that were with us in our boat. The level of difficulty of this rafting route was exactly what we needed for our first time rafting; the waterfalls were mild but adrenaline was still existant.
The next day was when we decided to go to a beach we saw below the coast highway. It seemed impossible to get to it, and trust me, with my clumsiness, it was! But the climb was really worth it! We actually don't know what this beach is called but it's beautifull! We were alone there with one other guy who seemingly came by a boat. This beach is for you if you're looking for a peacefull place with the sea all to yourself and if you're not travelling with kids beacuse there is no shade. (unless you are willing to bring down a sun umbrella).
After an exhausting climb up the hill to our car, and having lunch, we had in plan to visit the famous beach in Brela, but did not have in plan to face expensive parking to get to it. Visiting Brela keep in mind the parking costs 100 hrk/15€ for the whole day. And don't think you could outsmart them by looking for a city parking because these places by the coast are so small you will find yourself passing three towns just by driving for 10 minutes. Luckily, we found a way we could outsmart them (and you could too). We drove by the sea and looked down to make sure we were just above the Brela beach. When we made sure we were, we looked for and parked on the reasting spot that you can find by the road every few meters. We thought we were gonna have to walk for a long time to get down to the beach but we found stairways that led right to the coast. What happened was that we found the beach but ended up dissapointed because the beach was right below a busy walkway and some popular hotels. I imagined it being a little bit more secluded. It was also difficult for us to find a place to put our towels so we found a little peace of sand and got straight into the water. Although it was a little bit dissapointing, the Brela rock, that can be found on most of croatian postcards, is really beautiful. It is 7 meters high and can be climbed, although it is a little bit of a challenge. It was a mission impossible for me, but Andrei climbed it and jumped off of it. With him being affraid of hights it was a huge thing to do. The water around the rock is a really pretty turquiose colour. That day we got lucky and experienced pretty big waves so I rolled out my floatie and was eager to face them head on! :D
We still had a great deal of the trip ahead of us but we were really overwhelmed by all the things we got to experience up until that point. We were thankfull every day for meeting such great people that met us halfway and let us into their hearts. If any of the staff of Cetina rafting centre are reading this, or the boss himself, we just want to thank you for the greatest hospitality and new friendships. It is amazing how much can a human experience withing just a few days of travelling. We've met people we would never meet before if we hadn't took that turn, we'd never go rafting for the first time if we hadn't took that path. Curiosity does sometimes kill the cat, but at most times it gives it life. A life full of unexpected moments.
