the Krka river and waterfalls

Wow! What a spectacular place!

Looking down from part way up

The smithy and water wheel

The most beautiful waterfalls I've ever seen. Beats even Niagara and Godlelfoss in Iceland. It's not just the size, though there is an impressively large amount of water. It's the way the travertine limestone forms almost perfect horizontal dams holding back smooth deep blue pools which are fed from and in turn feed into white cascades that thunder over the dams and down to the next level. The whole thing is set in a deep gorge,  surrounded by luxuriant green forest with white and grey rocks poking out everywhere.

Boardwalk across effectively a moving lake.

The area is well preserved as a National Park with well designed paths, wooden bridges and boardwalks to help see the falls and their surroundings to the best. In the quieter bits there are fish, dragon flies, frogs and lots of other wildlife.

Said frog

Restaurant below Skradin

To get to the park, you take a free boat from Skradin - you are not permitted to take your own. Skradin itself is a heavy tourist town with a high-priced marina and a crowded, dubious (and possibly illegal) anchorage. Neither are particularly appealing. Fortunately there is a small restaurant about a mile downstream just below the new motorway bridge. It has a good pontoon (which is free if you eat) and water can be supplied on request though you need a very long hose. The food is good and reasonably priced. The young waiter will enjoy ferrying you up to Skradin and back at breakneck speed in their fast RIB for a modest fee.

First bridge

The restaurant is itself several miles up the river (technically a ria). It's a nice run against a gentle current through three gorges, across two lakes and past the large port city of Sibenik. A suspension bridge and three power cables cross the river which I knew were perfectly safe but nevertheless looked horribly close to the top of the mast. 

Storm chasing us

In the middle of the second gorge, we were hit by a sudden torrential storm which made a complete white-out. Visibility down to about 100 meters. In a busy, rock-bound, narrow channel, it was pretty scary and very cold. It was still going strong as we started to cross the lake and we soon couldn't see anything around us. Even radar was useless as it was scattered by the rain. We decided to head for the closest shelter which was a little village called Raslin on the south shore. 

That tuned out to be good decision. It's a nice little free anchorage with good holding, a supermarket and a bar but not much else. Very Croatian. Being only a couple of miles short of the Restaurant, it makes a good overnight spot to then slide up to the pontoon early to get a place and then take in the park before a nice evening meal. You have to phone as they don't open till midday.

Rob Roy

In Raslin we met Dave and Trish, an American couple on a beautiful traditional boat called Rob Roy. We struck up a friendship and ended up sharing our trip to the park and the evening meal at the Restaurant.