Camp Bunica, Near Senj

We’d had an early start  on this our second whole day in Croatia, and we were getting tired after researching so many campsites. That and the rather steep and narrow access road meant that we didn’'t feel like going all the way down to inspect Camp Bunica up close. Of course Murphy’s law means that this is the only campsite of the day that does not seem to have its own website, or much information at all on the web so I’m afraid we can’t tell you about the prices.

We did, however, take some photos from the top of the access road which suggests a small, family owned campsite, right next to a splendid beach and a little bar/ restaurant, as well as some rooms to let too, We also took a GPS reading from the top of the access road: 45°01.475’ N 14°53.114 E

I  found a few reviews but all in a foreign language. The gist of those I could understand was that it was perhaps a little on the expensive side but very peaceful, with friendly owners, and a lovely place to swim and relax.. Obviously you’ll need your car or motorhome to get to shops, or into town (Senj,) as there’s nothing within an easy walk..

The photo below shows the beach and campsite right next door.

This next photo shows the top of the access road.

The contact details, from my Croatian National Tourist Board free Camping Guide, where its listed under Mini Campsites, are:

Address: Bunica V, Bunica b.b. Senj, HR 53270.

Tel: +385 ( 0 ) 53 616 718

Email: atomljanovic@yahoo.com

My experience is that if an organisation does not have a website, and sometimes even if it does, your chances of getting a response to an enquiry in English by email is pretty slim. However, just in case I am doing Camp Bunica a disservice, I have emailed to ask for a price list and will add a comment to this posting if I get anything back.

Next stop Senj and what a find that was – we liked it so much its the main photo for this blog.

Camping Sibinj

Day seven of our trip (but only our second whole day in Croatia) has turned into a campsite visiting one! One of the joys of this trip was that no two days were the same – sometimes we had a big town to revisit that took all day, sometimes a handful of little settlements, each of which we could walk around in twenty minutes., occasionally not a campsite or anything else of interest for quite a few miles so we could just drive and admire the views, and, on a day like today, a campsite around almost every corner.

Our next campsite, Camping Sibinj, was a real treat, not least because there was a tiny little church in the middle of it. I thought that made it pretty unique but I do seem to recall another one towards the end of the trip – we shall see.

As you can see from the main picture, the campsite is quite close to the main road. That means access is pretty easy but of course the downside is that you will probably hear the lorries rumble past, wherever you are. It’s not a huge campsite but it has all the basic facilities – again the toilet block looked a little “rustic” from the outside but was clean and reasonably modern inside. For electricity, there are both Croatian and standard European sockets.

The campsite also has a shop, free WiFi, a bus service to Senj and its own restaurant, with a no dogs sign fairly prominent, (though they are otherwise allowed on the campsite but perhaps not on the beach when it’s full of people). There is another restaurant directly opposite on the other side of the road.

As you can see from the photo of the campsite restaurant below, this campsite is like all the others so far - still working hard to get everything ready for the summer, though I’m sure they would have taken my money if I’d wanted to stay!

The beach looks great and is quite long with white pebbles that look as if they may have been brought in.

And if you want to meet any sailing friends for lunch, there are a couple of concrete mooring blocks on land with some buoys out to sea. Depths around four metres we were told.

There seems to be one price for the whole season (May to August) rather than the usual higher price for July and August: per day, a motorhome less than 5 metres costs 48 Kn; over 5 metres 58 Kn. Add to that 28 Kn for an adult or 14 Kn for a child between 5 & 12; under fives presumably free, electricity 32 Kn, dog 20 Kn, taxes 2 to 6 KN per day depending on age and season. I would have paid 143 Kn including dog and electricity which, again, is just above my average. For more information (but not prices) and some photos of the campsite in full swing, go to Apartmani Sibinj As the website name suggests, the owners (very helpful and friendly even while they were busy with all their maintenance jobs!) also have apartments to rent and we saw some new mobile homes in the campsite – see picture below -  so no doubt they’ll be for hire too.

Of the three campsites I’ve seen so far today I would say this would be best as an overnight stop, mainly in terms of access and not being as huge as the others which are more focused on longer stays, but we’ve a couple more to come on day seven, including one of my very favourites of the whole trip.

Camp Kozica

Those that read our previous posting on nearby Camp Klenovica will know that Camp Kozica is part of the same organisation – Luje. It’s a similar type of campsite too – covering a large area with its own stretch of beach and intended to be a kind of self contained holiday village with all the essential facilities on site. Again, it’s clear from the long grass and closed supermarket that Camp Kozica is not quite ready for the start of the season but that was a similar story throughout the early weeks of our trip (May and early June).

The access road is good and, though the facilities look a little tatty from the outside, the washrooms and toilets were modern and clean.

Prices are the same as Camp Klenovica so I’ve repeated the information below:

“a pitch costs from 70 to 96 Kn, one adult from 31 to 46 Kn, registration, insurance and taxes 11 to 14 Kn, a dog 13 to 21 Kn and electricity a flat 30 Kn. If I’d stayed there in May it would have cost me 159 Kn in total including the dog and electricity – on the slightly high side of the average I paid throughout the trip, particularly with some of the facilities not yet open.  “Pitch” is a bit of a misnomer as the camping area is not divided up and you just select a spot. This is quite common in Croatia and has its advantages and disadvantages!”

There’s a slip for launching small boats and though some of the electricity supply units looked a little in need of attention I’m sure that’s something that will be on the list of “pre-season” work.

For more information and pictures link to Camp Kozica Website

Camp Klenovica

We found the steep narrow road that takes you to Camp Klenovica as we were driving back up to the coast road from the centre of Klenovica. It takes you past reception and check in (main picture) and you then drive down to the campsite itself which covers about 30 acres and has a long pebble beach pretty well all to itself. It’s close to the islet of Sv Anton., south of the centre., and you can walk into town via the gate that’s obscured by the large tree on the right in the photo below.

We were there in early May and the season hadn’t started properly so it wasn’t really open (Open May to October according to the website). However a very nice lady allowed us to wander round and I’m sure we could have stayed if we’d wanted to. The toilets and washing facilities looked fine ….

….. and there;’s a supermarket and two restaurants – fish restaurant and self service buffet.

There’s also a little outdoor pool complex which was added in 2014 and was about to get its spring cl;ean and fill up for the summer season.

.As with most places, prices depend on the season with a pitch costing from 70 to 96 Kn, one adult from 31 to 46 Kn, registration, insurance and taxes 11 to 14 Kn, a dog 13 to 21 Kn and electricity a flat 30 Kn. If I’d stayed there in May it would have cost me 159 Kn in total including the dog and electricity – on the slightly high side of the average I paid throughout the trip, particularly with some of the facilities not yet open.  “Pitch” is a bit of a misnomer as the camping area is not divided up and you just select a spot. This is quite common in Croatia and has its advantages and disadvantages!

If you don’t have a caravan or motorhome with you then fully furnished mobile homes are also available, about 150 metres from the sea. Fully air-conditioned, each one is 24 square metres with two bedrooms sleeping up to 5, kitchen with dining room, bathroom, terrace with table, chairs and awning/shade, and a parking space. Basic prices are between €45 and €120 per day (again, depending on the season) excluding cots, pets, cleaning, bedding, taxes etc.

Klenovica itself seems like a pleasant, old fashioned, type of tourist village and you can read more about it on sister sites:

Croatia Online – Klenovica

Croatia Cruising Companion - Klenovica Harbour

The campsite is part of the Luje group which also owns nearby Kamp Kozica, which we also visited and will report on soon, as well as a hotel, villas and restaurant.

The group website Luje.hr is in Croatian only but there’s a separate website for Camp Klenovic.a. Camp-klenovica.com

Selce And The Crikvenica Riviera

Every settlement on the Croatian coast seems to be part of a “Riviera” these days and Selce is no exception, being part of the Crikvenica Riviera. When we wrote about nearby Crikvenica itself, on sister site Croatia Online (Croatia Road Trip Day 6 - Crikvenica) , we referred to a bygone era and indeed the area seems to have had its heyday as a spa retreat in the early 20th century. When we visited Selce in early May it gave the impression of a slightly sleepy but very endearing small town with everything needed in terms of basic facilities. It also has two campsites:

Autokamp Selce is part of the huge Jadran Hotels and Campsite Resort. We didn’t visit it and the website http://www.jadran-crikvenica.hr/autokamp-selce seems to be mostly in Croatian only so we’ve had to hunt around for corroborated facts. Its own website suggests it’s a 3-star site but others give 2 stars. Like most coastal campsites of the resort variety, it’s pretty huge and has a sizeable stretch of beach to itself. Dogs are allowed and facilities like shops, restaurants, bakery and mini golf aim to provide everything you will need while you’re there. This link will take you to the price list which does have English translations - http://cms.jadran-crikvenica.hr/uploads/2/9389a5cb91-kamp-selce-hr.pdf - and if you can work your way around of the rest of the website, you’ll recognise the style of site as of the holiday camp variety and likely to be pretty packed with families in the high summer.

Uvala Slana is about half the size of Autokamp Selce but of a similar style and also part of a hotel group which has not yet invested in full translations on its website. This link will take you to the price list in kunas http://www.club-adriatic.hr/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/6.-INDIVIDUALCI-PARCELE-KAMP-UVALA-SLANA-2016-KN.pdf and this one http://www.club-adriatic.hr/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/6.-INDIVIDUALCI-PARCELE-KAMP-UVALA-SLANA-2016-EUR.pdf to the price list in Euros. It has similar facilities to its neighbour (details on the pricelists) and both also offer holiday homes if you want the camping lifestyle but don’t want to tow or drive your accommodation with you..

Be warned that in this more traditional resort area of Croatia, you’re unlikely to find any of the newer breed of mini camps.

Camping Oštro, Kraljevica

After an eventful day (see Croatia Online - Trip Day 5), with our third disaster yet to come, we found Camping Oštro just after 6 pm. It’s of the “holiday camp” variety of campsite but was pretty deserted when we were there in early May and was not quite ready for the holiday season. This was to set the scene for things to come and came as no surprise – despite tourist board campaigns like Croatia 365, which aim to promote Croatia as an all year round destination, many campsites along the coast (and hotels, restaurants, cafés, etc) are struggling to break the habits of a lifetime. The “just in time policy” of getting venues ready for the historically short summer season of July and August continues and the “natural” sounds of May and June in Croatia feature the clattering of hammers on nails and timber, as well as the sound of birds tweeting!

It wasn’t a problem for me, here, that just a few of the leisure facilities weren’t ready, but it did become rather annoying, as the trip progressed. The degree of “unreadiness” could sometimes be quite major, and very few of the campsites were up front in telling you when you arrived, let alone offering a reduction in prices. One notable exception to this was Camping Split who were probably amongst the “readiest” of all the campsites in the pre season and yet had the decency to offer a small discount on checkout because some of the  peripheral “extras” weren’t quite ready.

However all the essentials were there, we had a great pitch, a lovely sandy beach nearly all to ourselves and a beautiful sunset.  The whole site was renovated in 2010/2011 and the facilities were modern and clean.

The view was interesting too – across the bay is the Rijeka oil refinery which, as these kind of installations go, is weirdly attractive..

The pitch itself, one of about 200, backed onto the beach, though there was a chicken mesh fence directly behind which was quite useful. A few strides away were some steps down,.

Price wise, it was higher than average. I paid a total of 162 kunas – pitch 103, 1 adult 35, insurance 1, city tax 4, registration 7, dog 12). I did stay in the best area – Zone A – and, all in all | think it was good value for money, even without all the high season activities. Like everywhere else, prices change, in phases, according to the season.

My grilled chicken and vegetables (simple but delicious) was 60 Kn and I washed it down with a glass of house red wine at 18 Kn.

The campsite is dog friendly though they’re not really supposed to go on the beach. Generally, if you have a well behaved dog, you and those around you will use their discretion – I just make sure there’s no one around who might get upset and NEVER leave a mess or allow the dog to approach anyone! Some people of course can’t resist his charms and ask to say hello which he loves.

As far as location goes (circled below) it’s designed to be a holiday destination in its own right and not, so much, a transit camp. It’s some way from the motorway but close to the main coast road and not much of a detour if you’re on your way to Krk island. It has the relatively remote Ostro headland pretty well all to itself and so it needs to be fairly well contained in terms of food, drink and entertainment.

For more information go to:

Camping Ostro Website

Croatia Camping Union – Ostro

Croatian Tourist Board Info - Kraljevica

And for those of you who want to enjoy the camping lifestyle in a little more luxury and/or don’t have a caravan or motorhome with you, there are twenty two-bedroom holiday homes available..

Glamping In Croatia

The nearest we got to glamping in Croatia was visiting a friend’s yurt near Šibenik. That’s not to say we didn’t camp in style, albeit on a tight budget, but glamping has not really arrived in Croatia…..until now!!

Croatia Week reports on Croatia’s very first glamping dome available to rent on the otherwise uninhabited island of  Mišjak Mali, in the group of low lying islands also near Šibenik..

Read all about it on Croatia Week - Luxury Camping Dome or go straight to the island’s website - Otok Misjak