Ždrijac Beach

Why it is worth your time

The Ždrijac is the sandy spit that closes Nin's lagoon: a kilometre-long bar between the open sea and the calm inner water, with beach on both sides, so the side is chosen by wind and wish. The outer side faces the Velebit channel and receives waves in the bura, the inner one is a lagoon smooth as a lake; the inside belongs to children, the outside to board riders, for thanks to its constant winds the Ždrijac is the favourite kite and surf gathering place of northern Dalmatia. The sand is the same everywhere, fine and clean, the sea entry endlessly gentle, and the view reaches from Zaton to the Velebit summits.

The facilities are summery and basic, the odd café, gear hire, a shower; there is no shade, so the rules of sandy expanses hold: parasol, water, hat. The Ždrijac is reached on foot from town over the bridge and along the lagoon in twenty minutes, by car to the car park at the entrance. Loveliest are the early hour, when fish leap across the smooth lagoon, and early evening, when kites fill the sky with colour. One bar, two seas, all the winds: the Ždrijac is the most dynamic beach of the Nin region.