NATURAL WONDERS OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA, THE BLUE CAVE

TELAŠĆICA NATURE PARK Sunset in the most beautiful natural port Extraordinary natural beauty was bestowed upon Croatia in the form of Telašćica Bay, located in the southern part of the Dugi Otok island and recognizable by its indented coastline. It became a nature park in 1988. The name “Telašćica” originates from the medieval name of the bay, Tilagus, which denoted its resemblance to three connected lakes. Telašćica is surrounded by a ring of 13 islands and islets and there are 6 more islets situated right inside the bay. Nevertheless, it was not only beauty that earned Telašćica the nature park title, but also its abundance in plant and animal species, diversity of seabed life, geological characteristics and remains of past human activities. Telašćica is not only the largest, but also the most beautiful natural port in the Adriatic Sea. On the one hand, there are dozens of low-lying beaches, while on the other hand, there are the cliffs of the Dugi Otok island, which rise up as high as 161 meters above the sea. The saline lake Mir (which translates as “tranquillity”) is renowned for its healing properties and it is a special jewel of the nature park. This nature park, with its many hours of sunshine and almost 500 species of Mediterranean plants and abundant underwater flora and fauna basking in all that sun, is definitely worth visiting. Hrvoje Dečak, M.A. in Journalism, journalist and editor at a publishing house