Our first destination in August is the town of Rovinj (pronounced "Rovigne" in French, [rǒʋiːɲ] in phonetic spelling, and forget about native English speakers as there is no "nj" at the end of words in English), 40 km north of Pula by car, 17 nautical miles by boat.
Sunset in the bay of Rovinj
This is certainly one of the most beautiful places in Istria and attracts many tourists in the summer. We sailed there on the 9th of August, probably one of the worst periods due to the large influx of tourists. Let's have a look...
We slept in Marina Polesana, Belisama's home port, with another stunning sunset.
The next morning we headed north, into an area we had not yet explored.
Small fishing harbour in Uvala Zonka...
The place below used to be a lighthouse at the entrance to Pula Bay. Now it is a funny bar called Danijel's Lighthouse. It's a unique place, off the beaten track, very original.
On the way, a rocky ridge on the water's edge, populated by cormorants. You could be in the Stockholm archipelago!
We reach Rovinj in the afternoon and anchor in the bay. In such a touristic place, even anchoring in a bay without services comes with a fee. There are about 20 buoys that you can use for 3€ per metre length per night. As all the buoys were taken, we anchored close to the shore, thanks to our shallow draft. As there was no buoy free and we were anchored, we were asked to pay just €17 for the night. Unexpectedly cheap when you know that a place for Belisama in the marina 200 metres from here would cost us 204€ per night!
Rovinj bay buoy-field and anchorage
The picture below shows the Hotel Monte Mulini, along the bay. If we booked today, a night at the hotel would cost us between €675 and €979 per night. "Adult exclusive" as they say, which means "no children allowed"! And it is not the most expensive hotel around...
Monte Mulini hotel, from Belisama anchorage
The Grand Park Hotel, next to Monte Mulini, is in front of the marina. A night here these days would cost between €850 and €930.
Grand Park hotel, in front of the Rovinj ACI marina
The town is beautiful, very clean and worth a whole day's exploration. In fact, Rovinj is the second most visited place in Croatia (1.078 million in 2022), after Zagreb (1.029), far ahead of Dubrovnik (786 thousand) and Split (700). During the summer months, more than 3 million overnight stays are recorded! Overall, five of the ten most visited places in Croatia are in Istria, within 50 km from our home (Rovinj, Poreč, Umag, Pula and Opatija).
In the centre of the old town is the St Euphemia basilica. Its bell tower is a reduced replica of St Mark's Basilica in Venice. St Euphemia is a Christian virgin who was martyred in 303 AD in the arena of Chalcedon, on the oriental side of Byzantium, as Constantinople was then called. Legend has it that the Basilica was dedicated to St Euphemia because her marble sarcophagus washed ashore on the Rovinj coast after a violent storm on 13 July 800. Note that the statue of St. Euphemia at the top of the bell tower always points to the direction of the wind and acts as a weather vane!
Rovinj from Belisama going around
Bars and beach rocks everywhere in the old town
Later in the day we decided to go to the island of Sveti Andrija (Saint Andrew), the largest of the 19 islands in the Rovinj archipelago.
Belisama heading to Sveti Andrija
We found a place to anchor in 15 metres of water in a busy bay. Only three boats remain overnight!
Belisama (first on left) anchored in Sveti Andrija
The next day we went ashore to visit the island. From the top of the island you have a 360° view. We noticed a church and decided to pay it a visit. Big surprise, the church is the dining room of the luxurious Istra Hotel on the island. Our reading about the island did inform us that the church belonged to a Franciscan monastery that was abandoned in 1809 when the French took control of the island. After that, the island became a cement factory and the church tower was used as a chimney (!). In 1880 the island was bought by a wealthy Austrian industrialist, Baron Johann Georg von Hütterott, who made it his summer residence. After the Second World War, the island became a state property dedicated to tourism. The Istra Hotel was built in the seventies.
The island of Sveti Andrija is often referred to in Croatia as Cvreni Otok, or Red Island, due to the high iron content of its soil.
The picture below shows a beautiful set of crepuscular rays after sunset. They occur when the sun is below the horizon and there are clouds that scatter the sunlight, creating shadows and highlights.
Crepuscular rays on Sveti Andrija
In summary, Rovinj and its archipelago, 15 nautical miles from Pula, is clearly a place not to be missed!
Round trip from Pula to Rovinj archipelago, 35.7 nautical miles.
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