Croatia - Zaton Holiday Resort

gaz wac

Hey

Going to Croatia at the end of June for two weeks and staying at Zaton Holiday Resort, just wondering if anyone has been and if you have any tips you would like to share? https://www.zaton.hr/en/

Looking at renting a car while we are there for the transfers and a bit of exploring. Staying in one of the "comfort" mobiles for 6 people, but only the 4 of us.

Cheers

mx5ire

Hey,

We stayed there for two weeks last July, and found it to be a super camp site. Easily as good as ones we have used in Italy, and not as many Irish/English either. We stayed in the standard 3 bed 1 bathroom type mobiles, and did order A/c in advance, its much needed and not standard. The camp itself is very large, and while some folks complain about this, we didnt find it an issue, even though we were well up the camp away from the main gate, which is not a bad thing noise wise. A walk is also good just to keep the exercise levels up!

Depending on where you are flying to - a car is recommended alright, i never rely on local taxis etc. We flew in and out of Dubrovnik, which is a good 4 hour drive, but stayed there for a few days at each end of the trip so didnt mind the drive. And some of the coastal drive is just incredible. Of course Ryanscare go in and out of Zadar, which is close.

In terms of food, the campsite has a number of restaurants, all clustered close to the beach area in a little village arrangement, which are normal campsite standard, but avoid the buffet one, i thought it was horrid. However, unless you are totally adverse to a walk, i would suggest that you walk into the local village of Nin. The best way to do this is to drive (or walk) through the camp to the back gate of the campside, park there (as cars are no permitted in and out of it) and walk 5-10 mins into the village. Its a beautiful little village, accessed on foot by a walking only bridge, and has loads of really nice little restaurants that are all better and cheaper than what is in the campsite. In fact, if you are well away from the main camp entrance, it may even be a shorter walk into Nin from the back gate than it is to the campsite restaurants.

Shopping is best done at the local Plodine supermarket in Nin, (2 mins walk from the campsite back gate), its big and has everything, and is a lot cheaper than onsite supermarket, which is ok for water, bread etc, but too dear otherwise.

Pools are very nice, a new complex opened last year with a lovely raised deck, 3 or 4 different ones, overlooking the man-made beach area, though getting loungers can be tricky, and you do have to pay a small fee each day to the attendants that roam around. Get a card for the loungers and they click it each day and you pay at checkout on your last day. We never sat on the beach, its a bit meh, and you dont really need to as the pool areas are much nicer. They do have rental paddle boats with slides, which are great fun, and other payable watersports. There is also a huge inflatable wibbit off the beach, basically a floating bouncy castle thing with a selection of slides etc etc. Book it for the duration of the stay, kids loved it.

As camps go this is one of the best we have used, spread out so you do walk a lot, but thats not a bad thing. The onsite shops are ok, ice creams, bakery etc, and just generally a nice experience - as campsites go...

In terms of sightseeing, Zadar itself is well worth a look for a half day, and a bit further away is Split. Also well worth the trip is KrKa national park, if for nothing else to swim in the lake at the foot of the waterfall. Go google it, its spectacular. I think it was a 1.5 hour drive away. Plitvice park is potentially more spectacular but you cannot swim there, so kids will moan about walking. Krka knocks that on the head....

Hope this helps.

gaz wac

Thanks for the reply MX Really appreciate that post, loads for me to work on!. We stayed in Bella Italia last year, so the size sounds the same and we have no problem walking to the local village for better restaurants. Ill make sure to check the A/C as couldn't live without it!

We are flying into Zadar, so about 40 mins drive, I don't plan on doing a lot of driving but from your suggestion of Krka ( wow:eek:) and the coasts drives, I guess ill be doing more that I think.

How did you pay for the week for the water castle, it is like a wristband? I read its about €35 a day for a sunbed, it that true? €35 x 2 by 13 days could get very expensive! also, is it safe enough for the kids to play around the mobile with a ball or whatever, it is grass or sand?

thanks again
Wac

mx5ire

Not a problem, glad i can share some of our learnings...

The Krka park is worth the trip, just figure out the best location to drive to, you can park far away and get shuttle bus, or closer and walk, or drive to another area and pay for the boat up part of the lake. We drove up over a big hill area to another entrance that was a few miles past the first set of car parks that we met, (cannot remember the name ) and were able to park quite close and get a short shuttle bus in to a drop off area, then you walk. But the walk is lovely. Go early, its gets busy.

Zadar is an easy drive, most of it is single lane road, but its ok.

The water castle thingy was a wristband i think, but it could have been a stamp on the hand too. But i think it was a band. If there are a few kids, haggle on the price. There is definitely movement to be made.....

Sunbeds were definitely not that price - its was single digits without doubt. I wouldn't pay for them otherwise - you could buy one in the local supermarket for 35eur per day !! And also, depending on when the guys came around to stamp your card, you might be in the pool, sea, whatever, so they might miss you. And if the other half was doing something similar, you might get away with only one stamp. You will understand the operation once you get there....I think we paid (for two) well less than 100 euro for the 2 weeks that we were there. If you look at some of the pictures on the websites, you will see that there is a glass partition around the front of the pool deck. Try to get loungers down there, aside from the nice view, its means that you get see the kids in the water in front, on the beach etc, and also in the pool behind. And it shades from the breeze too.

Kids playing around the mobiles was fine, where we were it was grass outside the units with gravel roads between them, and the main up/down roadway through the camp was tarmac. Lots of people had kids playing there in the evenings, the only issue was watching out for cars, which were all going slowly anyway. Up and down the main tarmac road was a little messy, and pedestrians co-exist with cars, vans etc, so kids running out from sideroads was always a risk when driving.

Also there are a number of crazy golf options there, trampolines etc, mostly pay for types, but something else to do, though they got huge mileage out of the water castle thingy...

As i said - drive or walk to the back gate, park the car, and walk down to Nin. Lovely little village and some really nice restaurants.

mx5ire

Ok - just looked up the reference for Krka. Its a big park with many entrances, and while getting the boat up the lake (like a taxi) is nice, its not really required. The waterfall is called Skradinski Buk. Google Maps will give you a few different locations to drive to, but we found the best option was to head a small town called Lozovac. There is an entrance there where you park and get the shuttle bus for a few mins down hill to the walking entrance. You can get it back up too, but you can walk up the hillside too, which takes about 20 mins and you will lose a few pounds as its very steep !!

Try this link...https://goo.gl/maps/M2TvoXFaAhJeqY3o9

gaz wac

great, thanks. there seems to be a driving route straight along the coast that ends at Lozovac that will take about 1.30 hrs, so that looks perfect. Kids were amazed when they saw the pix! Glad I was wrong about the sunbeds! The layout seems the same as Bella Itialia with the small roads between mobiles so that's ok, they are 8 & 7, so safe enough. Checked out a few of the restaurants in Nin, so all good there and the amenities look great in the complex, so really looking forward to it

Thanks again for the information
Cheers

mx5ire

Last word (or two) on directions - rather than travel on the coast road - use the E65 motorway/Autoroute, its quicker by about 20 mins to the Lozovac area. And it also means that you dont travel on the single lane road from the camp to Zadar town, which can be very slow at times. So 1.5 hours could elongate by another 20 mins. Basically you come out of the camp and go almost to Nin (opposite direction to Zadar) and the 6011 road, which then meets the E65 about 25 km's further on.

I also seem to recall that we came off the E65 earlier than we should have as we had Skradin in the sat nav rather than Lozovac, so we ended up driving past the area that you get the boat up the lake (Skradin), and up high over the some of the mountain to get to Lozovac. The view was great but it would have been quicker to get to the park entrance if we stayed longer on the E65. On the way back we went straight to the E65 and flew back to the campsite. Speed limits on the motorways seem to be a target rather than a limit !

Small gravel roads and mobiles sums the camp up, and we found it safe, though we are always wary about letting the kids wander off on their own around the camp simply as there are so many people there, but that applies to every camp !

gaz wac

ok, I was just thinking the coast for the views and stopping off for a swim or whatever. Ill add your route to my sat nav. Just pricing the car and the cost doubles for an automatic, looks like im going to have to slum it for a couple of week . Last question, what is it like in the mornings trying to get a bed, any mad rush with people throwing towels down? You will have me up at 5am trying to get the ones near the glass partition ha ha;)

mx5ire

To be honest we didn't drive the coastal section from Zadar down to Sibenik, (the main town near Lozovac - and apparently well worth a visit too), so i cannot comment directly, but friends did and they said it was a nice drive but not spectacular, and single lane mostly so potentially very slow. Yes you can stop but as the Krka park is not that far from Zaton, i would be more inclined to just drive there on the motorway ( i seem to recall some small tolls) and get there early to get in the lake before it gets too busy. And it will be busy. Not sure what time it opens, thats a job for Mr Google.

The section of road that i meant to refer to was the first 100 odd Km's going north out of Dubrovnik, where you just keep catching your breath every few miles at the incredible views. If you decide to visit Dubrovnik, note that you will have to transit briefly through Bosnia, about 25 km's of it, with a customs post at each end. They are building a long bridge to bypass this section but not sure when it opens. Tell the car hire company that you are doing this, they seem to insist on a permit to do this. And most Car hire excess policies bought in Ireland for Europe use do not include Bosnia....Dubrovnik is worth the trip, no question.

We used Avis, but i had a work corporate price, but friends used the Firefly option, (the cheap Hertz brand) and all were fine, very good value and nice cars. But that was from Dubrovnik airport, no idea what Zadar is like. Just suck up the manual car, you wont have to change gear much on the motorways anyway.

In relation to sunbeds, 4.30 am should be fine....No, in reality, we didnt have any issues, and were never down really early either. You might have to wander around and pick up the odd straggler here and there to make a set, but generally there was space. I think lots of folk just don't like to pay for them. We got a little inventive to avoid bed charges sometimes, e.g if any of the kids were using one for a rest from the running around, when we saw the pool guys coming around to stamp our cards, we would clear all contents off the kids loungers until they were gone. Bit cheapskate on our part, but the camps are not that cheap to begin with...i.e. i think beds should be free.

staples7

Bump on this thread, have come across this resort.

Any further review feedback, 3 young kids.

mno101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/110052981#Comment_110052981

hi,

not relevant to this thread...but i am interested on what you though of Bella Italia.

we are family of 4 (kids 17 and 14)...looking for recommendation in Italy.

thks

mno101

Unknownability

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121588210#Comment_121588210

We were there last year and it was perfect for what we needed with two under 5.

Rented a car from Zadar airport and drove and then did some day trips.

We were there in May which meant the weather wasn't great all the time and the resort was quite quiet.

staples7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121615879#Comment_121615879

Thanks a mill sounds great, only Delima left is what accomdation on site. Keep hearing that the mobile homes are that bit too far from the main pools etc. so I think it’s worth spending a few hundred extra on the superior or comfort apartments. Any feedback on that.

also how did you find prices in resort and in Nin?

Unknownability

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121616157#Comment_121616157

We stayed in the mobile homes, I didn't realise the size of the complex when booking or know that that they had apartments.

We were right next to the supermarket which is a 10-12 minute walk with kids, if I was doing it again with small kids who had no bikes or scooters I'd probably book the apartments.

Nothing stands out to me looking back on it as being expensive, the supermarket was definitely reasonable but as we'd a car we just did a big shop on the way from the airport. Nin is really tiny, it isn't somewhere you'd spend more than an hour with kids. We drove to zadar a couple of times and ate at restaurants along the main road.