Istria often gets a bad rap for being the site of Croatia’s most boring, concreted beaches. In fact there are plenty of pebbly coves and exhilarating coastal rock-scapes if you know where to look.

The knobbly, indented peninsula known as Kamenjak, Istria’s southernmost point, features a string of breathtaking beaches within a few kilometres of each other.

Now an environmental protection area, the starkly beautiful peninsula is covered in grass, wild herbs, maquis and forest, and represents the Istrian coast at its most wild and unspoilt.

Each of its beaches has a character of its own: Plovanje, on the western side of the peninsula, features a sleek curve of shingle; while Radovica, further south, features dramatically shelving slabs of rock. Mali Portić on the cape’s eastern side boasts a small strip of luxurious sand, while the gnarled rock formations at Kamenjak’s southernmost tip provide the perfect springboards for cliff jumpers.

Tourist development has been kept to a bare minimum, and although there is a handful of places providing refreshments, this is the perfect place to get away from the holiday industry and enjoy the Croatian coast in its natural state.

Practical Info

By car: The cape is reached via a minor road south of Pula. Cars have to pay to enter the final part of the peninsula; bicycles and pedestrians can enter free.