The Kornati Islands

The Kornati are an archipelago of around a hundred and forty islands, islets and reefs packed into a small stretch of the Adriatic, and their defining quality is emptiness. There is almost no soil, no surface fresh water and no permanent population; what there is is bare pale limestone, dry-stone walls climbing improbable slopes, a scattering of stone cottages used seasonally by sheep farmers from Murter, and water of an unlikely clarity. On the outer, seaward side the islands drop away in cliffs called the crowns, some falling more than eighty metres straight into the sea. George Bernard Shaw is widely quoted as having written that on the last day of Creation God wished to crown his work and made the Kornati out of tears, stars and breath, a line repeated on every boat trip and worth taking in the spirit it is offered.

What you actually see

• The crowns - the sheer seaward cliffs on the outer islands, best seen from the water.
• Telašćica bay - the deep neighbouring inlet on Dugi Otok with a salt lake above the sea cliffs.
• Stone cottages and dry-stone walls - the seasonal shepherds' architecture on otherwise bare islands.
• Swimming stops - the clear sheltered coves that every boat trip builds its day around.

When to go

May to September, when boats run daily. Early summer has the clearest water and fewest boats; August is busy and hot with no shade anywhere on the islands. Strong bura wind can cancel trips at any time of year.

Honest expectations

There is no scheduled ferry and no way to visit independently without your own or a chartered boat, so almost everyone comes on an organised day trip that decides the itinerary. There is essentially no shade, no shops and no fresh water on the islands, so bring everything. Anyone expecting green Mediterranean islands will find the starkness surprising.

Nearby

Murter and Šibenik are the mainland gateways; Telašćica nature park adjoins the archipelago to the north.