River Cetina - more information
This
is a very productive region where you can find many small
towns and villages, grasslands and green meadows full
of flowers, grass and life. During moist springs there
are many colorful flowers in the meadows and bees in
the air. The Cetina River itself is teaming with life,
supplying drinking water to much of Dalmatia.
The unusual Climate - sub-Mediterranean
climate, in this region is a result of its position between
the seaside and mountains. The differing climatic influences
are visible in the vegetation of the region. The average
temperature in January is about 4 °C and in July
the average temperature is above 23 °C.
The
Cetina’s formation and intricate underground connections
are miraculous! Its length is 105 kilometers and its
flow is lower 385 meters when it comes to the Adriatic
Sea from its source. The source of the Cetina River is
situated in a small village (called Cetina) 7 kilometers
away from the town of Vrlika. Gospodarska pecina (Noble
Cave) is situated 100 meters above the source. This cave
has important historical significance as it has been
used as shelter for many people throughout history. During
the wars with Turkey local soldiers (hajduk) Socivica
hide there. The Cave is deep but only a small section
of it has been explored. At the end of the 18th century,
Ivan Lovrenovic discovered and described it. He claims
that accompanied by a couple of "Morlaks”, after
initially having trouble entering the cave they came
to a spacious hall ornamented with stalactites and stalagmites.
While listening carefully, he recognized the sound of
underground waters. Following the sound he came to a
place he describes as a "royal underground river".
On
Garjacka kosa, above the river, there are several vineyards.
You can find grapes there that are different to all others.
They make wine that is sweet and easy to drink. In the
beginning of last century, Emperor Franz Joseph (Franjo
Josip) came to Krajina, to drink "garjacko" wine. The
house where he spent the night is called "Schonbrunn".
Cetina is an entrance to the Sinj fields. There are 60
square meters of fertile ground around town of Sinj,
which makes it the biggest field in Dalmatia. There are
lots of small towns and villages in that area.
Leaving the Sinj fields, the Cetina river
flows into the canyon. Coasts are closer and higher,
and the river is deep and slow. In the past the water
in this area flowed quickly and was used to work mills,
however, a Floodgate has been built which has made the
water slower and deeper. The floodgate at Djal place
redirects the river and makes the water flow to the hydro-electricity
centre. This is one of three hydro-electricity centers
in the region of Cetinska Krajina. There is a castle
Nutjak above the canyon, which very silently challenges
archaeologists and historians. In the town of Omis the
river Cetina meets the Sea
River Cetina activities
River Cetina is one of the most beautiful rivers in
Croatia. The end course of Cetina flowing through a magnificent
canyon, situated near the small picturesque town Omis,
famous for its pirates which have been a constant danger
to the Venitian galleys, at that time the number 1 fighting
fleet on the Mediterranean. Enjoy rafting and canyoning
with our skippers who will try to make the best out of
it for you!
Canyoning
Experience a real adventure
in the canyon of the Cetina River, which is due to
its wilderness, its rearing
and timelessness called the river Horse, and enjoy
the hidden beauty of its canyon, which can be till
120 m deep.
Explore the 40 m high waterfall "Gubavica" and
have a swim in it, without being afraid, because you're
led by people who were born by the canyon and who have
spent their whole life there. They know all the charms
and dangers, hiding in the canyon. Visit the deserted
Diablo home? Lake placed high in the mountains "Crni
kotao".
Enjoy the marvelous relief of the cut rocks and astonishing
play of water
and stone, which keeps happening all the
time.
It's necessary to take your bathing suit with you, as
well as sports shoes and a towel and clothes you are
going to wear after canyoning. We provide the full canyoning
equipment - waistcoats, helmets, neoprene, etc. Don't
forget to take your widely open heart for incidental
adventures. Picnic with homemade food and drinks is included.
The
trip lasts 3 to 4 hours.
Options:
- In combination with:
- canoe safari, as a final part of the trip
- rafting, as a pre-start
Rock climbing
Spend a week rock climbing on the sunny
beautiful Mediterranean coast of Dalmatia.
Climbing
is a possible the whole year round, with climbing routes/directions
of all levels of difficulty to
choose from.
Places of historical and cultural interest
and of natural beauty are visited along the way. And
if you're climbing or abseiling on the cliffs, over the
shimmering blue sea or climbing inland
above the
gorgeous Brac valleys, you will agree that this
island has the rock climbing possibilities that
are worth
a visit.
Climbing in the canyon of Blaca ( Brac),on the southern
cliffs of Marjan (Split) where you will enjoy the sun
and view of the island of Brac, and Cetina Canyon are
just a few visited locations!!
Canoe safari - going down the
river in a canoe
Be a participant of an exciting and
attractive meeting with river Cetina. Due to its wilderness
and constant
rearing this river was called the river Horse in
the Illyrian times. Feel the charms of that beautiful
and
unpredictable Dalmatian river.
It's necessary to take your bathing suit with you, as
well as sports shoes and sandals (it's not recommended
to go barefoot), a towel and clothes you are going to
wear after rafting.
We provide the full canoeing equipment - waistcoats,
helmets etc.
Picnic with homemade food and drinks is included.
We offer you two deferent kind of tour:
- from "Prancevica" dam to Blato n/c, is some
10 km long. On the scale ranging from I to VI the river
got the mark I to II.
- from Blato n/c to dam HE Kraljevac, is some 7 km long.
On the scale ranging from I to VI the river got the mark
II to III.
The trip lasts 3 to 4 hours.
Options:
- half-day trip
- one-day trip
Rafting on the Cetina River
Rafting on the Cetina River
lasts between 3 and 4 hours and is organized on 9
km long part of the river, from
the village of Penšici to the restaurant "Radmanove
mlinice".
It's necessary to take your bathing suit
with you, as well as sports shoes and sandals (it's
not recommended
to go barefoot), a towel and clothes you are going
to wear after rafting.
Before the start each group on the
boat gets acquainted with their guide, who is going
to give you all obligatory
equipment, which includes helmet, safety waste coat
and an oar.
The boats are for 8 or 6 persons.
On the starting (calm)
part of the river your guide is going to teach you
about behavior rules and basic rowing
techniques. On the scale ranging from I to VI the river
got the mark II to III and two extremely rough places
are passed on foot.
Rafting on the Cetina River you'll
meet light and moderate water rapids, deep calm lakes,
ideal for having refreshment,
banks covered with rich vegetation - making tunnels
of branches, impressive rocks and caves.
Children
older than 8 can take part in rafting only if accompanied
by their parents.
RAFTING ADVENTURE ON THE
RIVER CETINA – NEAR OMIS
The Rafting adventure
begins in the small town of Omiš.
We meet at the intersection of Omiš’ only
bridge on the road that leads towards the picnic
area Radmanove Mlinice.
The trip to the starting
place from rafting takes approximately 20 minutes.
The journey there is
very interesting and
allows tourists to see the beauty of the nature
surrounding the river. 5 minutes into our journey
to the starting place we come to a picnic area with traditional
bread
- making restaurant
called Radmanove Mlinice. This is actually the
end point of our rafting trip. The bus trip follows
a
winding road
and travels through the woods passing quaint traditional
Dalmatian villages with overhead views of the river.
The name of the place where we begin our rafting
adventure is “Pavica Most”.
Our starting
point has a spacious car park with room for 3 buses
and about 15 cars. It also has
a typical
Dalmatian restaurant called a "konoba",
locker rooms and toilets. The start place is easily
recognizable
as it is signed with flags. When getting out of
the van each tourist takes oars, life jacket and
helmet.
Skippers
will direct tourists to their raft. Each is lead
by an experienced rafting skipper.
Each skipper along with the crew takes the raft
and the equipment and goes down to the river. We
begin
trip on
a very calm spot on the river. Once everyone is
seated on the boat the skipper explains to the
crew how
to row, what to do if they fall into the river
where it's calm
and what to do in the rapids. The skipper will
always check if everyone in the boat can swim.
The first 16 kilometers of the river is a part where
the river is very calm, the scenery is gorgeous
and
the water is crystal clear and clean. The river
is full of
fish and several people camp along the shore.
During
this initial section of the river, the crew is practicing
correct rowing and following directions
that
will later be required.
We then pass through to sections of the river
where the trees have overgrown and formed tunnels.
This
is the
section of the river that is very technically
demanding, so the crew must follow all instructions
carefully.
This section of the river is called the "labyrinth".
We will then come to a small lake-like expanse
of water where we take a break for about 10 minutes,
so rafters
can go swimming and refresh in the clear blue-green
river.
The next place we stop is at a small floodgate
where tourists can taste the fresh clean water
running
from a small stream. From that place, the next
couple of
kilometers are the best part of rafting on the
river Cetina. We
come to the bottom of the small waterfall "Studenci",
one of the most beautiful waterfalls on the river
Cetina. The Waterfall "Studenci" is
definitely something that has to be seen! After
the waterfall comes the beautiful
and very dangerous rapid "Oblacnik".
Tourists exit the raft at this point and travel
along the river
edge for 50 meters while the skipper maneuvers
through the rapid “Oblacnik”. Tourists
return to the boat and the adventure continues.
After 2-3 minutes we come to two other smaller
waterfalls. We travel under one of the waterfalls
for some fun.
Then we come to some very interesting rapids,
called "Z".
It's very important to listen
to the entire skipper's instruction at this point;
otherwise you could
fall out of the boat! "Z" is a place
where your adrenaline is at its’ highest
level. Coming to the part of the river called "Tisne
stine" as the river
is fairly deep at this point tourists can jump
into the river from rocks that are 3 meters above
the river. Not
far away, after we pass through another 5-6 rapids,
we come to the place where they filmed the final
scene of
a famous American western film "Winetou".
This location is a paradise for rock climbers
and it is a
possibility that people who love this sport can
come in the morning and then leave with the afternoon
group.
In the last 25 minutes there are a couple of
rapids and then rafting adventure finishes at
the picnic place
called
Radmanove Mlinice. All equipment (helmets, oars,
life jackets) are left on the boat while the
raft is carried
by everyone to the shore. Most tourists are impressed
by the beautiful Cetina River. The adrenalin
that the adventure gives you will hopefully entice
you to return
as soon as they get some more free time.
We hope to see
you soon…