September the 12th, 2022 - Registration books have been placed on the peaks of Montokuc and Veliki Planjak in the gorgeous Mljet National Park in Dalmatia, with more to come.

As Morski writes, island hiking registration books have now been placed on the peaks of Montokuc and Veliki Planjak, with the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS) and rangers of Mljet National Park having placed boxes with the aforementioned registration books in them for hikers on the most visited peaks in Mljet National Park. They will also soon be installed on the island's highest peak, the 514metre-high Veliki grad.

Cooperation with the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service on Mljet has been going on for many years now, and it was formalised through a joint European Union (EU) project whose goal was to improve the visitor infrastructure and the safety of visitors of their partner, NP Mljet, along with the Mljet Tourist Board and Desa, by whom the Croatian Mountain Rescue branch was equipped. The premises for the branch were provided by the Municipality of Mljet itself.

There are over 200 kilometres of hiking and mountaineering trails at Mljet National Park, and over more recent years, the season during which foreign visitors start descending on the island has been as early as March, lasting all the way until the end of October. Outside of the main summer months, most visitors are active lovers of the nature of Croatia's greenest and one of the most hilly islands.

The duties of the Croatian Mountain Rescue teams in Mljet are otherwise regulated by the contract between JU NP Mljet and HGSS, and they last from the beginning of June to the end of September each year.

This year's on-call activities at Mljet National Park will end on October the 8th with the Mljet Trail race. The race will connect the most attractive trails and viewpoints of the national park in three categories (6 km, 13 km and 23 km), with height differences of 197m, 527m and 841m.

Participant registrations for the Mljet Trail are now open, and you can find out more about the race by clicking here.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

September the 5th, 2022 - The Croatian Red Cross recently teamed up with the administration of Mljet National Park and the Mljet Volunteer Centre, where not only did they organise beach clean ups, but they also measured people's blood pressure.

As Morski writes, as part of the cooperation of the Croatian Red Cross Dubrovnik branch, the Mljet National Park, and the Mljet Volunteer Centre, on September the 3rd, volunteers of the Croatian Red Cross cleaned the stunning Grabovo cove of rubbish, including various pieces of floating debris of different origins, and prepared part of the track for the Mljet Trail race.

The aforementioned trail race will be held on October the 8th in this truly stunning Dalmatian national park which attracts visitors of all kinds from far and wide each and every year without fail.

As part of the same campaign held within Mljet National Park, more precisely in Babin Polje and Pomena, the measurement of blood pressure and blood sugar was organised for both residents and visitors alike.

The volunteers spent the weekend at the Mljet Volunteer Centre, where after their volunteer work was finished, in the company of employees of Mljet National Park, they will visit numerous places and take in some of the sights of the Republic of Croatia's heavily visited southernmost and greenest national park.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

August 8, 2022 - The documentary film "Ane Mljećka", produced by HTV's Culture Program Department, was previewed on August 5 - Croatian Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day, and the Day of Croatian Defenders.

Two screenings were held in Pomena in the hall of the "Odisej" hotel and in the "Mediteran" cinema in Goveđari, a small village in the Mljet National Park. The preview of the film was organized by the Mljet Tourist Board under the auspices of the American Croatian Congress. 

The film "Ane Mljećka" was filmed from July 28 to August 8, 2021, in numerous locations on the island of Mljet according to the proposal of professional collaborators Julija Kaleb and Marija Mrgudić to make a film about Ane Stražičić Rodriguez, a woman from Mljet who has lived and worked since her early age in the USA. She is well-known as Ane Mljećka, a humanitarian and promoter of Mljet and Croatia in the world. The authors of the film, Ljiljana Šišmanović and Davor Borić, recognized the universal value of the film's story. Portraying one woman, her island, and their unbreakable bond, the film talks about traditional culture and all the challenges to preserving it in the contemporary world. 

Ane Mljećka's personality, knowledge, culinary skills, enthusiasm, and commitment to the preservation of traditional island values ​​are the driving force behind the action that follows Ane Mljećka in her everyday life on Mljet during the summer days and before and during the 41st South Dalmatian Regatta. Ane hosts the participants of the regatta under the pine trees in the yard of her parent's house in Pomena, with the mending of the "mriž (fishing nets)", singing, and traditional dishes that she prepared. 

Viewers of Croatian Television will be able to see the film premiere on Sunday, September 25, 2022, at 11:10 a.m. on the First Program of HTV (HRT-HTV1). 

The director of photography is Dušan Vugrinec, the cameraman is Branko Drakulić, the sound cameraman is Dario Mačešić. Lighting master Damir Staneković, colorist Iva Blašković, sound engineer Robert Stanić, driver Krešo Gršić. Assistant director is Žaklina Komljen, producer Filip Marešić, editor Irena Korpes, script and direction by Ljiljana Šišmanović and Davor Borić, and editor Ljiljana Šišmanović. 

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

August 8, 2022 - Members of the Croatian diaspora from San Pedro, California, celebrated the Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day last Friday on the island of Mljet. A closer look at the celebration organized by Niko Hazdovac and his wife Lucija, the team behind San Pedro travel agency Adriatic Travel. 

Niko Hazdovac, his wife Lucija, and their family run the successful travel agency Adriatic Travel in San Pedro, California. They host a celebration (fešta) every year the night before Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and Day of Croatian Defenders in his small hometown of Kozarica on Mljet for his friends and locals. The fešta took place again last Friday.  

“Everyone had a great time with the songs of the Dubrovnik pop artist Ilko Đivanović. With local food, Mljet wine, and good music, we danced until late into the night, and celebrated Oljua with fireworks,” said Ane Mljeċka, a well-known Croatian emigrant who was born on Mljet and now lives in the USA.  

Every year the fešta organized by the American emigrants has a humanitarian aspect, and this year, donations were collected for the restoration of the church in Kozarica. 

Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and Day of Croatian Defenders commemorates the military victory on August 5, 1995, known as Operation Storm (Oluja), when the Croatian army took over nearly one-third of the Croatian territory occupied by the Serbian paramilitary forces and Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA). In only 84 hours of the military-police operation Oluja, in which almost 200 thousand Croatian soldiers participated and where over 10,000 square kilometers of the occupied territory was freed, the Croatian army restored sovereignty over occupied central and southern parts of the country, paving the way for the peaceful reintegration of eastern Croatia in January 1998.  

What a night! 

Photos credit: Ane Stražičić Rodriguez 

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

July 29, 2022 - The 1^st Fisherman's Night was held in the charming small port of Pomena on the island of Mljet on Sunday.

This event was organized by the Mljet Tourist Board with European Union funding from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund. Admission to the event and food consumption were free of charge.

There were a lot of foreign and local guests enjoying sardines, mussels, black risotto, Pelješac and Mljet wines, and delicious local olive oil.  Music band Versa entertained the guests until late into the night.

The 2^nd Fisherman's Night will be held on August 21. 

Photo credit: Visit Island Mljet, Croatia & Ane Stražičić Rodriguez 

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

February 13, 2022 - The iCat company is known for innovating in maritime navigation technology, seeking to connect the mainland with the islands in a fast, efficient and ecological way. This can already be seen on the island of Mljet, which now has three of its solar-powered catamarans.

Solar energy is the driving force behind the ships that Tomislav Uroda from Zagreb wants to make this type of transport more ecological, faster, and more comfortable, and his self-sustaining vessels have been succeeding on Mljet for several years, reports Index.hr.

Frustration at Tomislav Uroda's very rare and poor inter-island transport prompted him to try to work out a solution to this maritime problem in his own workshop. The idea that one larger ship sails several smaller ones a day, which will also be energy efficient and acceptable for Europe's future of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, combating climate change, and investing in green technologies, has grown into a successful international story.

"We wanted a better, more luxurious alternative"

At that time, the young mechanical and shipbuilding engineer, a native of Zagreb with roots in the island of Murter, started his business venture ten years ago by founding iCat, and in the years that followed he stood by the leading innovators in the world. He saw an opportunity to conquer the market in solar and electric ships.

"From the beginning, we didn't want to invent a cheap product, but we wanted a better, more luxurious version of that shipping, and therefore not only in the passenger, economic part but also in the technical part - from accumulation, batteries to solar," says Uroda.

Connecting the island with the mainland, making shipping a faster and more comfortable way to travel, and overcoming the problem of fuel shortages on the island were key problems in the Mljet National Park, where the first three solar-powered catamarans operate. These three ships named babyCat, powered by solar panels on the roof of the ship, are the first such self-sustaining ships in the world. They develop a speed of at most 9.5 knots and receive 54 passengers. Excess solar energy is stored in the batteries on board.

The boat can be recharged

"The solar-powered catamarans also has coastal chargers, which means that it can be recharged from the coastal port. This replenishment is a good option, and ships on Mljet have been sailing for several years in the summer months and there was never a need for recharging because enough energy is obtained from solar power,” the 50-year-old said.

The island of Mljet (Photo: Mario Romulić)

"We built another such catamaran, but it was just finished at the time of the general closure. Just as air and bus transport disappeared, so did ours. In the few months of this pandemic, there was no interest in our ships at all, but we have been receiving inquiries every day for some time", says Tomislav, who plans to market his products all over Europe, and then, when the conditions are created, all over the world.

In addition to the solarCat ship, as presented at Jarun, on the same production platform it is possible to build two other types of solar-powered catamarans - one slightly wider, which will have a hundred seats and the other with a double bow, or a ship that does not turn while driving but operates shorter distances.

"We realized that this job is not attractive"

''The workforce is also a big problem'', says Uroda.

"We dreamed of having our own workers in the production plant, but over time we realized that this job is not attractive and that people will come and go here. Croatia no longer has a workforce. We are aware of the situation, but our development team is constant.", stressed Uroda.

Greater use of the potential of solar energy is one of the main goals of the European Green Plan, which aims to reduce carbon emissions by 55 percent by 2030. Intensified use of renewable energy sources and increasing energy efficiency are key factors in achieving this ambition.

Ambitions in Croatia need to be encouraged, and citizens need to be educated about the benefits of using solar energy, was the conclusion of a two-day conference "Days of the Sun" held at the end of October last year in Hvar. The solar sector is developing very slowly, although the price of such energy is lower than ever, it was said at the gathering.

For more information on the solar-powered catamarans by iCat, click here.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

November 4, 2021 – The southernmost and easternmost of Croatia's large, inhabited islands is beautiful Mljet island

A long, thin stretch of volcanic rock, located off the coast of Dubrovnik, over 84% of the island is covered by dense forest. The beautifully scented trees are perfect to cycle beneath in spring and summer. Hiding in the treetops, some of the island's birds and butterflies. They're not the only creatures to call this place home.

Famously, the most westerly quarter of beautiful Mljet island is designated as a National Park. Within this protected section of the island, two of Mljet's most recognisable features – saltwater lakes Veliko jezero and Malo jezero. On the small isle of St Mary in the middle of Veliko Jezero lake, you'll find an old Benedictine monastery. Nobody lives here anymore. But, folks do still live in the picturesque villages of Goveđari, Polače and Pomena within the park.

Living within the lake waters, rare molluscs, jellyfish and coral. Off the shores of the park, even more life is visible. Although, you might need a diving mask to see it best. Over 50 square kilometres of the Adriatic that surrounds Mljet is also protected within the park boundaries. Its protected status allows fish and coral to thrive here. These colourful waters are great for diving.

Some of the wildlife, nature, sights and activities of beautiful Mljet island have been captured in a new video compiled over this summer. The film is the latest work of Goran Šafarek, a biologist, travel writer and filmmaker from Koprivnica. He has been making similarly beautiful videos showcasing Croatian nature and destinations for over a decade. You can check it out below.

All images © Goran Šafarek

If you want to read more about Mljet island and Mljet National Park you can take a look at the Total Croatia guide to the island here

April 2, 2021 - Mljet National Park opens for a new season, allowing all visitors to enjoy the outdoors while following all prescribed COVID-19 measures. 

Mljet National Park opened its doors for a new season on March 26, 2021!

At any time of the year, visiting Mljet National Park is a special and unique experience for every lover of nature, culture, and old customs, especially during this pandemic time, when it is recommended to stay outdoors.

Enjoying the natural and cultural values of the Mljet National Park is possible at promotional prices until April 5, 2021, namely 50 kuna for adults and 30 kuna for children and students. By purchasing a ticket through the webshop, visitors receive an additional discount on tickets, which amount to 40 kuna for adults and 20 kuna for children. Admission for children under 7 is still free.

The ticket also includes a boat ride and a visit to the island of Sveta Marija in the heart of the Great Lakes. You can visit the Mljet National Park every day from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm, and you can buy tickets on the webshop www.np-mljet.hr or at the Pomena and Info point sales points at the Great Lake.

Mljet National Park offers many opportunities to enjoy nature, and in it, every visitor has a corner just for themselves. When it is necessary to maintain physical distance, get closer to nature and explore it with numerous hiking and biking trails within the Mljet National Park, sail on the Great Lake, and breathe in the clean air surrounded by untouched nature.

"To preserve your health, as well as the health of the employees of the National Park, please bring a face mask that needs to be worn at the Mljet National Park sales points, in contact with NP employees, as well as when using boats to tour the lake and the island of Sv. Marija. Regularly disinfect your hands, take care of the physical distance when touring the park and when waiting to board the boat, and purchase tickets following the markings. We look forward to your arrival and are at your disposal for any additional information by calling tel. 020 744041 and e-mailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.," says the National Park.

Source: Dalmatinski Portal

To read more about travel, follow TCN's dedicated page.

For the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia, CLICK HERE.

To learn more about Mljet National Park, CLICK HERE. 

February 14, 2021 – Want to spend 7 days making your way across one of Croatia's most unique island landscapes? Volunteer at Mljet National Park and get a week's free accommodation, with English speaking and Croatian speaking volunteers both welcome

Recently ranked by global player Forbes as among the top five Mediterranean undiscovered islands, Mljet can be yours to explore for free if you have some free time on your hands. Mljet National Park is looking for volunteers to help clear and maintain hiking trails on the island. If you volunteer at Mljet, you'll get seven nights of complimentary accommodation, plenty of free time and the opportunity to make your way across one of Croatia's most beautiful and unique island landscapes.

© Mljet National Park

Those who volunteer at Mljet National Park will get to explore the entire north-west part of Mljet island, a protected area of stunning natural beauty that borders two famous saltwater lakes –Veliko Jezero and Malo Jezero which stretch 4 kilometres into the island's interior. In the middle of the largest lake, there is a small island, Melita (Sveta Marija) on which a 12th-century Benedictine monastery picturesquely sits.

The island of Sveta Marija © Mljet National Park

The oldest marine protected area anywhere on the Mediterranean, as Mljet National Park stretches over almost 5300 hectares, there's no guarantee these spectacular lakes will be within your view as you volunteer at Mljet. But, you will have plenty of time to explore the park and the island's incredible sights – volunteering hours are restricted to just six hours per day.

Over 40 kilometres of hiking trails run along the shoreline and through the forests of the park. Those who volunteer at Mljet will be asked to clear trails that have become obstructed by winter's strong winds blowing down trees and branches. Any equipment needed for the tasks, like compulsory work gloves, hats and t-shirts, will be provided by park authorities to all who volunteer at Mljet.

The groups required to volunteer at Mljet will be comprised of no less than 6 people and no more than 12 people at a time. You can apply to volunteer at Mljet alone - and maybe make some new buddies - or you can apply to go with a friend or friends. Both English speakers and Croatian speakers are invited to apply. Free accommodation is supplied in the Cullier building, owned by the Park. There are 7 rooms with bunk beds, toilets, showers, kitchen, living room. The building is just 2 km away from the village of Pomene, which has the only hotel on the island, several restaurants and two shops that are open during the summer. All meals are also provided free to those who volunteer at Mljet.

When can I volunteer at Mljet National Park?

Volunteer positions are available between February and November with the following being the specific weeks:

27/02 - 06/03
06/03 - 13/03
21/03 - 27/03
27/03 - 03/04
10/04 - 17/04
17/04 - 24/04
15/05 - 22/05
11/09 - 18/09
25/09 - 02/10
02/10 - 09/10
09/10 - 16/10

Volunteering lasts 7 days, one day of which is a free day - you can explore the park or take part in a tour of the island which the park organises as thanks to all volunteers. Volunteers will work 6 hours a day for the 6-day duration, although this 6 hour period does include one full hour of rest time. If there are unfavorable weather conditions (strong sun, wind, etc.) working hours may be reduced. Volunteers require only physical readiness and the desire to stay and work within a natural, outdoor environment. As the volunteering work requires physical strength and dexterity, these particular positions at the park are sadly not open to those with disabilities. Local transport within the Park is provided. Travel expenses for arrival and departure from the Park are borne by the volunteers themselves.

The Ulysses cave on Mljet island © TZ Mljet

During the free time you'll have on the island, you can walk, hike or bicycle on the park's trails, rent kayaks and canoes to explore the stunning saltwater lakes, go diving or take diving lessons, rent a scooter or car to explore the whole island and its many sights, or just chill out with your fellow volunteers, park staff and the park's visitors at the accommodation centre or in a local tavern.

Want to extend your stay in Croatia by a week with free accommodation on an incredible island? Got some free time on your hands and an appreciation of the great outdoors? If this opportunity sounds like it might be for you, you can fill in a form and apply here

February 8, 2021 – Another recognition to the Croatian islands as Forbes ranked Mljet among the top five Mediterranean undiscovered islands.

As reported by Ina Rodin, director of the Croatian National Tourist Board in the USA, the renowned American magazine Forbes ranked the Croatian island of Mljet among the top five undiscovered Mediterranean islands for travelers who like to explore destinations "off the beaten track."

The article states that many beautiful destinations on the Mediterranean coast are still unexplored. The author of the article brings a list of five idyllic islands, perfect for those looking to escape from the crowds and mass tourism.

The island of Mljet is presented as a perfect place for all visitors looking for an active vacation, whether it is exploring the Mljet National Park, swimming, kayaking, or numerous hiking and biking trails on the island. On the other hand, all history and culture lovers can explore Polače, one of the oldest settlements on the island, known for its Roman palace dating back to the Roman Empire.

Along with Mljet, the list includes the Greek Syros, the Spanish island of Tabarca, the Kerkennah Islands off the coast of Tunisia, and the island of Kekova in Turkey.

"Announcements about Croatia and Croatian destinations in the most popular American media such as Forbes, The New York Times, The Washington Post confirmed the popularity and position of our country as a desirable tourist destination on the American market. Although the greater realization of tourist traffic from distant markets is currently difficult, our presence and visibility in the American media are important for future trends and travel," said the Croatian National Tourist Board director Kristjan Staničić.

Let's add that the world's leading brand of tourist guides Lonely Planet in its article provides an overview of four beautiful car routes in the southeastern part of Europe, and among the selected routes was a ride from Dubrovnik to Montenegro, which according to the author simply "takes your breath away."

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