Quick Snorkeling in Croatia area

[Haljo1935]

5 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I must've visited a different Sarande from you. I found it very depressing. They were busy building cheap, horrible-looking hotels all round the area and totally suffocating any natural beauty or charm of the place. (The kind of hotels that look terrible after 10 years and are crumbling in 20....)

 

I was very glad to go to Butrint. Like the other poster above, it was the only redeeming thing I saw....and I've been to Sarande twice.

 

 

4 hours ago, edinburgher said:

Double the joy then!😁

 

We only visited Albania  once, but it was to Durres, and unusually for us we joined a shorex as we knew what we would find in town if we stayed there. Nothing at all and depressing. Although a very long day, the shorex was actually very good as we visited hilltop Kruja which was attractive in itself and offered fabulous views, and the capital Tirana.

It was a small port. There was evidence of previous buildings, for sure. I don't recall seeing new construction.

It was a tender port, looked fairly new.

 

 

Not the usual jewelry shops - had a more local feel, which we prefer.

Lots of statues and the trash bins were artsy.

The port had stray dogs

 

The winery & olive oil farm was a drive through typical small, old streets away from Sarande. Not saying we'd go back, but it was a pleasant enjoyable day. The food and wine were great!!

Up at the winery were cats.

 

 

 

[cruisemom42]

@Haljo1935  It's lovely that you focused on the nicer aspects of Sarande. I just found all the brand new, shoddily constructed buildings (most looked like they were still being built in the blocky "Soviet utility" style) crowding down to the beaches very depressing. Not at all like the Mediterranean feeling you get from many other towns/cities by the water in Greece or Italy...

 

 

And while I didn't notice the recycle bins, I most certainly noticed the trash that was everywhere (and particularly on the beaches). I didn't take pictures of it (who would?) but there is plenty to seen online if one Googles "Sarande litter images"...  Also cited in many, many reviews of the city.

 

Even the Ministry of Tourism admitted as much in an article by Gaby Ochsenbein published on the website link given below:

 

"The Albanian tourism agency is also still in the process of construction, as government spokesman Enton Derraj admits. For two years he was an advisor at the ministry of tourism.

"Our biggest problem is waste management. All foreigners mention this. We are working on our waste disposal system and every year we conduct anti-litter campaigns. Basically, it’s not to do with the system or the infrastructure, but with mentalities. It will take time to raise people’s awareness of the issue."
 
Two years ago a law on spatial planning was passed, aimed at preventing illegal building such as had taken place on a grand scale in coastal cities like Saranda, Durres and Vlora. Major projects like holiday resorts must now get the approval of the national planning commission. "We want to avoid seeing the entire coast built up, in the way that happened in Montenegro, for example."

 

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/land-of-contrasts_tourism-in-albania--a-building-site-with-potential/36008586

 

To be fair, the countryside is very pretty and it seems your wine and cheese was in the country, like Butrint. But as for Sarande, count me as not a fan.

 

[edinburgher]

1 hour ago, Haljo1935 said:

t was a small port. There was evidence of previous buildings, for sure. I don't recall seeing new construction.

Haljo, unsure why you quoted me as I have never visited Sarande, only Durres as mentioned in my above post.. Although we found our shorex to Kruja and Tirana very interesting, the little we saw of Durres as we passed through it when  leaving and returning to the ship looked absolutely miserable and depressing, so unlike your very positive  description and photos  of Sarande.  Durres reminded us of Constanta in Romania in many ways, none of them good.  I think yours are the most positive comments about Albania I have ever read.

[cruisemom42]

12 minutes ago, edinburgher said:

Durres reminded us of Constanta in Romania in many ways, none of them good.

 

Constanta is positively an icon of interesting architecture compared with Sarande....

 

[CPT Trips]

10 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I must've visited a different Sarande from you. I found it very depressing. They were busy building cheap, horrible-looking hotels all round the area and totally suffocating any natural beauty or charm of the place. (The kind of hotels that look terrible after 10 years and are crumbling in 20....)

 

I was very glad to go to Butrint. Like the other poster above, it was the only redeeming thing I saw....and I've been to Sarande twice.

 

The remains of Hoxha’s coastal defense system and the story behind them was fascinating. 

[CPT Trips]

4 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

The port had stray dogs

As did every place we stopped on the road to Butrint.  Looks like you got a photo of a fat one. 

[edinburgher]

14 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

Constanta is positively an icon of interesting architecture compared with Sarande....

And Constanta was bad enough.  We took the shuttle bus in and returned on the next around 30 minutes later.  Some passengers didn't even leave the shuttle bus, staying on it until it turned around to return to the ship. Being a Sunday morning probably didn't help.

[cruisemom42]

2 minutes ago, edinburgher said:

And Constanta was bad enough.  We took the shuttle bus in and returned on the next around 30 minutes later.  Some passengers didn't even leave the shuttle bus, staying on it until it turned around to return to the ship. Being a Sunday morning probably didn't help.

 

To be fair, I didn't dislike Constanta. There are a number of Roman ruins there and the Archaeological Museum was very nice. We also found a nice restaurant down by the (private) harbor and watched all the activity -- boats going in and out, families enjoying a walk -- I think it must've been a Sunday also.

 

Edited January 30 by cruisemom42

[edinburgher]

5 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

To be fair, I didn't dislike Constanta. There are a number of Roman ruins there and the Archaeological Museum was very nice. We also found a nice restaurant down by the (private) harbor and watched all the activity -- boats going in and out, families enjoying a walk -- I think it must've been a Sunday also.

Possibly the Sunday afternoon?  Certainly in the morning the place was deserted and most everywhere closed.

[cruisemom42]

32 minutes ago, edinburgher said:

Possibly the Sunday afternoon?  Certainly in the morning the place was deserted and most everywhere closed.

 

I was curious so I just went back to my itinerary to check. It was indeed on a Sunday. I wasn't in Constanta on a cruise; I did a land tour of the archaeological ruins related to Greek and Roman settlements in Romania. It was a fascinating tour despite the disappointment of not being able to reach Sarmizagetusa, the citadel and "last stand" of the tribes Rome was fighting under emperors Trajan and Hadrian -- think of it as being like the Romanian version of the Masada. It just so happened that we were there when the Romanian transportation authorities (in their infinite wisdom) decided to re-pave the only road leading to the top on the day we were scheduled to go there. I was HUGELY disappointed....

 

At any rate, in Constanta on that Sunday we did a walk through the areas of Constanta where there were Roman ruins, including mosaics that were open air but roofed, near the water. Then by the time we finished that the archaeological museum was open (10:00 am), and after that we had some free time for lunch in the area. We also walked by the old casino and through a gypsy neighborhood (which was quite interesting)...

 

In the afternoon, we drove to another nearby Roman site. They told us to wear boots (in case of snakes)!!!

 

 

[edinburgher]

2 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

At any rate, in Constanta on that Sunday we did a walk through the areas of Constanta where there were Roman ruins, including mosaics that were open air but roofed, near the water. Then by the time we finished that the archaeological museum was open (10:00 am), and after that we had some free time for lunch in the area. We also walked by the old casino and through a gypsy neighborhood (which was quite interesting)...

Maybe we didn't put enough effort into researching possible options for that day, quite unlike us really. Worse of all, we missed out on an archaeological museum, again quite unlike us, but perhaps it was closed for some reason. We passed it on the shuttles, but the old casino appeared to be crumbling away, like most of the town.

[edinburgher]

On 1/29/2024 at 4:35 PM, Hlitner said:

On 1/29/2024 at 3:49 PM, edinburgher said:

 

DW and I truly adored the old Marco Polo (especially when she was with Orient Lines).

Sadly now all ancient history, although we too have the memories.

[Hlitner]

24 minutes ago, edinburgher said:

Sadly now all ancient history, although we too have the memories.

Reminiscing, I recall that the Marco Polo had a tall Norwegian Captain who was a delight.  We met him somewhere on the ship and he took an interest in us when he learned we lived in Central Pennsylvania.  Why?  He was a big fan and expert on the Amish, which has a big community in the Lancaster, PA area.  He quickly had us invited to his table, and put DW next to him so they could talk, the entire meal, about where we lived and the Amish. Such a small kind of thing, but a memory of a man and age long gone.

 

Hank

[edinburgher]

3 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

but a memory of a man and age long gone.

As we don't require "all singing, all dancing mega resort ships" we miss a few things about cruising years ago.

[Hlitner]

8 minutes ago, edinburgher said:

As we don't require "all singing, all dancing mega resort ships" we miss a few things about cruising years ago.

We have found some of that old cruising "charm" on a few of the smaller luxury ships.  We have particularly enjoyed our time on Seabourn (ships with 450 or 600 passengers) where much of the charm is to be found just meeting and chatting with fellow passengers and crew.  Although we also like some of the really large vessels (especially with Princess) we do agree with you that it is just not the same as cruising used to be.

 

Hank

[ted burke]

Will be on a cruise ship in eastern Adriatic in September at the popular ports- Split, Dubrovnik, Hvar, Kotar, etc.  Haven't nailed down the cruise itinerary yet but can guess we'll only want to spend 2 hrs finding, renting and snorkeling.  Must leave ample time to see the sights on foot.  Possible?  Can you point me in a direction?  Would these cities have tourist Info offices?

 

I'd like to set something up before getting on the ship.

 

Many thanks,

Ted

[edinburgher]

On 2/5/2024 at 11:55 AM, ted burke said:

Can you point me in a direction?  Would these cities have tourist Info offices

Of course they have Tourist Information offices and websites, but as nobody on CC has responded, suggesting that you simply try internet searching for information if you have not already done so. Should be quick and easy to google eg "Split (or whichever name) snorkelling" or "best snorkelling at Split" (or whichever name)

 

Google  could be  your best friend.

Edited February 11 by edinburgher

[edinburgher]

On 2/5/2024 at 11:55 AM, ted burke said:

the popular ports- Split, Dubrovnik, Hvar, Kotar, etc

An afterthought. Split, Dubrovnik and Kotor offer a lot of sightseeing options, more than enough  for a full day, with Hvar being a lot smaller. Unless you plan to tour some of the island, Hvar itself is very small and offers less, so I think this would be the best opportunity to use some of your time ashore for snorkelling.