Trip to Novalja, Zrče beach (Ibiza 2)

Day 1:

So it all started on July the 27th when a bunch of friends and I went on a summer holiday trip to Novalja in Croatia. Since many of us have jobs, we couldn`t leave before 8pm, so we left and drove at night. As usual, I was the one driving the car. We made many stops; one for filling up with gas, others for taking a leak. Because the guys in the back were all drinking, the urge was great, and we stopped every 30 minutes or so. The trip that would normally take 3 hours took a little over 4 hours this way.

Anyway, on this trip, we witnessed an accident. Some guy was driving close to 100 miles per hour, and suddenly his tire blows out. He couldn’t brake fast enough so his car spun around and the rear end of ended up in the front, and he flew off the road, over a fence. Luckily nobody was behind him and there was only grass behind the fence, no cliff. We pulled over to make sure everyone was ok and continued our journey. The excitement of witnessing the accident immediately sobered up the guys in the back, but a few miles and drinks later everything was back to “normal.”

Eventually we arrived into our camp, not to a fancy hotel or apartment but straight into the jungle. Just kidding about the jungle, the camp was very civilized, with showers, toilets, even separate places to wash our dishes. Not that we had any, we were more of a “salami and pate with bread” group of guys.

The camp was called Straško, which is one of the best known camps on the island. It is located nearby the city Novolja, but more importantly, it is the closest camp to the beach Zrce, where you can find 24x7 partying. There are 3 Clubs: Papaya, Aquarius and last but not least, Kalypso, where we spend most of our time. Since it was almost 1am, we checked in and settled in. Since I had been driving, it was time for me to start drinking and catch up with everyone else. We just changed our clothes and went straight to the clubs.

Our camp was 3 miles away from the Zrce beach, so we took my car and went. I was driving under the influence of alcohol, but luckily there were no cops on the way. Finally, the party started! As I mentioned above, we usually spend most of our time in Kalypso, and this year was no different. Kalypso is the oldest club on the beach. It was the first to have beach parties on Beach Zrce and probably has the cheapest drinks too. All 3 clubs are open-air, so the fresh air cools you down when a breeze comes, but it is still quite hot.

Aquarius and Papaya are clubs that have branched out from Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia. Aquarius is very well equipped, and has an excellent menu, which includes their pizza, sandwiches and even homemade ice-cream. Papaya is arranged in an exotic style with a VIP area and a big water slide that takes you right into the pool.

Beach Zrce is one of the most attractive and most visited beaches on Adriatic Sea. It is a popular destination for many who wants to party just like we do. Each summer, it is estimated that at least 15.000 tourists come to visit. Some compare Beach Zrce with Ibiza, and with a similar vibe to Ibiza, an ever increasing number of people from all over the world are coming to Novalja just to visit Beach Zrce.

We all had plenty of fun and it was time to go home. However, in a club setting, not everyone sticks together. Intense crowds caused us to disperse over time and we didn’t bring our mobile phones, because they’re easy to lose when partying. I was able to find 2 of our group of 5, and decided that is good enough; the rest can walk. Unfortunately, I wasn’t as lucky on the way back as on the way there. We were stopped by the police and they gave me alcohol test, which I failed. Because I failed the test, I had to pay 600 Euros, but that can’t be changed now. Once the cops left, we just continued to drive to camp, with my less-drunk friend driving. We got safely back to our camp and promptly fell asleep. Our other 2 friends made their way back shortly thereafter.

Day 2

It was about 11am when we woke up to have breakfast. Because we all had too much to drink the night before, not everyone was hungry so "early" in the morning. After those of us who were hungry ate, we got dressed and went to the beach—not just to relax and forget the day before, but also to get some sun and wake up our brains in the cold Croatian sea. It was extremely sunny out and 25 degrees in the shade. After a cold swim, we went back to our camp to eat “lunch”, because swimming wakes up your appetite. Once we finished eating, we headed back to Zrce Beach where we could enjoy the after-beach party, have a swim, and rent a boat. Zrce Beach really offers you everything you need in such a "small" place. You can even do bungee jumping from a crane next to Club Papaya. Once it was 8pm, we headed back to camp again, to get ready for some more night life adventures! Days 3, 4, 5, and 6 were pretty much the same as day 2.