Explore Kornati National Park by boat on full-day and half-day trips departing from Zadar, Biograd, and Vodice. Most tours also stop at Telašćica Nature Park and include lunch, swimming stops, and snorkeling gear.
Free Cancellation 8.5-hour small-group boat tour (max 15) from Biograd to Kornati islands and Telašćica Bay with lunch and drinks.
Free Cancellation Full-day boat tour from Vodice through Kornati and Telašćica parks, with lunch, guide, and entrance fees included.
Free Cancellation Half-day small-group boat tour (12 max) with two swimming stops at Aba bay and Lojena beach on Levrnaka.
Free Cancellation 10-hour fast-boat day trip from Zadar to Kornati with stops at Lojena beach, Mana island and Kukljica.
Free Cancellation 9.5-hour Zadar cruise to Telašćica Nature Park and Kornati, with breakfast, lunch, wine and snorkeling gear included.
Read what travelers share about their experience visiting Kornati National Park — from practical tips to personal highlights.
A full day on the water among 89 treeless limestone islands, most of it spent cruising slowly past white cliff walls that rise over 80 metres and keep going another 90 below the surface. Tours typically leave around 8:30–9:00 and return near 18:00, packing in two or three swim stops, a long lunch, and enough close-up passes of the 'crowns' that you'll stop photographing them. Bring a towel and strong sunscreen — there's almost no shade anywhere in the park.
The park's signature sight: sheer fault cliffs on the outer islands, over 80 m above the waterline at Klobučar and dropping more than 90 m below it near Piškera. Tour boats slow down and swing close so everyone gets a photo. It's the image the whole archipelago is known for, and it earns it.
Levrnaka's Lojena bay is the classic stop — pale pebbles, turquoise shallows, and one of the rare soft landings in a park that's otherwise bare karst. Tours time the midday break here, often giving you 90 minutes to two hours in the water. Snorkel gear comes included on several trips.
About 20 seasonal taverns operate in bays like Lavsa, Ravni Žakan and Anica, serving grilled fish and lamb a few steps from the waterline. Most full-day tours build in a long, unhurried lunch — some include it, some charge separately. Bring cash either way.
Kornat island holds the 6th-century Byzantine fortress Tureta, with the ruins of the three-nave church of St. Mary at its foot. Several routes point out the nearby Our Lady of Tarac church too. If your tour lets you ashore, the climb pays off with views over the southern islands.
Many tours fold in neighbouring Telašćica Nature Park on Dugi Otok, where the Stene cliffs rear over 160 m out of the sea and the shallow Mir salt lake sits behind the clifftop. It's a separate park with its own ticket, so check whether yours covers both. The combined stop usually means two hours ashore.
Under the waterline sit 353 algae species and wide Posidonia seagrass meadows, and the clear coves around Levrnaka and Lavsa are the easiest places to see them with a mask. Stops like Emerald Aba bay are picked for calm, shallow water. Autonomous diving is a different thing entirely — that needs an advance licence and an organised group.
Tours to Kornati run from half a dozen ports and vary a lot in boat size, pace and what's included. Here's what matters before you pay.
The main choice is full-day versus half-day. Full-day trips (8.5–10 hours) cover Kornati and often Telašćica in one loop from Biograd, Vodice or Zadar. Half-day options (~4.5 hours) skip the long crossing, stick to bays like Levrnaka's Lojena and Emerald Aba, and run on small boats capped at 12 adult passengers. Private RIB charters (~€950 for up to 11 guests) exist if you want your own route.
July and August departures fill days ahead, and konoba lunches get booked solid at peak times. Late May, June and September give you the same warm sea with fewer hulls competing for bays. In shoulder months many tours run only as group departures that individuals can join — email operators ahead to confirm.
The park charges per boat per day, not per person — €25 off-season / €45 in season for a vessel under 7 m bought in advance. Day-tour passengers pay nothing separate: the roughly €35–40 tour price includes the park ticket. If you're sailing your own boat, buy before you enter; ranger-boat prices inside the park are roughly double (€45/€90 for the smallest class).
Full-day tours generally include lunch, guide and entrance tickets, with some adding breakfast, wine with lunch and even WiFi. Watch the small print: one half-day tour lists a €20-per-person anchoring fee payable in cash at check-in. Cancellation is free on all listed tours up to 24 hours before departure.
The bura blows 6+ Beaufort about 37 days a year and can cancel or reroute open-water crossings, especially in spring and autumn. Most operators offer an alternative date or full refund if weather cancels the trip. Keep a spare day in your itinerary in shoulder season.
Wheelchair access exists on some of the larger excursion boats from Vodice, Zadar and Murter — one Vodice tour is explicitly wheelchair accessible with adapted transport. Small speedboats and RIBs are not. On land there are no paved paths; trails are rough stony karst, so shore visits generally need assistance.
A Kornati ticket less than 7 days old gets you 10% off at Šibenik's St. Nicholas' Fortress info centre. If you're sailing yourself, the mySea 3-day combo covering both Kornati and Telašćica costs €55/€110 for boats up to 6.99 m, and ACI marina Piškera includes the ticket with the berth fee.
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| Small-Group Full-Day Tour (Biograd) | Two-Park Boat Tour (Vodice) | Half-Day Speedboat Trip | Full-Day Fast Boat (Zadar) | Two-Park Cruise with Lunch (Zadar) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duration | 8h 30min | 8h 30min | 4h 30min | 10h | 9h 30min (08:30–18:00) |
| Best for | Travellers who want fewer people on board — capped at 15 guests | First-timers who want Kornati and Telašćica in one day, wheelchair users (boat is accessible) | Short-on-time visitors and strong swimmers; not advised for pregnant travellers or those with back problems | Swimmers — two-hour stop at Lojena beach plus three stops total, breakfast served on the crossing | Budget travellers who don't mind a bigger boat — departs 08:30, two hours ashore at Telašćica |
| Includes | Lunch, snacks, park ticket, soft drinks and alcohol | Guide, lunch, all fees and both park tickets, zero-waste policy | Skipper/guide, snorkel gear, bottled water, entrance fees; lunch extra and €20 pp anchoring fee in cash | Breakfast, lunch, drinks, guide | Breakfast, lunch with free wine, water and juice all day, WiFi, snorkel gear |
| Price from | $99.80 per person | $87.03 per person | $95.16 per person | $63.83 per person | $56.85 per person |
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The park is open year-round — there are no gates or fixed closing hours, and boats may enter at any time. That's the official position. In practice, the day-tour fleet and the island konobas operate mainly from April to October, and from November to March there's almost nothing running from the mainland.
Ticket validity runs past your entry day: a one-day ticket bought between 00:00 and 24:00 stays valid until 12:00 the following day. Three-day tickets run until noon on the fourth day, five-day tickets until noon on the sixth.
Organised day tours depart around 8:30–9:00 and return around 18:00 — expect 8–10 hours on the water including the crossing. Mobile ranger reception desks operate inside the park during the season.
The park administration office in Murter (Butina 2) is open all year, and the ABA ticket reception in Murter (Trg Rudina) plus the webshop at shop.np-kornati.hr sell tickets outside the park.
There is no bridge and no scheduled ferry into the park. Access is by organised tour boat, private charter, or your own vessel with a valid ticket.
Private RIB charters run about €950 per boat for up to 11 guests, park ticket included.
Late May, June and September are the sweet spot: the sea is warm enough for swimming, the weather is settled, and far fewer boats compete for bays and konoba lunches.
July and August bring the warmest sea (around 25 °C), guaranteed daily departures and 22 sunny days in August — along with peak crowds and the year's highest tour prices. Roughly 40 days a year hit 30 °C or more, and 16.9 of them fall in August.
November through March is the dead season: the tour fleet and taverns shut down. The bura, the park's most frequent wind (19.4% of the year), peaks in winter, with storm winds averaging 5.8 days, most often in December. April and October are possible but weather-dependent.
The park gets 2,600–2,700 sunshine hours a year, so on any summer visit plan for serious sun with almost no natural shade.
Access is by boat only, so everything depends on the vessel. Several large excursion boats from Vodice, Zadar and Murter advertise wheelchair access, strollers and infant seats — one Vodice two-park tour is explicitly wheelchair accessible, including transport. Small speedboats and RIBs are not wheelchair accessible.
On land there are no paved or adapted paths. Trails are rough stony karst and shorelines are pebble or rock, so shore visits generally require assistance.
Elderly visitors do well staying aboard a large excursion boat: the day is seated cruising with a long lunch stop and one or two optional swim breaks. Boarding involves steps at piers, and the open-sea crossing can get bumpy — anyone prone to seasickness should take medication and pick calm-weather days.
Shallow, sheltered swimming at Lojena on Levrnaka and the Vruje/Lavsa anchorages suits families with children. Note there's no medical facility inside the park; nearest first aid is in Murter or Sali on Dugi Otok.
There is no drinking water supply, no shops of any scale and no medical care inside the park. Pack for a self-sufficient day: water, sun protection, a wind layer and cash.
Food and drink options are limited to about 20 seasonal konobas (taverns) in bays like Lavsa, Ravni Žakan and Anica, serving grilled fish and lamb near the waterline — high season only. The one store is the small shop on Vela Panitula by ACI Piškera, plus seasonal boat-shops.
Nearest first aid stations are in Murter and Sali (Dugi Otok); the closest hospital is in Šibenik, and the hyperbaric centre for diving accidents is in Split. Call 112 in an emergency — rescue response across the archipelago takes time.
Overnight options: anchoring at the 16 designated bays with a valid ticket, berths at ACI marina Piškera (ticket included with the berth fee), or small houses and rooms rented through Murter agencies. Camping outside authorised camps is forbidden.
Every visitor must hold a valid park ticket for each day; the tariff is charged per boat, not per person, and buying from rangers inside the park costs more.
Zones and anchoring. Four strict-protection zones are completely off-limits, including swimming: Purara islet with Klint and Volić reefs, Mrtenjak, Kolobučar, and Small and Great Obručan. Anchoring and overnight stays are permitted only at 16 designated bays.
On land. All land is privately owned, so hiking is allowed only on specially marked trails. Lighting fires is allowed only in settlements or marked locations. Prohibited throughout: firearms and spear guns, picking or damaging plants, disturbing animals, stacking stone cairns, and drones without a permit (drone filming is €1,400/day; commercial filming €800/day).
Water activities. Autonomous diving requires an organised group and an advance park licence (€15 per diver; unlicensed dives cost €400). Fishing needs a licence — €20 for one day, €40 for three — on top of the daily ticket.
Fines. Tour boats with misreported passengers or unreported entry face €1,000–4,000. There are no child or senior discounts; the only per-person rates are the 'Life in Kornati Household' programme (€2/day) and student tours (€1.50/day).
Yes, on organised day tours the park ticket is included in the tour price of roughly €35–40 per person — you pay nothing separate. The Vodice two-park tour also includes the Telašćica ticket. If you're entering with your own boat, that's different: the tariff is per boat per day (€25/€45 for vessels under 7 m bought in advance), and buying from rangers inside the park costs roughly double.
Zadar and Šibenik are both about 15 nautical miles from the park, so full-day tours from there run 9–10 hours door to door. One fast boat out of Zadar covers the crossing in 2 hours 20 minutes with breakfast served on the way. Murter is only ~7 nm away, so tours from there spend the least time in transit and the most among the islands.
Yes — swimming is allowed everywhere in the park except the four strict-protection zones (around Purara, Mrtenjak, Kolobučar and the Obručan islets), and tours steer well clear of those. The classic stop is Lojena pebble beach on Levrnaka, where some tours give you two hours in the turquoise shallows. Several operators include snorkel gear; the half-day speedboat trip also stops at Emerald Aba bay specifically for snorkelling.
Telašćica is a separate nature park on Dugi Otok, added to the national park in 1988, and several tours from Vodice, Zadar and Biograd cover both in one day. You get the Stene cliffs, which rise over 160 m out of the sea, plus the swimmable Mir salt lake behind them. One Zadar cruise gives you two hours ashore at Telašćica before lunch. It makes for a long day (8.5–10 hours) but you see the cliffs and the salt lake without a second trip.
Murter, if you want maximum time in the park — it's only ~7 nm away versus ~15 nm from Zadar or Šibenik. Zadar and Šibenik trips run longer but add scenery: Šibenik departures often include the coastal cruise through St. Anthony's Channel. Vodice and Biograd work well if that's where you're based, and a Biograd small-group tour caps passenger numbers at 15.
No. There is no scheduled ferry service into the national park and no bridge — access is by licensed excursion boat, private charter, or your own vessel with a valid park ticket. Operators under contract with the park include Katarina Line, Forum Tours, MAČEK and NEVIKA CRUISE, running daily in July and August and as joinable group departures in shoulder months.
The larger excursion boats work well for both: the day is mostly seated cruising with a long lunch stop and optional swim breaks, and many operators provide strollers and infant seats. Half-day speedboat trips are a different story — one 12-passenger tour advises against bringing small children without close supervision, and lists pregnancy and cardiovascular problems as reasons to skip it. There's no medical facility in the park, so bring what you need.
Tour operators allow free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure, and if they cancel for bad weather you get an alternative date or a full refund. Park tickets bought separately are stricter: no cancellations at all, and one date change per season, requested by email to [email protected] by 12:00 the day before. The bura blows 6+ Beaufort roughly 37 days a year, so book tours with a fair-weather policy and keep a spare day in shoulder season.
Only by boat. Sailors may anchor overnight at 16 designated bays — Stiniva, Šipnate, Vruje, Opat, Ravni Žakan, Lavsa, Piškera–Vela Panitula and Anica among them. Guests at ACI marina Piškera get the park ticket included with the berth fee, valid for the arrival day plus the next day until 19:00. Small houses and rooms can be rented through Murter agencies; camping outside authorised camps is strictly forbidden.
Almost certainly. The 'crowns' — vertical fault cliffs rising more than 80 m above the sea at Klobučar and plunging over 90 m below it near Piškera — are the standard highlight of every route, and boats slow down for photos. The Vodice tour passes Klobučar, the highest cliff in the area, by name. Telašćica add-ons take you past the even taller Stene cliffs, over 160 m, on Dugi Otok.
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This is a small-group boat trip capped at 15 guests, departing from Biograd at 9 AM and running about 8 hours 30 minutes. After roughly 90 minutes on the water, the first stop is a morning snack with swimming and snorkelling just north of Žut Island (45 minutes). From there, the boat tours the north-western Kornati archipelago from the deck before heading to the main stop. The longest stop is Telašćica Bay on Dugi Otok — 120 minutes. Lunch is served aboard, and the free time covers swimming in the sea or the salt lake Mir, and walking up to viewpoints over the high cliffs. On the way back there's a 40-minute break on the south side of Pašman Island for a dip and a snack before the return to Biograd. Lunch, snacks, carbonated and alcoholic drinks, fuel surcharges, and the park entrance tickets are all included. Check in at the operator's office with the booking confirmation document before boarding. The guide speaks English. Bring swimwear and sunscreen; comfortable shoes are recommended for the Telašćica viewpoints, plus a long-sleeve shirt in case of wind. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
English
This 8.5-hour tour runs from Vodice aboard two boats, Ina and Dida Frane, and covers both Kornati National Park and Telašćica Nature Park in one day. The route passes Klobučar, the highest cliff in the area, and sights include the late Romanesque church of Our Lady of Tarac on Kornat island and Tureta, a 6th-century Byzantine fortress built under Justinian. Around 11:15 the boat enters Kornati National Park. Arrival at Telašćica is around 12:00, with roughly three hours free there — time for a swim in the sea or the park's salt lake. Departure from Telašćica is at 14:45, returning along the upper route through the narrow passage of Mala Proversa. Lunch, an expert guide, all fees and taxes, and entrance tickets to both parks are included. Guides speak German, English, and Croatian. The tour is plastic-free and zero waste. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
German, English, Croatian
A 4h 30min boat tour capped at 12 adult passengers, run by a local English-speaking skipper/guide who tailors the route to avoid crowds and rush hours. Two stops anchor the itinerary: a snorkeling and swimming stop in Emerald Aba bay, then 90 minutes on the private island of Levrnaka at Lojena bay — the only sandy-and-pebble lagoon in this area. There you can swim, snorkel, or play picigin, the unofficial Dalmatian shallow-water ball game. The return route cruises past Zadar's sea promenade for a view of the Sea Organ from the water. Hill-top walks and a restaurant lunch are optional add-ons along the way. Included: entrance fees, fuel and boat costs, bottled water, bar snacks, snorkeling gear, a windproof jacket, safety kit, and the skipper/guide. Lunch is not included. Anchoring and berthing fees are €20 per person, payable in cash at check-in. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
English
This 10-hour trip runs on a fast boat out of Zadar, which keeps transit short: 2 hours 20 minutes to reach the park, with breakfast and coffee served during the crossing. First stop is Lojena beach for a two-hour swim break in turquoise water. You then cruise the island labyrinth, with a photo stop at Mana island — white cliffs and the ruins of an old movie set. The final hour goes to Kukljica, a fishing village at the entrance to the archipelago, with time for a swim or a walk around. Breakfast and lunch are both included, along with soft drinks and alcoholic beverages, plus a guide in English or Polish. Three swimming and sightseeing stops total. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
English, Polish
The boat leaves Zadar at 08:30 and returns at 18:00, covering two parks in one long day. First stop is Telašćica Nature Park on Dugi Otok at 10:30, where you get two hours ashore — enough for a swim or a walk toward the cliffs above the bay. Back on board by 12:30 for a Dalmatian lunch of grilled fish or chicken with salad, served while the boat sails on. Kornati National Park comes at 13:40, with 90 minutes allocated for a sandy-beach swim break. Snorkeling equipment is available on board. The commentary is in English. Breakfast and lunch are both included, and wine is free during lunch; water and juice flow for the whole tour, along with on-board WiFi. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
English