Swimming ban announced at Krka National Park  

Swimming ban announced (Photo: Simon Infanger)

ZAGREB, 18 January 2020 – A swimming ban at one of Croatia’s most-visited tourist attractions will come into force on 1 January 2021. 

Krka National Park management announced on Friday that swimming in the park will be banned, citing the need to conserve resources and the richness of biodiversity within the park as the main reasons for the ban. 

“The overall viability of the Krka River basin and its wildlife rests on the development of travertine barriers, so preserving the travertine deposition process is a fundamental goal of Krka National Park. For this reason, there will be a swimming ban in Krka National Park from 1 January 2021. Due to the centuries-old cohabitation of people with the river, swimming is allowed to the local population in the following locations: Stinice, Remetić – Pisak and downstream of Roški Waterfall,” NP Krka said. 

This means this will be the last summer which tourists will be able to swim at Skradinski buk, the longest, most-famous and most-visited waterfall on the Krka River. 

“On the eve of its 35th birthday, Krka National Park is facing the adoption of important strategic documents that will determine the path we want to go towards in thee future. What kind of ecosystem we will leave to future generations is our most important task. After many years of thought and numerous researches, consideration of the needs of both nature and us, who in one way or another use what Krka has given us, measures have been adopted that will contribute to long-term sustainable management and protection of nature, ”said Krka National Park director Nella Slavica.

Krka NP (Photo: Agnieszka M)

The new measure is not the first the National Park has introduced to help preserve one of Croatia’s true natural gems as visitor numbers continue to grow every year. In 2017, the National Park announced that a maximum of 10,000 visitors would only be permitted at one time at Skradinski buk.

National Parks are one of Croatia’s strongest brands, with close to 4 million visitors to them last year. Most of this traffic happens in July and August.