Novalja, op het eiland Pag in Kroatie (Dalmatie), wordt de laatste jaren steeds populairder. Geen recente topics over, vandaar deze voor de zomer 2008.
Schijnt echt een leuke feestbestemming te zijn, met enkele discotheken op Beach Zrce waar 24uur per dag gefeest kan worden. Hierdoor wordt het ook wel 'het Ibiza van Kroatie' genoemd. 20 minuten lopen van Beach Zrce bevindt zich het centrum van Novalja.
Wil komende zomer misschien wel met de auto richting Novalja reizen.
Mensen die er al wel eens geweest zijn en tips hebben? Is Novalja echt een aanrader of niet?
En zijn er nog mensen die er ook over nadenken, of zelfs al geboekt hebben voor 2008??
donateur
Uitspraak van Ppowi op maandag 28 januari 2008 om 16:22:
Er gaat tot 24.00 om de 15/30 min een pendelbus heen en weer van het centrum naar het strand en anders rond de 20 min lopen dus dat valt toch allemaal wel mee.
Uitspraak van verwijderd op dinsdag 29 januari 2008 om 15:44:
Beach Zrce zit nu eenmaal enkele km van Novalja vandaan en dus zo goed als alle appartementen/hotels zitten op 2 a 3 km van Zrce. De gehele dag gaan er genoeg pendelbusjes die geen drol kosten.. dus dat is verder geen probleem
Dit kwam ik tegen op internet, is wel interresante info...
Novalja - an oasis of sex, drugs and alcoholNovalja, once a quiet family tourism destination on the island of Pag, this summer has turned into an industry of wild partying: even though tens of thousands of young people spend every night on Zre Beach, the locals claim there is no financial benefit from this kind of tourism
Novalja is a tourism destination which has a questionable future according to the locals. “If you haven’t sold land or a kilo of cocaine, you’re in for a bad winter,” is a phrase frequently heard among the residents of Novalja. The locals complain that the tourism season this year has lasted only three weeks and that less than half of the expected revenues will be achieved, all due to the blossoming of the new brand of tourism on Zre Beach. Before the war, Novalja was primarily a family vacation spot, and the majority of tourists came from western European countries, especially Germany. In recent years, the number of overnight stays has dropped from 750,000 to 450,000. The guest structure has also changed. New tourists are exclusively young guests who come for three to four days of non-stop partying. The partying lasts until the early morning hours, and the people of Novalja say that it is impossible to get any rest. Many locals have witnessed the sexual relations of drugged couples in public places. The owners of private accommodations claim that they have had to carry out drugged guests unable to leaving the accommodations on their own at the set time. The municipal workers claim that Zre, one of the most beautiful Adriatic beaches, is now full of needles. All this has resulted in the end of family tourism at Novalja. For this reason, the overall tourism infrastructure has been threatened, as these new tourists do not eat out in restaurants, they don’t buy anything and they spend little time in the town. Many locals claim that Zre has become a place where people can obtain and consume narcotics without any fear, and that the only profits in Novalja remain in the hands of the dealers. The people of Novalja also claim that the police have not conducted any drug raids on Zre Beach. When Nacional tried to obtain a statement from the mayor of Novalja, Ivan Dabe from HDZ, we were told that he was away on official business and that he did not want to “talk about this issue by telephone”.
Exceptionally popular at Papaya are cocktails from 100 to 150 kuna, make in pitchers and served with 5-6 straws, so that whole gang can look as though they are enjoying cocktails. Without any money, all that is left is to dance till dawn, and happen upon what everyone comes to Zre for, and that is sex. Novalja, a town of 1800 residents on the island of Pag, is under the great influence of the church and the 14 year HDZ rule. This summer, the town turned into a gathering place for thousands of youth when word got out that the well known Zre Beach had been proclaimed Croatia’s Ibiza. In other words, that this was Croatia’s version of the Spanish tourism town where dance music blares 24/7, and alcohol is consumed in such quantities and that sex is always at your fingertips, to be practiced both on the beach and in the centre of town, in rooms and apartments, especially if the participants are in a hurry. This does not bother the youth, but in this very conservative town, Novalja parish priest Josip Kosi is pulling his hair out and asking what happened, asking whether these parents know what their children are doing. In the end, the people of Novalja have also begun to speak up as well.
The hype surrounding Novalja began two years ago. Until that point, the only club on Zre Beach was ‘Kalypso’, owned by local Boris Sulji. Without much investment, he created a club among the pine trees which functioned perfectly, only because the club and the beach are five kilometers from Novalja and the noise didn’t bother anyone. Ten years ago, singer Ivana Banfi filmed her video at the Kalypso club, and sang “It’s wonderful to bite the salt off of you”. The media presentation was excellent and since then, Novalja has been an attractive tourism destination. Two years ago, the clubs Papaya and Aquarius were also opened. Paradoxically, two years ago, neither club was very busy, which was very worrying for their Zagreb owners. However, last year that all changed. Papaya and Aquarius, alongside Kalypso, became a must visit place for under 25s. The owners of Papaya quickly realized that there was big potential here, and this winter they began their action to turn Zre into Croatia’s Ibiza. Ozren Brunovi, one of the co-owners of Papaya, explained for Nacional that their goal was to bring as many young people to Zre as possible, and this winter they founded the tourist agency Papaya Tours in order to direct young people to Novalja. “We had the support of the Novalja authorities, the mayor was constantly encouraging us, and we even received a permit to remain working until 6 a.m.,” said Brunovi. That was the only cooperation between the city authorities and the club owners, which proves that the people of Novalja had no idea what they were in for this summer.
The result was an invasion of youth into Novalja, both those who chose this as a vacation spot for the crazy night life and those from other parts of Dalmatia who came only for one night to see for themselves whether Novalja truly had become Sodom and Gomorra, full of immorality, at least according to the Croatian rumours. And not only that. Novalja is also full of tourists from Holland, France and Spain that would never be expected to come to Croatia, let alone to Novalja.
Novalja has its daily party rhythm and it is well known where the party is when. The craziness begins at 5 p.m. with the after beach party at the Zre clubs. Fresh from tanning and swimming, guests head to Papaya and Aquarius to dance in their bathing suits till 8 p.m. and to get ready for the night life. Of course, two to three hours of watching young bodies boogying on the dance floor and shallow swimming pools for some is not a warm-up but more like early overheating, especially if one comes across two Slovenian girls who put on quite a show at the after beach party. The girls began their exhibition while dancing the first night of their vacation, when they kissed and touched each other openly, but considering that Aquarius is poorly lit and they were not noticed enough, they decided instead on a daytime show. They showed up for the after beach party at Papaya, and after an introductory dance began kissing, which lead the horny masses to incite them into more radical moves. Allegedly, they each received 130 Euro to continue the show, and no one complained when they stripped naked, kissed and nibbled on each other’s most intimate body parts. Cameras were pulled out of backpacks, the audience cooled off with litres of beer and since then, few have dared to miss the after beach party. The Slovenian girls quickly disappeared, the pimply adolescents hope their successors will appear soon, and the after beach party continues to fill the clubs with guests who hope for at least a topless show, if not something more.
The night life begins at the Cocomo, the main city bar, owned by Josip Šonje who renovated the club and expanded the terrace last winter. He also had no idea what was cooking, and now he is very happy to have decided on the renovations. The Cocomo was popular earlier, and footballers Silvijo Mari, Igor Bišan, Davor Vugrinec, brothers Dario and Josip Šimi and the Swedish national player Zlatan Ibrahimovi made nightly appearances in early July. Numerous TV personalities, such as Iva Gai, Tatjana Juri, Tihana Zrni and others also showed up. Though the prices are not radical – a soda costs 12 kuna, and a Bacardi Breezer 30 kuna – the Cocomo is still not a bar for everyone. Some cannot afford to drink both at the Cocomo and at Zre, so only those able to spend a minimum of 200 kuna per night on alcohol come to the Cocomo. Of course, because of those guests, the bar is full of women hoping that they will spend at least that much on them. Josip Šonje is exceptionally pleased with this year’s turnover and the profile of this year’s guests. He says that no summer has ever been this successful. In August, it was virtually impossible to walk through Cocomo due to the number of people inside. Two cocktail masters have been brought in from Prague, and this bar has become a haven for those who think that Zre is too busy and who head off to sleep at 3 a.m., when the music is turned off at the Cocomo. Also, there are no incidents at the Cocomo, there is no security, and all disagreements are personally handled by the owner Josip.
Between midnight and 1 a.m., the guests leave Cocomo and head for Zre, either by car or by converted mini-buses, some without windows or even roofs, and the one-way ride costs 10 kuna. Traveling by car is pure suicide, as at that time, there is a 3 kilometre long line. Though large, the parking lot at Zre cannot handle all the cars. While driving slowly towards the parking lot, there is always a chance of hitting someone who drank too much too early in the night. One night, a young girl, not more than 17, fell drunk on the ground right in front of our car. While we were in a panic thinking how we had almost run her over, her friends lifted her up and were howling with laughter. There are many such cases, as those wanting to save the 10 kuna bus fare walk the 5 km from Novalja to Zre. It is virtually impossible to find a parking spot and when we got out of the car we were faced with the true pathetic nature of Croatian tourism. All around us, the sounds of Serbian folk music was blaring out of car windows, and girls and guys were pulling out wine and beer to get ready (in the cheapest way possible) for the all-night party. The paradox is that Aquarius and Papaya play dance music and the hottest hits, and it is difficult to explain how Ceca Raznatovi and cheap red wine could be considered a warmup for later hitting on girls dancing to Faithless and Yossou N’Doura, and who have belly rings, tattoos on the small of their backs and g-strings, intentionally peeking out from above their pants or mini skirts.
And this is the most common type of girl on Zre. There are many to choose from, as well as men, who two months before heading to Zre spent all their time in the gym, pumping up and shaping their bodies. The guests are somewhat younger at Aquarius than Papaya, but still young enough that there is more dancing and kissing going on than buying drinks. The prices are a shade higher than at the Cocomo. Which makes the wine-beer drinking in the parking lot somewhat understandable. When we asked Dean Labor from Aquarius if he was satisfied with drink sales, he sincerely said ‘Not really’, and just like at Papaya, it is easiest to make your way to the bar. Exceptionally popular at Papaya are cocktails from 100 to 150 kuna, make in pitchers and served with 5-6 straws, so that whole gang can look as though they are enjoying cocktails. Without any money, all that is left is to dance till dawn, and happen upon what everyone comes to Zre for, and that is sex.
Sex is the main reason why the residents of Novalja are appalled. For days, they have been talking about a couple who had intercourse in the centre of town, standing against the wall of Credo Bank at 7 a.m. In one version, she was leaned up on the bank machine, and he was behind her. It is difficult to reconstruct what really happened, but no one can recall whether Novalja has ever been so shocked. The most frequent tales take place at Zre Beach, which is not lit, making it perfect for a little sex. Then follow the nearby forests, the backseats of cars in the parking lot and so on, all the way to standard rooms. However, the locals are also not pleased with this most traditional variety of sex, and one young man told us of how he was virtually thrown out of a rented room because the owner couldn’t sleep all night due to the yells and moans coming from his room. Sex is the main culprit, followed by alcohol, while drugs in Novalja are present in small quantities and do not stand out. We saw for ourselves one morning on our way back from Zre that the youth are hungry for adventure and sex, when we saw two girls walking home from the beach. In the opposite direction came a car with Zadar license plates and the guys inside began immediately to trying to talk the girls into coming back to the beach with them. After an initial polite rejection, they got into the car and the driver winked at us and said “Did you see how they don’t want to? Don’t want to, but they do!” Simply, all those who head home alone from Zre feel very sad. A recent analysis in Spain’s Ibiza showed that in 10 days at Ibiza, every 10th man had slept with more than one woman, while every 7th woman had slept with more than one man. These figures have not yet been achieved at Novalja, which is no surprise, as it is still in its infancy.
Of course, sex is not punishable, but intoxicated driving is, but you will not see any police officers at that hour in Novalja. Until two years ago, there would be a police officer standing at the exit of Zre towards the Gajac settlement who would catch drunk drivers. Last year, that police officer disappeared, and he is nowhere to be seen this year. However, this year in Novalja, not a single serious traffic accident has been recorded. Those well acquainted with the situation claim that there are too few police officers in Novalja, and they are afraid to enter into a conflict with the mass of young people, as that could result in unrest. In that event, it would be necessary to call in the special police forces, which are in Gospi and therefore of no help. Therefore at 6 a.m., when the music is shut off at Zre, the mass of youth, many of whom have no idea where they are, head back to Novalja. No longer do they have 10 kuna for the mini-bus home, they never had cars and they head back on foot to find the houses they sleep in. They meet with the local population heading off to work and who can’t believe their eyes, and in a recent interview for Novi List, the Novalja parish priest stressed that these scenes are ultimately unacceptable for him and the people of Novalja.
Though one could simply wave their arm at all the complaints by the local population, because tourism brings money, but this is not exactly the case. Next spring, the local elections will be held, and the Novalja HDZ will have to offer its voters something in return for their votes. It is logical that they will promise the construction of a large hotel, the likes of which does not exist in Novalja, apartment complexes or new clubs on Zre to attract even more guests to Novalja. Those well acquainted with the situation here claim that HDZ will have to promise to put an end to the immorality, as that is the only thing that will satisfy the voters. In that case, HDZ could promise, for example, to cut back the work permit for clubs on Zre from 6 to 4 a.m. That would act to slow that tourism invasion of youth and will get the teenagers off the Novalja streets at 7 a.m., and as such Croatia’s Ibiza will have lasted for only one summer. The club owners do not believe this, and Brunovi has already announced that he will hire an Italian PR company next year to bring young Italians to Zre.
Iemand enig idee hoe je weer terug komt van het Zrce strand naar het centrum?
3-5 km lopen lijkt me namelijk niet zo'n goed plan!!
Kan iemand mij verder vertellen of het publiek daar ouder is dan de gemiddelde Nederlander die erheen gaat?
Iemand enig idee hoe je weer terug komt van het Zrce strand naar het centrum?
Nou vorig jaar ging er rond 4 uur geloof ik ook nog een bus naar novalja toe..
je hebt ook 1 bus met geen ramen, en dat is echt zo koud!
En het zijn hele kleine busjes, en bij de bushalte is het altijd propvol
En het valt best mee met hoe ver het is!
Als je met de auto gaat ben je binnen 2 minuten ofzo.
Hebben ook geboekt, appartementen Novalja centrum 15 juli 8dagen met 4 personen
Weet iemand hoe het met de man/vrouw verhouding zit op Zrce?
En is het niet mogelijk om kustwandeling te maken ofzo? Liever wandelingetje dan zo een bomvolle bus! Kan je gelijk alcohol beetje uit je lichaam lopen
En is het niet mogelijk om kustwandeling te maken ofzo
Je kan heel het eiland rond lopen,
denk dat de alcohol dan wel weg is haha
Las net dat er van de zomer een soort festival is, MOTOMUSIC ofzo.. Geen idee wat het precies is, maar er schijnen allemaal internationale DJ'S te komen
Las net dat er van de zomer een soort festival is, MOTOMUSIC ofzo.. Geen idee wat het precies is, maar er schijnen allemaal internationale DJ'S te komen
Ik kreeg 'm ook; paar jaar terug via Gogo geboekt en ze blijven me spammen; dit mailtje vond ik echter wel leuk
"DJ Tiësto in Novalja!
Novalja is de hipste partybestemming uit ons aanbod en wordt niet voor niets het Ibiza van Kroatië genoemd. Wat hier gebeurt, heb je werkelijk nog nooit meegemaakt. In de middag knalt de muziek, die door vele bekende en gave dj's gedraaid wordt, al uit de boxen van de trendy strandtenten.
Lekker luieren is mogelijk, maar eigenlijk kun je er niet omheen om helemaal los te gaan op de coole muziek op het strand of in de zwembaden waar je drankje zelfs in het water geserveerd wordt. Voor de beste strandfeesten moet je op het Zrce-strand zijn. Dit is een langgerekt strand met verschillende clubs en natuurlijk de schitterende zee. Je kunt hier verschillende watersporten beoefenen of van 's middags tot 's morgens vroeg swingen in de openluchtclubs zoals Club Papaya. Onze eigen DJ Tiësto zal in Club Papaya een fantastisch optreden verzorgen op 16 juli 2008 tijdens het MOTOMUSIC Summer Festival. Dat wil je niet missen!
Boek nu een vakantie naar Novalja en zorg dat je op 16 juli in Club Papaya te vinden bent!"
Maar jij zit er dus ook vanaf de 15e Rianne (Curly..)? Wat hebben wij mazzel he! net op tijd
Nog meer mensen die geboekt hebben via BeachMasters maar die ook problemen hebben met hun boeking. Inmiddels 2,5 geleden geboekt maar nog steeds niet gehoord. Na 10 x bellen en min. 20 minuten in de wacht te hebben gestaan, eindelijk iemand aan de lijn gekregen die zei dat ze nog aan het onderhandelen waren met de mensen daar o.i.d.
Iemand meer informatie?
Maar jij zit er dus ook vanaf de 15e Rianne (Curly..)? Wat hebben wij mazzel he! net op tijd
Yep! We komen de 15e aan denk ik... gaan de 14e weg!
Ben benieuwd!
Nog meer mensen die geboekt hebben via BeachMasters maar die ook problemen hebben met hun boeking. Inmiddels 2,5 geleden geboekt maar nog steeds niet gehoord. Na 10 x bellen en min. 20 minuten in de wacht te hebben gestaan, eindelijk iemand aan de lijn gekregen die zei dat ze nog aan het onderhandelen waren met de mensen daar o.i.d.
Iemand meer informatie?
Wij hebben iets van een maand terug geboekt met beachmasters, maar kreeg gelijk een bevestiging en een dag later de factuur via mail, hebben ook al aanbetaald dus zou nog maar is bellen dan....
Ik ga ook naar novalja op 14 juli
Ik ga gezellig met een vriendin op een camping zitten en 16 juli draait tiesto in novalja dus zeker dat dat een mooi feest wordt!! We gaan waarschijnlijk met X-travel
[H. Moody] Nog meer mensen die geboekt hebben via BeachMasters maar die ook problemen hebben met hun boeking. Inmiddels 2,5 geleden geboekt maar nog steeds niet gehoord. Na 10 x bellen en min. 20 minuten in de wacht te hebben gestaan, eindelijk iemand aan de lijn gekregen die zei dat ze nog aan het onderhandelen waren met de mensen daar o.i.d.
Iemand meer informatie?
16.07 Tiesto
17.07 Axwell
18.07 Sebastian Ingrosso & Steve Angelo
19.07 Freemasons
01.08 Junoir Jack & Kid Creme
07.08 Joe T. Vannelli
08.08 Armand van Helden
wat de fock boeit datoptredentje van tiesto haha
wel leuk om te zien dat novalja ook grote djs ontvangt maar verder boeit het me niet veel word toch wel gezellig!
helaas moet ik jullie teleurstellen, toen wij er vorig jaar (begin aug) waren, waren er amper zweedse dames te bekennen. en over engelse nog maar te zwijgen...
Wat wij vooral tegen kwamen, waren kroatische en duitse dames, die in eerste instantie erg aardig zijn, maar als ze er achter komen dat je uit NL komt, alleen maar drugs willen.
![[img width=640 height=452 cacheid=001289bc002a79e6fd4f77881a022984d8]http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj220/inart1/FestivalAmsterdambooklet1.jpg[/img]](/images/cache/001289bc002a79e6fd4f77881a022984d8 "Bron: http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj220/inart1/FestivalAmsterdambooklet1.jpg")
