Croatian town Omis
Seaside town Omis
Omis is a small town in Croatia at the estuary of the Cetina River into the sea, about 25 kilometres (30 minutes) south of Split.
Omis is known for being used by pirates around the fourteenth century. The river is surrounded by mountains and was a good place to hide to rob the sea-going merchant ships that operated between Dubrovnik, Venice and Naples.
Not only the ability to hide played a role, but also the fact that sea vessels could not navigate the river. The pirates had even built a fortress and concluded an agreement with the surrounding villages on non-aggression and ‘cooperation’.
There isn’t much to do in the town itself, although it has its own charm and a large parking lot, which is essential when traveling by car. However, we did not go to Omis to look for pirates – the purpose of the trip was to ride one of the longest zipline tracks in Europe. The track consists of seven descents of different lengths with a total cableway length of more than two kilometres.
Zipline
The cableways are divided into eight sections, the longest of which is 700 meters, while the others are much shorter. The good news is that each run is different – one steeper and faster, another flatter, but with better views around. The whole event takes place at an average height of 150 metres above sea level.
The price of the attraction is 400 Croatian Kuna (about 45 euros) per person, but children under the age of six are not allowed to participate. It should be noted that it is not possible to leave children nearby, as you will be taken to the starting point in the mountains and later collected to go back to the town from another location.
It all starts in the town centre, where Zipline Omis Croatia has an office. Before that we left the car in the parking lot about a five-minute walk from the office. When we arrived, we had to sign documents and pay (payment can only be made in cash in local currency, but from January 2023, according to the latest news in the summer of 2022, Croatia will join the euro zone, so the inconvenience of currency exchange will also disappear).
After a short wait, while all those who wanted to go to zipline gathered (about 12 people), we went to the parking lot nearby, where two buses with instructors and equipment were waiting for us. Each group is accompanied by two instructors, the first of whom goes to the destination and the second as the last of the group joins everyone else for the next ride.
When we went up the hill, everyone was given equipment and about half an hour was spent on briefing and test drives on a 20-meter-long training track. Those who failed the short practice run the first time were given the opportunity to repeat until they did succeed. After all that, we went further up the mountain to the first real ride.
The first ride was the longest and the view was spectacular. The good news is that it is relatively flat section and the speed is not high. It’s a bit nerve-wracking that the wind moves the riders while riding across the canyon, but the view around is fantastic!
You can see everything else on the Zipline website. I can only add that the instructors were professionals and the whole event passed so quickly that one could only wonder where the time disappeared. After the ride, we all took pictures together and the buses took us back to the town centre.
Lunch near Omis
After a job well done, you need to also rest well. We asked the locals where we could eat and went to the recommended Restoran Radmanove Mlinice on the banks of the Cetina River, some five or six kilometres outside the town. In general, this place was something very similar to a recreation complex.
Rented boats with passengers and rafters with kayaks were going back and forth along the river. By the way, rafting is the second most popular form of entertainment in Omis area and agents offer rafting on the sides of the streets near their small shops.
The restaurant is impressive in size and the service is very fast. The prices are also very good; looking at what the actual demand is and the food offered, I even would expect being asked paying a little more.
After a good lunch, we went back to our home in Sevid using different route; we drove through the mountains. To sum up, the whole day was really successful!