POMALO is the magic word in Croatia.
Literally translated, it means “slowly”. But it has come to mean so much more.
The Dalmatian coast in mid-August is the jewel of the eastern Adriatic.
Its historic towns, islands and beaches throng with tourists.
But despite the height-of-summer crowds, it never feels too packed.
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The locals are relaxed even as another cruise ship pours a thousand holidaymakers onto the streets of Zadar.
And this sense of zen-like calm is deeply infectious. This is pomalo.
Croatians don’t get stressed or angry.
They don’t hurry down pavements with sharp elbows like city commuters in the UK.
They relax and welcome you with open arms.
We were staying at the Zaton Holiday Resort with Eurocamp in an air-conditioned Azure holiday home with all the mod cons.
The calm Croatian energy filtered into this camp and even with our very late arrival, there was no drama.
Staff had left the lights on outside to help us find it and the keys on the kitchen counter.
This meant we had plenty of rest before our first excursion, 75km inland at the Riva Rafting Centar in Kastel Žegarski.
We were tooled up with helmets and life jackets before bobbing out onto the river Zrmanja.
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It’s the perfect introduction to the Croatian countryside.
Your guide takes you 14.5km downriver, over babbling waterfalls, between cliffs and along pebble-lined river banks.
There’s nothing too scary or challenging so it’s fine for young children.
Watershoes or old trainers are a must as halfway down the boats have to be hauled over an impassable 11-metre waterfall.
Your guide will do the hard work while you clamber down a neighbouring path and get a chance for a waterfall selfie.
Then, after a swimming pitstop, you continue down river to the final challenge, a five-metre waterfall which you can paddle over with one person on board.
The kids can then take turns dive bombing off the top into the foaming waters below.
After working up a sizeable appetite on the four-hour trip, we headed for lunch at the Micanovi Dvori rural homestead.
Nestled in the hills 15 minutes from the river, its shaded terrace offers spectacular views across the valley.
Here we enjoyed huge platters of local grilled meats, vegetables and cheeses — simple, hearty fare with the delicious sweet tang of grill smoke.
On top of sampling the delicious grub, you can’t come to Croatia without exploring the 1,244 islands.
The next day we met our intrepid skipper Antonio to board a speedboat which would whisk us to Dugi Otok and Telascica Nature Park.
We kept a close eye out for dolphins on the two-hour journey before stopping off by the famous “Stene” cliffs of Dugi Otok for a swim in the deep blue ocean.
And deep is the operative word.
The 161m-high cliffs descend another 80 metres below the surface in a sheer drop.
That’s two and a half Big Bens from cliff top to seabed.
We moored at Telascica bay and took a shuttle up to the Telascica Park visitors centre.
It was opened last June at a cost of two million euros and offers a fully-interactive look back into the history of the island.
The micro cracks around the cliffs have allowed the natural salt lake Mir to form inland, which can hit 33C.
And views from the top of centre down towards the island are mesmerising.
The sheer cliffs are framed by the criss-crossing trails of passing speed boats.
On exceptionally clear days, locals have been able to spot the lights of the Italian coast twinkling across the Adriatic 50 miles away.
Looking like Arnie
If you’re feeling less adventurous, the resort has plenty to keep you busy.
Kids can spend all day snorkelling while grown-ups enjoy cocktails on the loungers.
There’s an inflatable water park in the bay, huge swimming complex, horse riding and bike hire, plus reasonably priced restaurants and a supermarket for essentials.
The pizzeria soon became a firm favourite as the kids took the takeaways beachside so they wouldn’t miss any waves.
And the prices are still reasonable despite the introduction of the euro, ten euros for a pizza and four euros for a beer. You would pay double on the Mediterranean.
The site is only ten minutes walk from neighbouring Nin, believed to be the oldest “city” in Croatia.
The old town sits on an island in the lagoon connected by two stone bridges and is packed with history, while the wider town is bordered by incredible sandy beaches.
But it’s the magical lagoon mud that has been hailed as a health booster since Roman times.
Wallow in the gloopy grey magic slop, sunbathe until it dries and then dive into the warm sea.
You go in looking like Arnie running from Predator. You come out refreshed and reborn.
For our final meal, we headed to restaurant Kornat in Zadar, one of the best in the town that offers seafront Croatian dining at its finest, with black tie service and an impeccable local wine list.
We had seabass roll stuffed with shrimp cream, tuna steak with a spinach and wasabi sauce and beef carpaccio with homemade dough cones stuffed with cottage cheese from the island of Pag.
Just make sure you’re not too hungover to tackle Zadar’s mind-bending Museum of Illusion the next day.
The collection of crazy exhibits showcase dozens of optical illusions, culminating in the vortex tunnel.
I won’t spoil it, but be prepared to hold on tight. And channel some of that pomalo spirit.
