Lastovo Islands Nature Park, Nature park with 46 islands in Dalmatia, Croatia.
Lastovo Islands Nature Park is an archipelago of over 40 islands, islets, and reefs in the southern Dalmatian Sea, Croatia. The protected area covers both land and open water, with rocky coastlines, pine forests, and sea floors that include meadows of posidonia seagrass.
Lastovo was long one of the more isolated inhabited islands in the Adriatic, passing through the hands of Ragusa, Austria, and Yugoslavia before becoming part of modern Croatia. The park status was granted in 2006, reflecting growing concern for the health of the surrounding sea.
Lastovo island is known for the Poklad carnival, a local tradition where a straw figure is paraded through the village and then burned as a symbol of victory over past invaders. This event draws visitors each year and remains a living part of daily island life.
The islands are accessible only by boat, with ferry connections from the mainland coast running more often in summer than in the rest of the year. Once there, you can explore the coast on foot or by small boat, as roads between the islands do not exist.
The waters around Lastovo are among the least fished in the Adriatic, which has allowed red coral and some endemic fish species to survive in shallow areas where they have largely disappeared elsewhere. Divers regularly encounter species that are now rare in other parts of the Mediterranean.
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