Croatia · Dalmatia

Lake Mir

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Mir

Lake Mir is a salt lake in the south-west of Telašćica Nature Park on Dugi Otok, between the sheltered Telašćica Bay and the open sea, from which only a narrow strip of land called Priseka divides it. With the bay and the sea cliffs, it is one of the park’s three great sights, and its warm water is said to have healing properties.

How it formed

Mir formed after the last Ice Age, when the rising sea flooded a karst hollow on Dugi Otok. Sea water still seeps in through countless fine cracks in the rock, mostly on the northern side, and at high tide its springs can be seen. The lake is saltier than the sea around it, and its temperature swings more widely: in summer it can be several degrees warmer than the sea.

History

Telašćica was first protected in 1980 and proclaimed a nature park in 1988, for its deeply indented bay, the lake and the high cliffs on the open-sea side, where Eleonora’s falcons nest and dolphins are often seen in the water below.

Nature

Healing mud, known locally as fanga, lies in the south-eastern part of the lake; the deeper bed is fine clay and the shallows are rocky, with karst grooves and a few sandy stretches. The lake is home to an endemic eel the islanders call bižat or kajman, as well as sea bass, snails, crabs and shellfish, and the park’s free-roaming donkeys graze around its shores.

Gallery

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Photo: Ivo Finka · CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Harald Hetzner · CC0

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Swimming

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Tips

Lake Mir, in Telašćica Nature Park on Dugi Otok, is a salt lake that is always a few degrees warmer than the sea, and warmer and saltier because of its underground links to it; swimming is possible and there are shaded picnic spots. The park is open all year, though tours thin out from October to April, and an entrance fee is charged. Visit in spring or autumn, or early in the morning, to avoid the crowds.

A circular path of about 2 km goes round the lake, and another links it with Mir Bay. The park’s own transport, included in the ticket, runs from the Dolac entrance or Mir Bay to the Grpašćak visitor centre, whose tower looks out over the cliffs. The park can be reached by boat, on an excursion or your own vessel, or by road from Sali, the nearest town, where the park office is. Approach the donkeys slowly and do not crowd them.