The river of Cetina

Without any doubt, the Cetina River is one of the most beautiful places in Croatia for freshwater kayaking white water rafting. It is situated in a luscious region surrounded by quaint little villages and is very important, both historically and archaeologically, and is definitely the place to go for.

The Cetina River is navigable from its mouth to "Radmanove Mlinice" (7 km), a favourite local spot for outings. The river is clear and tranquil as it passes through its high canyon. A visit to the so-called “Islands of Love” is a pleasure for lazy vacationers in motor boats. They can be rented at the bridge on the Cetina’s right bank. Large groups can find a bigger boat, on which “Captain Vlaho” can take you to "Radmanove Mlinice" or "Kaštil Slanica". Since "Radmanove Mlinice" is only open from May 1, we recommend "Kaštil Slanica", which has a classic restaurant that offers local specialties (frog, eel, trout), game (venison, boar, water hen) and home-made bread. Visitors can also rent rafts at Slanica. Those who prefer a good adrenaline rush should contact the Wild River Kayak Club. 

This beautiful river comes out of 5 strong wells at 380 m above the sea, under two mountains, Dinara (1831 m) and Gnjat (1801 m), few km northern from town Vrlika, from where it flows south-east through the fields of Sinj, town Trilj to Zadvarje, where it turns west to Omiš where it joins the Adriatic Sea. With its 100 km Cetina is the longest river in Dalmatia, and the waterfall Gubavica (48 m) underneath Zadvarje is one of the biggest in Croatia. During the summer through this river flows 4-6 m3/sec, which is caused by accumulation and redirection of water through tunnels into energetic purposes, but during the rain season and snow melting the flow through is drastically growing.

The character of the Cetina varies considerable along its length. In the upper regions it is mostly fast with plenty of white water rapids, and lies in deep ravines with rugged rocky outcrops. In the lower regions the river is much slower, more like a lake, with the tall canyon walls which rise on either side being wider, occasionally punctuated by flatter areas scattered with small villages, deciduous woodlands and green meadows full of flowers, which in Spring are really quite intoxicating. What better place to be than in these calmer lower reaches when you’ve just come down from the rapids.

The Cetina river itself is very clean and clear, supplying drinking water to much of Dalmatia, so don’t hesitate to go for a swim. It is also teaming with trout, so don't forget your fishing rods! The mouth of the Cetina river opens into the sea at Omis, a fantastic setting for a town, separated by a deep ravine which, after many kilometres of being fairly wide, closes in here to just a few metres wide.