Cerovac Caves
This is the largest cave complex in Croatia.
Cerovac Caves are located on the slopes of South Velebit, on the northeastern side of Crnopac hill, in the protected area of Velebit Nature Park.
The nearest town is Gračac, which is 4 km away, and there are a few nice restaurants there, although unfortunately, we didn't visit them, at least not for food.
I only stopped by to grab two coffees to go, as we brought our own food.
You can visit both the Lower and Upper Cerovac Caves.
Each of them is about 700 m long.
A tour of one cave lasts approximately 1.5 hours, of which about 50 minutes are spent inside the cave.
A tour of both caves lasts about 3 hours, and that's the option we took, visiting both the upper and lower caves.
Around 50 minutes is spent in each cave, and the remaining time is used for the walk from the center to the caves and back.
The caves are toured with a guide who explained everything to us, and even let my wife hold a bear bone that is over 2000 years old.
When he mentioned that aloud, my wife said, "If I drop it, you’re responsible since you gave it to me!" which made the whole group laugh.
The Cerovac Caves Center of Excellence and its parking lot are at an altitude of 553 meters, from where it takes about 15 minutes of easy walking to reach the Lower Cave, which is at 620 meters altitude.
The path is quite steep and rocky, so you should be in at least moderate physical condition—honestly, I barely made it through, so good fitness is needed, haha.
The Upper Cave, located at 671 meters altitude, can be reached with an additional 10–15 minutes of walking.
The average temperature inside the caves is around 7°C.
We prepared in advance and brought long-sleeved shirts, although there were some tourists who were only in short sleeves. Fortunately, there's a nice souvenir shop where you can buy beautiful long-sleeved shirts that you can later keep as a memento.
I spent quite a bit of money in the souvenir shop, as it's not exactly cheap, after we returned from the tour.
I bought two nice, lightweight hiking thermos bottles with the Cerovac Caves logo, fridge magnets for myself and the family, a cup with a climbing rope instead of a handle, a small owl figurine (which, along with the wolf, brown bear, lynx, and bat, is a symbol of the region), a T-shirt with a bear on it and other things.
My younger son had never been in such a beautiful and large cave before, so he was thrilled with it and didn't stop taking photos and marveling at the stalactites hanging from the cave walls.
The guide told us to come back in January because it's beautiful then.
There are a lot more bats, which are currently not very active, and they hibernate, so you shouldn’t talk loudly. Also, the stalactites are especially beautiful during that time, so we'll probably come back in about 4 months.
Although it's 124 km away from our house, it wasn't a problem for us to wake up early in the morning and go there, even though I had just returned from a night shift an hour before departure.
The temperature in the cave, along with the coffee, definitely woke me up.
If you ever come to Croatia, you must visit these caves because they are truly beautiful and unforgettable once you see them.
In some of the photos, you can see how my wife and son placed their hands on a plaque with a lynx footprint, comparing it to the size of their hands.
And of course, there are descriptions about the lynx, how much it can weigh and grow, and naturally, descriptions of other animals. We had to photograph those, along with engravings on the floors depicting animals that lived in these caves, like cave lions and so on.
When and if you go, make sure to bring food, drinks, a backpack, and long clothes, although if you forget, you can always buy them in the beautiful souvenir shop that I also photographed.
I hope you’ll enjoy the photos!
On the way back, we stopped on Mount Velebit to rest a bit in the fresh air and, of course, to take in the breathtaking view that never ceases to amaze, no matter how many times you stop.
We always stop at the same spot, which is the highest point, at least on the road, on Velebit, and it's also marked as the best spot for taking photos.
