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8 of the best Sibenik beaches you need to visit

During our seven-day stay in the city of Sibenik, we spent a lot of the time on the Sibenik beaches. Unsurprisingly when travelling with two children. We purposely chose the popular beach resort along the Dalmatia coast to complement the city break element of our trip to Split and Dubrovnik. Travelling to Croatia in the Summer months we knew it would be hot and that starting with the beach resort of Sibenik would ease the boys into the heat gently. There is plenty of choice along the Sibenik strand for beaches including Banj Beach Sibenik and Solaris Beach Sibenik.

We had heard a lot of good things about Croatian beaches in general and the sea. But nothing really prepares you for the crystal clear sea. And since it is the Adriatic the sea is relatively warm making it extremely inviting for a beach holiday in Europe. Sibenik is also home to two blue flag beaches and is a great place to snorkel. If you are staying within Sibenik then it is likely you will need to find transport to many of these beaches. We stayed on the outskirts of town so a number we walkable for us. But in the heat and with kids if you do not have a hire car then I would recommend getting an Uber.

Table of Contents

Sibenik Beaches

We visited almost all of the beautiful beaches around Sibenik town during our break. Located on the Adriatic coast the crystal clear water is reasonably warm. The reason it is so clear is that the majority of the beaches of Sibenik are pebble beaches. I have tried to give you as much information on each Sibenik strand as I can. These are in our opinion the best beaches.

White Beach

We discovered this beach towards the end of our break. Which is a shame as I think we would have visited at least once more. Situated in front of the Amadria Park Hotel it is the furthest of three beaches on the peninsula. Which make up the Solaris Beach resort in Sibenik. However, it is the only sandy beach among the Sibenik beaches. And consequently is the only beach we went to where we did not require beach shoes in the water. Although in places it is more of a sand and gravel mix

The beach is popular with younger families and small children for this reason. Although many assume it is part of the hotel complex. It is in fact a public beach although the hotel does charge extra for non-guests to try and deter people. They do this by charging more for their sun loungers although hotel guests still need to pay! The prices when we visited it was 100kn for the public and 70kn for hotel guests. It was not clear if this was for each sun-lounger or for two and an umbrella. As no one came round and asked us for payment. They are nice rattan ones and the bamboo parasols are much better quality than we had seen elsewhere. We arrived around 10 am and left about 2 pm and all the sunshades had been taken by midday.

There is a path which links White Beach with Ivan and Solaris beach, on both of these the sun loungers are the same price. It is easy to walk between them which is part of the attraction. We also found it had the biggest breeze of the beaches we visited which kept the temperature down.

Facilities at White Beach

Although there is not as much sea life in the water there is a roped-off swimming area. To keep it separate from the channel which is popular with yachts and jet skis. The beach also has a lifeguard on duty.

There are several different options for food and drink. As you look at the sea to your left there is an archway in a painted red building. This leads you through to a courtyard. Where there are souvenir shops selling drinks and snacks. Everything feels about a third more expensive than we had seen it elsewhere in the area. Expect to pay around 25kn for a small bottle of water. There is also a burger bar and a sushi bar. Toilets can be found upstairs in the corner of the courtyard.

To the far right, there is a restaurant with white parasols, where you can sit overlooking the sea. A margarita pizza costs around 95kn. There is also a snack bar which sells pre-packed sandwiches and ice cream. They also sell a lot of sweets and treats! Toilets can be found behind the ice cream parlour.

Parking at White Beach

It is most likely that you will need to drive to reach White Beach. Although we were staying opposite Podsolarsko beach we drove as it was 37 degrees and the boys were not up for a twenty-minute walk that day. Most people will drive to reach this beach and it can get a little chaotic. My advice would be to arrive early. We had no problems at 10 am.

Parking options vary depending on how close you want to park. The first car park you will come to which is still a little walk away and is before the water park costs 40kn for the whole day. We opted for the next one along which is 70kn for the whole day. You do have the option of parking on the road and paying for the machines. Although we found our bank card did not work in once in Vodice [link]. Or you can park in the hotel car parks and they charge 250kn a day. When we visited the hotel car parks were pretty full with many cars abandoned along the adjoining roads.

The Sibenik strands are not signposted from the entrances. I think this is to deter people from visiting. Although we walked through the ticket barrier unchallenged. Depending on which beach you want to reach (more detail below on Ivan and Solaris) the best option is to get google maps up on a satellite. As this will show you the best route to each of the beaches. We reached the white beach by walking down a servicing road. You do not need to go through the hotels themselves.

Ivan Beach

Ivan beach is part of the same complex as white beach and sits between it and Solaris beaches. It sits directly behind the Ivan Hotel. Reached in the same way as White beach with the same parking options. It is a much smaller bay-shaped beach. And has the same parasol and sun bed prices although these are of the plastic variety. It is much less of a family beach with a rather loud beach bar. The Lagoon bar offers various drinks where you can sit on brightly coloured chairs in the shade provided by the pine trees. The only food on offer is of the pre-packaged variety. It was extremely busy when we visited so we did not stay.

Right next to Ivan beach hidden in the shade of the pine trees is Pirate Adventure Golf. Prices vary depending on if you are staying in the hotel or not. It is 150kn for adults and children over 12 (100kn if staying at the resort) and 75kn for children between the ages of 3 and 12 (50kn if a hotel guest).

Solaris Beach Sibenik

If you carry on walking round from Ivan beach you will come to Solaris Beach Sibenik which is a much bigger stretch of shingle. It is also the closest beach to the water park and water slides. Which has ridiculously expensive pricing for the ‘rides’ on offer. It would have cost us 1000kn – about £125 to visit as a family of four as the boys are both over 120cm. Yet it was quite limited in slides with the main attraction being a giant splash pad. We deemed it not worth the money. But it is clearly visible from the road so be warned!

Just like White Beach and Ivan Beach, the same fees apply to parasols and it can be reached from the same car parks. There main difference with this beach is that it has a giant green and yellow inflatable floating offshore. Which I would imagine you have to pay for. It is a busy beach which also has facilities linked to the hotel that sits behind it.

Rezaliste Beach

If you are looking for a cheaper Sibenik strand option than White Beach then we had a great day at Rezaliste Beach. It is also known as Brodarica beach. This is a little confusing, although google maps refer to it as Rezaliste Beach. We actually walked along from Podsolarsko beach although if I am honest I would not recommend this with very young children. As the pathway is made of broken stone, uneven and steep in places. It took us about fifteen minutes. There is a large car park directly behind the beach.

The beach is gravel and small pebble, you will most definitely need water shoes. Although there are channels into the water that have gravel only so that you can enter it easier than walking on the stones. The boys loved snorkelling [link] here and found some hermit crabs amongst the stones. We arrived around 10.30 am and the beach was already busy with all the sun shades being used by 11 am.

Sun shades cost 60kn for the day and the man will find you as soon as you sit down. After 4 pm they are reduced to 30kn. You can also hire white plastic sun loungers for 30kn each. Although you do not have to. They are pretty crammed in and as the sun goes round it was a little bit of a struggle to keep to the shade.

Facilities at Rezaliste Beach

We actually preferred the facilities here to white beach, it is probably our favourite of the Sibenik beaches. There is a lifeguard on duty. But there is no roped-off area which we have seen in other places. The beach is a lot more commercialised with various beach bars selling food and drinks. The beach bar we went to cost – 60kn for a margarita pizza. 47kn for a kebab wrap. Soft drinks were 15-20kn each and beer was 20kn. There were also other food options such as a bakery. Although they are all cash only.

As well as food there is a large toilet and shower block, changing pod and under-cover play area. As well as the opportunity to hire boats and jet skis. My husband was looking to hire a jet ski but it worked out slightly more expensive than Sibenik Water Sports. You can also book a massage in a wooden framed white curtain box.

However, the one thing the boys wanted to do almost as soon as they arrived was to go on the large grey and blue inflatable in the sea. These water assault courses seem popular in the area. It cost 50kn each for thirty minutes and they had a blast. Although it is deep and Harry struggled to get up onto the platforms in places. The husband swam around with them to keep an eye and he could not touch the floor. Life jackets are available for no additional charge.

Podsolarsko Beach

This was the first beach in Sibenik we visited during our stay and was literally opposite our accommodation. It can be reached from the main road by footpath. Several families parked on the side of the road and walked down. The parking is technically for the restaurants although during the day they did not seem to care. It is also possible to drive down onto it although it’s more of a dirt track than a road. But this seemed a popular thing for the locals to do.

As it does not have parasols it’s not a very busy beach in comparison to the others and it is not very wide. The beach is slightly larger stone/gravel here but comfortable enough to sit on. Compared to the other larger beaches I liked the quietness of it. Sea shoes are needed, but the bay is shallow and warm. The boys were excited to find anemones and sea urchins as well as some small fish.

There are few facilities on the beach, with no lifeguard or roped-off area. To the right is Sibenik water sports operates. They offer jet skis, paragliding and various other inflatables that can be pulled around behind a boat. Prices as per the below when we visited in July 2022. My husband and Charlie went out on a jet ski and loved it. There is also a beach bar which you can spot from the white parasols. Drinks and ice creams are priced reasonably considering they are the only ones on the beach. They also sell sandwiches.

If you are looking for something more substantial then I would recommend the Italian which is on the main road behind the beach. We ate in there several times during our stay and it is a very popular restaurant.

Banj Beach of Sibenik

Banj beach Sibenik has a blue flag rating and from what we could tell is also referred to as city beach. Probably because it is the closest to the center of Sibenik and so the only one within easy walking distance of the old town. Google maps suggest it is a 20-minute walk but there is parking close by. The beach Banj is signposted from the main road that runs through Sibenik with brown tourist signs. When we visited St Michaels Fort you can see the beach from the top although it looked very crowded by lunchtime. However, it could be useful when considering things to do in Sibenik with kids. Giving them a rest bite from the other tourist attractions in the historic city center such as the Cathedral of St. James.

St Nicolas Beach

We stumbled upon this Sibenik strand a little by accident as we had initially intended on visiting the Fort of St Nicholas which is a UNESCO World Heritage. Although we fast discovered that it was not to be, as although it is possible to walk across to the fort at low tide there is no entrance from the back. It is now only possible to visit the fort on a boat tour. St Nicolas Beach is opposite the fort and looks to be another beach favoured by locals. Perhaps in part as you can only really reach if you have a car.

Located down a dead-end road it has a small free parking area. The rough and ready car park has numerous potholes and is not large enough to accommodate all the cars which end up parking down the side of the road. Although it does not have anywhere to get anything to eat or toilets. There is a small play area and a giant anchor on the beach. The beach itself is shingle and relatively small in comparison to some of the others. Although when we visited around 4 pm there was plenty of natural shade cast by the pine trees. There is a small harbour and it seems a popular place for boats to moor up. I would expect that the sunsets are particularly good from this viewpoint. Giving a unique view of St Nicolas Fort.

If you walk past the beach towards the fort you will need to walk across a large wooden gangway to a small island. This looks like the ideal place to take a net and bucket and catch some toddlers. As the water is clear and there was plenty of fish when we walked across. It is not particularly deep either so you could easily sit on the side of it and dangle your feet in. If you continue to walk over to Island before the fort then there are several picnic benches in the shade.