Vele Srakane (also called Gross Kanidol in the Austro-Hungarian times) is an island in the outside part of Kvarner Bay in the Croatian Adriatic Sea, not far from the bigger and better known island of Losinj. The Croatian name of this group of islands is Kvarnerska Otocna Skupina.
Vele Srakane Basic Info
The island of Vele Srakane is very small, though its name would suggest the opposite (the reason is that just next to Vele Srakane there is the island of Male Srakane, which is even smaller). Vele Srakane has a surface area of only 1.15 square kilometres, its length is about 3 km at its longest place and its coastline measures almost 7.5 km.
The island is quite hilly, although its highest peak, Vela Straza, is only 59 metres high. Around the coast there are numerous reefs and rocks.
Vele Srakane has already been inhabited long time ago, evidence of people on the island was found hinting at Bronze Age and Ancient Roman times. Today only very few people actually live on the island (8 people according to the statistics from 2001). As many other Croatian islands, Vele Srakane gets much busier during the summer months thanks to tourism.
Nevertheless, visitors to Vele Srakane should be prepared to give up some comfort. There are no real streets and no cars on the island and not even running fresh water (people must bring water themselves). Electricity is available on Vele Srakane.
What to See and Do There
The above mentioned evidence of past inhabitants on Vele Srakane, a kind of hill fort, can be observed on Vela Straza (the highest mountain). In the house of Skrivanic at another place on the island there is an Ancient Roman tombstone.
Vele Srakane also has its own church, dedicated to St. Ann. However, the mass takes place only very rarely here.
Getting to Vele Srakane
The twin islands of Vele Srakane and Male Srakane are located in the Kvarner Bay west of Losinj about halfway between the islands of Unije and Susak. As the names suggest, Vele Srakane is slightly bigger and it is to the north of the other island, Male Srakane.
The coordinates of Vele Srakane are 44°34′55″N 14°18′33″E.
There is no port on Vele Srakane and anchoring is very complicated. Local people prefer to ground the boats instead. There is only a pier in the bay of Gornja Trata, where the boat from the nearby Mali Losinj lands.