Photo: Ales Kus via Google
Safari Bar
A bamboo jungle at the end of a dirt track, where the biggest bill of the day is the park gate.
The verdict
- Go ifYou want the cheapest brilliant day in our Istria guide: the bar charges no entry and no minimum, cocktails hover around 7 to 10 euros, and if you arrive by bicycle the nature park waves you through for nothing
- Skip ifYour idea of a beach club involves a mattress, an umbrella and a waiter finding you on a lounger, because none of those exist here, just rock ledges, swings and shade you share with everyone else
- One thing to knowBring euros in cash and, in high summer, a 20 euro note for the park gate per car, since card terminals this far down the cape are famously unreliable and the ticket is the real price of admission
Bar details from safaribar.hr, park ticket prices from the Kamenjak public institution’s 2026 tariff, drink figures from visitor reports, checked against our editorial standards by Morten Andersen
Published 7 April 2026. Last reviewed 20 May 2026
At the far southern tip of Istria, past Premantura and a few kilometres of white gravel inside the Lower Kamenjak nature park, a private daydream grew into the most loved bar on this coast. Safari Bar is built of bamboo canes, driftwood and living plants above the Mala Kolombarica cove, its tables hidden in green pockets, its swings hanging from the frames, a small playground tucked in for children and a shaded corner reserved for dogs. There is a campfire culture here on the right evenings, and the kitchen sends out finger food rather than plates with tweezers on them.
Our Istria club directory calls it the antidote to the polished beach club, and this profile exists to answer the question the directory cannot: what the day really costs once the park ticket, the drinks and the quirks of the place are all counted, and who should drive the track versus who should stay in Rovinj.
Safari Bar at a glance
Drink figures come from recent visitor reports and the park fees from the official 2026 tariff, since the bar itself publishes no price list.
| What | The detail |
|---|---|
| Entry | Free at the bar, no gate charge and no bed fee, you simply pay for what you order |
| Minimum spend | None reported by visitors, and nothing published, so treat any group arrangement as to be confirmed |
| Drinks | Cocktails reported around 7 to 10 euros, beer and local wine around 3 to 4, plus the famous whole melon filled with sangria to share |
| Food | Finger food and a simple grill by visitor accounts, calamari sandwiches, cevapi and shared boards rather than a formal menu |
| Sunbeds | Not offered, seating is shaded tables, swings, benches and the bare rock of the cove, so bring a towel |
| Park ticket | Cars 20 euros a day from 15 June to 15 September 2026, 10 euros in the shoulder weeks, mopeds 8 and 5, campers 50 and 40, walkers and cyclists free, 10 percent off online |
| Reservations | A walk in place, questions by phone on +385 91 627 84 67 or by email at info@safaribar.hr |
| Season and hours | Roughly mid April to late October by recent accounts, daytime until around 21.00, exact hours to be confirmed |
| The cove | Mala Kolombarica at Cape Kamenjak, white rock shelves, clear deep water and the peninsula’s best known jumping ledges |
The bar where the gate is the bill
Price the day out and the strangeness of Safari Bar becomes its genius. Two people who drive down in July pay 20 euros at the park gate, then perhaps 25 to 30 euros for a round of cocktails and a shared sangria melon, and they have had the signature afternoon of the whole peninsula for what a single lounger costs at a smart Rovinj beach. Ride bicycles in from Premantura instead and the gate fee vanishes entirely, since the 2026 tariff lets walkers and cyclists into Lower Kamenjak free all year. Staying several days changes the maths again: a three day car pass is 35 euros against 60 for singles, and buying any ticket online shaves 10 percent off.
What the money buys is atmosphere rather than service. The bar is a made thing, screens of living plants dividing the tables, rope swings instead of bar stools, a slide and swings for children, dog toys behind the counter, and after dark on the right nights a fire with someone playing an instrument nobody tuned. The food stays deliberately simple, and visitors rate it well for what it is: calamari pressed into bread, cevapi off the grill, olives with cheese and oil. Down the steps, the cove performs all afternoon as the jumpers queue on the high ledge and the swimmers tread water to watch.
The shortcomings are the same facts wearing their other face. There is no lounger, no mattress and no reserved anything, so by mid afternoon in August the shade is taken and the ledges are a crowd. The final kilometres are washboard gravel that dusts every car that dares it, and the cash only reality is a genuine trap for anyone who arrives with a phone wallet and optimism. Come in June, come late in the day for the low sun, and carry notes.
Mala Kolombarica, below the bamboo
Photo: Lisella Fracasso via GoogleThe shore here is not a beach in any sandy sense but stepped shelves of pale limestone dropping into water so clear the fish look suspended in glass. The ledges range from ankle height to the high platform that gives Kamenjak its cliff jumping reputation, and the sea gets deep fast, which makes it superb swimming for the confident and a poor fit for toddlers. Water shoes earn their keep on the rock, urchins included, and conditions are typical, never guaranteed. Our Kamenjak beach guide walks the whole protected cape, from this southern point to the calmer coves up the western side.
The practical part
Everything funnels through Premantura, the village at the neck of the cape about ten kilometres south of Pula. From there the park gate takes your ticket money if you are motorised, and the white gravel roads fan out toward the point, with the bar signed near the southern tip above Mala Kolombarica. A mountain bike or a scooter beats a hire car on the washboard surface, and plenty of people simply walk the last stretch in beach sandals and regret the sandals.
There is nothing to reserve in the normal sense, and that is part of the charm: seats go to whoever wanders in, and the bar answers questions on the phone or by email rather than running a diary. If you are planning a bigger occasion on the cape, a birthday ride out or a group sunset, tell us the date and the size of the party in the form below and we will put the enquiry to the bar for you, so you hear back about space and timing without chasing a Croatian mobile number from abroad.
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The Safari Bar questions
How much does Safari Bar cost?
The bar itself charges nothing at the gate and visitors report no minimum spend, so your bill is what you order. Cocktails run about 7 to 10 euros and a beer or a glass of wine about 3 to 4 by recent visitor accounts. The one unavoidable cost is the Kamenjak park ticket if you drive: 20 euros per car per day between 15 June and 15 September in 2026, 10 euros in the shoulder weeks.
Are there sunbeds at Safari Bar?
No. There is no lounger service of any kind, which is central to why the day is so cheap. You get shaded tables behind bamboo screens, hanging swings, benches and the bare rock ledges of the cove below, so pack a towel and something soft to sit on.
How do you get to Safari Bar?
Drive or cycle through Premantura village into the Lower Kamenjak nature park and follow the gravel track south to the very tip of the cape, above Mala Kolombarica. In 2026 the park charges cars 20 euros a day in peak summer and 10 euros in the shoulder months, mopeds 8 and 5, while walkers and cyclists enter free, with 10 percent off for buying online.
Does Safari Bar take cards?
Bring cash. Visitors repeatedly report that card payment at this end of the park is unreliable at best, and there is no machine you can count on out on the cape. Euros in your pocket are the only method that never fails here.
Is Safari Bar good for kids and dogs?
Unusually so for a bar. The club keeps a small playground with slides and swings, welcomes dogs with toys and a shaded rest area, and the garden layout gives families their own pocket of tables. The cliff jumping at the cove below is a separate matter for confident swimmers only, and conditions there are typical, never guaranteed.
When is Safari Bar open?
It runs on the season, opening around mid April and closing in late October by recent accounts, with daytime hours reported from mid morning until around 9 in the evening. The bar publishes no formal timetable, so treat exact hours as to be confirmed and ring +385 91 627 84 67 if the trip depends on it.