Canyoneering Cetina River

Wednesday morning we slept in a bit and then had breakfast out on the Riva.  Around 10, we headed to the South Gate of Diocletian’s Palace to get picked up for our canyoneering adventure.  Our shuttle took us over to the small town of Zadvarje and we had about a 20 minute break to use the restrooms and grab a snack.  Then we headed to the tour office for a safety briefing and to get our gear – wet suits for the cold water, a PFD, and a helmet.  Once we were all geared up, they drove us to the start of our adventure.  It was quite warm in the wet suits, so the cold water was a bit of a relief.  We hike down into the gorge and soon starting canyoneering down Cetina River.  The water was chilly but wearing a wet suit kept us warm enough.  Almost immediately we had to jump into a deep pool and then rock hop and wade further down.  There were several spots to jump into the water as well as a couple water slides to enjoy.  In slow-moving sections of the river, we just floated downstream.  About half way down the river, we stopped for a break on some big rocks and then got out of the water and headed into a narrow tunnel.  This river was used extensively for hydroelectric power generation and the there was evidence all around.  In fact, the tiny village of Zadvarje had power before Split thanks to the river's power.  We used this tunnel to get around Gubavica, a large waterfall on Cetina River.  Back at the river, we headed upstream a bit to the base of Gubavica.

There was a big rock here to climb up and jump into the deep pool at the base of the falls.  After a few jumps here, we continued downstream.  There were a few more rock hop and swimming sections and then we came to another spot where we had to climb a ridge to get around.  There were ropes to assist with the steep climb up and then back down, reminding me of some of the more difficult waterfall hikes back home.  Soon we came back to a rather flat section of the river near the end of our adventure.  We floated downstream a bit and passed a tall waterfall.  It comes from the overflow of the dam, so it’s not a real waterfall, but was really pretty nonetheless.

At this point, we got out of the water and followed a trail to once last wade across the river and then up to the road where the shuttles were waiting to bring us back.  We changed clothes and then headed back to Zadvarje and then were shuttled back to Split.  We took showers and then headed to dinner in the evening.  We stopped by a grocery store to pick up some wine and had drinks down by the Riva.