Pesaro – Losinj ferry, a summer “bridge” between Italy and Croatia

In the usual seasons, the speedboat line from Pesaro would bring nine to ten thousand people to the Kvarner islands. This year, approximately a third of that number is expected. The boat “Nautilus” from Pesaro operates to Lošinj two or three times a week, it started on July 24, and the last scheduled voyage this year is on August 28. Once a week the catamaran continues to Novalja and in those days the starting port is Cesenatico.

Welcome guide

The forty-meter “Nautilus” has a capacity of 370 passengers, but due to the current “corona rules” it can only board 80% of the capacity and most of the passengers come on Saturdays – about three hundred, of which about fifty continue to Novalja on Pag island and the rest remain on Lošinj island.

During this week’s berth in the port of Lošinj, Novilist.hr crew found a long-time tourist worker from Lošinj, Katja Blaško, who welcomed guests from Italy on behalf of the shipowner Gomo Viaggi.

I welcome guests who come on day trips, I organize lunches and guides for sightseeing. These guests stay in hotels and private apartments. About 300 people come on Saturdays, of which about 50 continue their journey to Novalja and all the others stay on Lošinj. The problem is that Italians book accommodation late and now there is very little space left. There were problems last August when people were already practically boarding the ship and then Italy decided to close the borders. But now it is much better; however, there are many more vaccinated people and the tests are better organized.

Katja Blaško

She adds that there are practically no passengers from Lošinj port to Pesaro and the ship is not registered for passenger transport within Croatia, so the possibility of the local population travelling from Lošinj to Novalja is eliminated.

“Nautilus” was also welcomed by Lošinj Shipping Agency in the part of the port of Lošinj reserved for international maritime traffic. Representatives of the police and the Harbor Master’s Office are also coming, while customs is no longer mandatory. They check the list of passengers and depending on the number of passengers, the procedure can take up to half an hour.

Boarding with a COVID-19 green pass

As Paolo Gorini, the owner of the Gomo Viaggi agency, recently told, the ship “Nautilus” is currently coming to Lošinj on Thursdays and Saturdays and a line was introduced on Mondays in August. It departs from Cesenatico to Rovinj on Sunday and on Wednesdays in August. According to him, about 2,000 people already have travel reservations, and they hope that there will be more. Of course, if the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic does not worsen. “Nautilus” is only boarded with a green pass. 

When boarding in Italy, passengers need to show the so-called COVID pass.

From New York to Lošinj

The crew asked passengers for a few comments. The young couple, Meg and Taylor, came from New York and this boat trip across the Adriatic is just a stopover on their way to the music festival in Tisno. For the first time in their lives, they set foot on Croatian soil and their impressions are very favourable.

The day before yesterday we came to Venice, at first we intended to cross the Adriatic via Ancona, but at the invitation of a friend, we came to Pesaro. There were no problems with COVID certificates, and in Venice, the locals told us that there are a lot more people there, like at Disneyland.

Meg and Taylor

According to the data published on the website of the agency that organizes this high-speed line, the ticket price from Pesaro to Lošinj in the so-called high season, which is the period from 1 to 31 August, is 80 euros for one way or 150 euros for a return ticket. A ticket to Novalja is 90 euros for one way and 170 euros for a return ticket. There is also a port fee of 10 euros per person and it is possible to transport smaller pets in a cage or carrier for a fee of 20 euros and a bicycle (on request) for which you also need to pay 20 euros.