Day trip from Vlore to Sazan Island and Karaburun Peninsula

Visit Sazan island: the military remains and stop on the beach

The meeting point will be at the Hotel Bologna at 9:00, to reach the Albania island of Sazan by boat, the largest in all Albania. Declared a protected natural reserve, the island has been part of the Karaburun-Sazan National Marine Park since 2010. The charm of this place is all in the strong contrasts that are created between the beauty of nature, unspoiled and wild, and reinforced concrete military buildings left by the army over decades of the Cold War. Sazan was the first Albanian outpost in the eastern part of the Strait of Otranto. During the Cold War period, enemies from the western block, from Italy, would arrive here.

Once in the eastern part of the Albania island, you will meet the Gulf of Shenkoll, with the military docking. Thanks to your expert guide, you will have the opportunity to visit the buildings and fortifications erected by the communist government. Here at the time, several groups of soldiers lived together with their families. After the tour of the military Sazan, you will spend time admiring the crystal clear and transparent waters of Admiral beach (or Saint Koll's beach), one of the very few on the island, since Sazan mostly has steep and rocky coasts. Coasts that you will visit by getting back on the boat, to reach some of the most beautiful coves and rocks, which the British christened with rather evocative names: the Hell's Hell, The Devil's Bay and the steep slope of Rocky Rocks, up to 300 meters high.

The sea cave of Haxhi Ali

You will then get on the boat again to reach one of the most precious gems of the Karaburun-Sazan marine area in a few minutes. This is the Illyrian Cave, also called Haxhi Ali Cave, in honor of the legendary Albanian pirate who lived between 1500 and 1600. Haxhi Ali, originally from Ulcinj, used to use this beautiful cave as a refuge and headquarters for his men. The pirate had, in fact, made a special bond with the local population. He defended the waters from attacks by Turks, Venetians, British and Neapolitans. He lived as a pirate, preying on ships passing through these parts. In return, the shepherds and merchants of the peninsula supplied it with raw materials.

The Karaburun-Sazan peninsula

Back on the boat, you will leave to go along Karaburun. A peninsula 15 kilometers long and 4 kilometers wide, which reaches a height of 800 meters above sea level at the highest point. The area retains some of the most beautiful Albania beaches, whose names (Saint Jan Beach, Aquamarine Beach, Saint Basil Beach) refer to the period when the British passed over here. After lunch, the last part of the journey: by boat you will cross the Bay to see the Riviera di Valona and its most famous Albania beaches: Zhironi, Kalasa, and the residential district of Cold Water, with the houses and palm trees facing the sea.

The history of the Sazan island

Sazan island is located in the center of the Bay of Vlora and is the largest in all Albania. Here several dominations have taken place over the centuries. The Greeks and Romans, the Byzantines and the Angevins of Naples passed first. From 1300 the island entered the possessions of some Albanian noble families, before being conquered by the Ottomans and the Venetians. In the early 1800s Sazan, together with other Ionian Albania island, became an English protectorate, to be fought over in the following years between the Greeks and the Turks. In 1914 the Kingdom of Italy placed a military command on Saseno and in 1920 the island passed to the Italians, who built a lighthouse and some fortifications there, bringing some families of Apulian fishermen to live here. Only in 1947 did the island return definitively to Albania.

The island of Sazan today

Formally Sazan island today is still a military base, with several active bunkers with rooms and food supplies. In fact, however, there are only two soldiers patrolling its grounds. Starting in 2015, the Albanian government opened Sazan to tourism, allowing a controlled flow of visitors to enter from May to October, so as not to impact excessively the environment. Given the small human presence over the centuries, Sazan is in fact an oasis of peace, uninhabited and unspoiled. Visually, the only trace of human presence is represented by the dense network of underground tunnels and bunkers built in the communist era. The communist regime built them during the Cold War - with the world divided into two blocks, the fear of a nuclear war was very high.

• In case of bad weather, it couldn’t be safe to take the ferry boat.

•This tour is not suitable for customers in wheelchairs. 

•Sunscreen, swimwear, and towel could be useful if you wish to swim and sunbathe.

•The times indicated and the order of visits are subject to possible changes due to traffic, strikes, weather conditions, etc.