I spent 5 days in Croatia with a group of 8 friends. We rented a house with a pool in a small village called Maslenica around 30 minutes from Zadar.
One day we went to Zadar to visit the old town and the (for some reason) very famous sea organ. Before we went exploring the city we booked a boat tour to the nearby islands. Because of the group size we got a private tour with our own skipper. This way we could stop at a few bays and enjoy the perfect weather and views. Exploring the crystal clear water and collecting shells was definitely one of my highlights of the whole trip!
Another day we went to the Plitvice Lakes National Park. It was a bit of a drive, but the nature and the views were amazing. We spent the whole day there hiking around and enjoying the numerous waterfalls. Sadly you weren't allowed to swim in the lakes which was a bit of a bummer.
The remaining days were either spent at the pool or at a close by beach. Our favorite activity was trying to keep a ball up in the air as long as possible while swimming in the water.
Most evenings we cooked our own food. One day we had a BBQ with a lot of veggies, salad, and some meat, and another day we had pasta for dinner. When we didn't cook we went out for dinner at a close by restaurant. The restaurant had pizza, pasta, and a dish called "mixed meat" which actually tasted better than it sounds.
After dinner we would sit outside on the terrace and enjoy the warm summer nights. When we didn't just talk we would play cards or party games which were a lot of fun. Later in the evening we would lay down on some beach chairs and watch the amazing night sky. If it wasn't for the mosquitos we would probably have stayed out longer!
This trip was a lot of fun and I'm happy the vacation made it out of the group chat!
10/10 would do again