[i_a_coops]

Going to Croatia next week, any crag recommendations for this time of year? Primarily looking for dreamy sport climbing in any style (ideally with grades from 7 something up to 8c), but open to suggestions for good bouldering or trad too

Research so far suggests Medveja, Čikola Canyon, Paklenica, Omis, and Markezina Greda all look like they might fit the bill. Any beta on where is good to stay in a van etc./where is extremely not ok to stay in a van would be greatly appreciated!

Also very interested in multipitch recommendations for Paklenica. 

[Fultonius]

Can be starting to get cold-ish for paklenica but still well worth a punt if the forecast is good. Since you're in a van, then you'll be going past Misja Pec and Osp. Pm me and I can send you some bits from the guide if you want. Not been myself yet.

We only did very easy multipitch in Paklenica. Everything in the 6s and 7s is about a letter grade harder than Spain etc...

[i_a_coops]

Thanks for the offer - I'll be coming from the other direction though, we're currently in Albania and need to save up Schengen days to make it back the UK, so unfortunately Slovenia is out

[Fultonius]

Thanks for the offer - I'll be coming from the other direction though, we're currently in Albania and need to save up Schengen days to make it back the UK, so unfortunately Slovenia is out

Are they checking / stamping at the border?

[i_a_coops]

Good point - have had my passport stamped at every Schengen border so far though and even had the dates checked last time I went in! It's almost like the UK isn't very popular right now 

[jwi]

It is almost like 90 days on a tourist visa is the law of the land....

[i_a_coops]

 

True, spending 10 minutes trying to decipher stamps in a variety of alphabets many of which are done with not enough ink to read properly though smacks of being a little bit psyched to catch someone out. Statistically I'm aware that it's probably just my brain assigning narrative to chance events.

[knollchri]

Also very interested in multipitch recommendations for Paklenica. 

Can you be a bit more specific? Which grade, protection,...are you looking for? Might have a couple of suggestions, although, really most routes are quite good there.
Also Il Maratoneta is an amazing, although quite hard Manolo old-school sport route there.

Regarding sport climbing in Croatia there really is just too much there to pick smth specific. The area around Buzet has certainly emerged as a hotspot for climbingin the last 10-15 years but tends to be a bit crowded during that time of the year.

Medveja is rather small but has some absolutely amazing routes.

As already said Osp, and Misja pec are always worth a visit (if one can live with the crazy amount of polish...the routes are still good though and the big cave offers some of the best endurance tufa climbs around from 7b upwards).

[Duma]

Čikola Canyon

I've not been, but a couple of mates loved this place last spring, and they were in a van?

[meshtar]

As a Croatia (Istria) local I can tell you that, at the moment, it's still a bit too hot to climb in the sun... for good conditions search for shady crags or check weather forecast and pray for bura - northeastern wind that makes climbing feel like cheating 

If you are arriving from Albania it would be a shame to miss climbing around Omiš and Split for couple of days. There are thousands of routes and sectors, most of them 5*. For detailed info you can contact some of local sport climbing gyms/teams, for instance http://www.marulianus.hr/ or https://climbingtnt.com/. Vruja is where Croatia's hardest route is

Further north, Čikola canyon is definitely the place to be in Croatia at the moment. Number of routes keeps growing every day and climbers from all around Croatia go there all the time. Most of the routes are below 8a/a+...

Paklenica is great and you can also mix different sectors regarding sun/shade. I would reccomend sector Sindrom (or Rupe). Vranjača is a huge cave half an hour south from Paklenica and offers great climbing if it's not too humid or wet at the moment. Approach is a bit longer (20-30 minutes uphill) but is worth every step 

Further north towards your Schengen entrance you can visit Medveja and Buzet area. Most of the walls are facing south and get baked during the day. Medveja is "crag with a view" - you'll see why when you get there.
Around Buzet I would recommend Kompanj, Buzet canyon and Pandora - some climbers like to call it the best overhang on this side of the Schengen border 

Regarding camping in your van, it's basically illegal in whole of Croatia. Recently there were some issues with landowners around Čikola canyon so it's best to avoid sleeping in parking spots there. In Medveja there's a sign that clearly states that sleeping there is forbidden and Nature park Učka is really close so be careful. Around Buzet there have been some police raids and people sleeping in their vans got fines (i think around 200 euros). Last year we met a couple from UK and they got their van scratched couple of times while sleeping around Buzet. For sleeping around Buzet you can contact http://www.raspadalica.com/ - it's a camp half an hour drive from Buzet crags which is owned by skydiver Nevio and the view is amazing.

[Evil]

Thanks for the offer - I'll be coming from the other direction though, we're currently in Albania and need to save up Schengen days to make it back the UK, so unfortunately Slovenia is out

Perhaps this is partly the reason you are already in Albania right now, but I came across this, so am putting it out there if you weren't already aware: http://www.albanianclimbingfestival.al/.