Visitor Information -- The Pag Tourist Board (Turisticka Zajednica) can provide helpful maps, brochures, ferry schedules, and information on excursions from and around Pag. The board's office is at Ulica Od Spitala 2 in Pag Town (tel. 023/622-301; fax 023/611-311; www.pag-tourism.hr). Novalja's tourist office can be reached at P.O. Box 20, 53291 Novalja (tel. 053/661-404; www.tz-novalja.hr). It is open from 7am to midnight mid-June to mid-September, and from 7am to noon and 6pm to midnight during most of May and October. Hours and opening days vary the rest of the year.
Various private tourism agencies on the island are helpful for finding private accommodations and for directing you to diving centers where you can arrange dives at some of the marked sites in the sea around the island. Meridijan 15 and Mediteran are two of the better agencies. Both are located in Pag Town, with Meridijan 15 at Ante Starcevica 1 (tel. 023/612-162; fax 023/612-121; www.meridijan15.hr); and Mediteran at V. Nazora bb (tel. 023/600-042; fax 023/611-238; www.mediteran-pag.com). These private agencies are open from 8am to 8pm daily May through September, but their hours and open days vary the rest of the year. In Novalja, try Sunturist at S.S. Kranjcevica (tel. 053/611-611; www.islandpag.com) or Novalja Kompass at Slatinska (tel. 053/661-211; www.navalija-kompas.hr) for private accommodations.
Getting There -- If you are traveling to Pag Island from Zadar and points south, the island is reachable from Posedarje on the mainland via Pag Bridge, which takes visitors to the island's south end. Jadrolinija ferries make hourly runs from mainland Prizna to Zigljen on the island's north end, depositing visitors about 4.8km (3 miles) from Novalja. When demand is high during peak season, the ferries often throw out their schedules and leave port as soon as they are full. Nonetheless, waits to board can approach several hours during July and August. A one-way ferry ride for a car with two people costs about 98kn ($17). Backups at the Pag Bridge are rarely more than half an hour, except for weekends during July and August. Unless you are coming from Zadar and points south, getting to the bridge involves a few extra driving hours. During the summer, a fast boat (catamaran) runs between Novalja and Rijeka with stops at Rab Island three times a week. Eight daily buses from Rijeka stop in Pag Town and Novalja and go on to other stops along the Dalmatian coast.
Getting Around -- Except for private taxis and the nine intercity buses that run from the mainland and between Pag Town and Novalja, there is little public transportation on Pag. Luckily, both Pag Town and Novalja are compact enough to explore on foot, as are their waterfronts -- but travel between the two towns can be time-consuming unless you have your own car. Most visitors spend just a few hours touring the town and head directly for the beach. Thus, cars are the transportation mode of choice on Pag, and you'll want a rental car or motor scooter here if you intend to explore more than one area of the island or if you want to go beach-hopping. Rental agencies, including Budget, Dollar, Hertz, and Avis, have kiosks at the Zagreb airport and in other major Croatian cities. Note: When navigating the Pag's streets and outlying roads, it is a good idea to call ahead to your destination to get detailed directions, because street signs are sparse and road signs are few and far between.
Bura Winds
Check the weather reports before you head out for a weekend on Pag. Ferry traffic, and sometimes bridge traffic, is halted altogether when the bura winds are strong.
