May 23rd - June 6th, 2026. The Island of Cres.
That was our second family visit to the island of Cres. Our first encounter with the island in 2025 was simply fantastic (to read HERE), so much so that we couldn't get enough of it, and so we decided to return to this beautiful island in 2026. And even those two weeks (from May 23rd to June 6th) weren't long enough to fully explore the island. We will probably return one day.
Since I had already activated everything SOTA and WWFF on the island, the focus this time was on POTA. I submitted a few proposals for new parks to Nikola 9A1BN, and they were promptly accepted (MNI TNX!). So, now altogether activated:
- SOTA – 6x main islands summits + 1x Plavnik island → ✅ 7 of 7 activated,
- WWFF – 2x nature reserves → ✅ 2 of 2 activated twice,
- POTA – 14x parks → ✅ 14 of 14 activated on Cres & Lošinj + 1x Susak + 1x Ilovik i Sv. Petar + 2x quickies on the way → altogether 18 parks activated ✅,
- a dozen of other XOTA for the GMA triathlon.
Short QSO stats for these two weeks:
- CW: 992 QSOs → 57%
- SSB: 528 QSOs → 30%
- FT8: 224 QSOs → 13%
- Altogether 1744 QSOs with 87% in human modes👍
Some major POTA achievements:
- Kilo Award achieved in three parks
- 10-band activation in CW (required for the Activator N1CC Award) succeded in four parks
- Activator Six Pack Award received 🍀
And now for the highlights and impressions of the last two weeks. Enjoy reading!
POTA Bay Hopping
In the western part of the island of Lošinj there are 8 beautiful bays (and actually more than 8), 5 of which are POTA-referenced. I've been toying with the idea of bay hopping since last year, but I didn't get around to it (see HERE). But this year I succeeded. The activations were done in CW using QRP from the backpack on 20/30/40m. Depending on the conditions, I stayed QRV in each bay for 20-30 minutes. Almost every activation proved difficult due to weak propagation conditions and suboptimal operation spots. And honestly, the HAMing was't the main focus here. It was more about hiking, swimming and enjoying nature and beautiful views with family and close friends. I was able to activate all 5 POTA bays in CW & QRP without any problems and even had fun doing so. These 5 references do not overlap, therefore you will need to set up and take down the station 5 times, and you should take your time for this.
Bay #1. Uvala Šešula. No POTA.
Bay #2. Uvala Cvanguski. No POTA but perfect for swimming.
Island Susak
That was a day trip with the family on a tour boat. Susak is a tiny island located southwest of Lošinj. Unlike most Croatian islands, it is largely covered with fine sand rather than bare limestone. The island is only about 3.8 km² in area and has around 150–200 permanent residents.
I chose the highest point of the island as my operating point, which unfortunately is not SOTA/GMA, as it is just under 100m. I only had half an hour for the radio. The propagation conditions were OK. I logged 28 QSOs with QRP, including a few P2P contacts on 20/40m in CW/SSB. This was more than enough for the successful activation of POTA HR-0233, however, unfortunately there was not enough time to collect the 50 QSOs required for qualified IOCA activation of CI-108.
On the way to the highest point of the island. View of the village.
My OP spot close to the lighthouse Susak / Svetionik Otok Susak, WLOTA-0444.
A simple but tasty lunch on the boat. Fresh fish Oslić. APRS was always on.
A brief stopover on the island of Male Srakane, CI-062, with Vele Srakane CI-138 in the background. No time for radio.
APRS was enabled throughout the entire journey. The exact location and operating time can be traced. Therefore, the APRS recording serves as evidence, particularly for WWFF and IOCA.Island Ilovik
It was another day trip and a short stay with family and close friends. Ilovik is a small sland (about 5.8 km²) with around 100 permanent residents just south of Lošinj. Because of its lush Mediterranean vegetation, colorful gardens, oleanders, palm trees and eucalyptus trees, it is often referred to as the "Island of Flowers". Unlike the sandy island of Susak, Ilovik is greener and more traditionally Mediterranean in character.The island is POTA HR-0232 and IOCA CI-29. Neither the propagation conditions nor the location were optimal. However, I was able to log 26 QSOs but had to stop so as not to miss the next opportunity to leave the island. Here too, I simply lacked the time to hit the 50 QSOs required for IOCA qualification.
Activation with QRP from the backpack.
My OP spot was a green square in front of the Church of Saints Peter and Pavel.
The next IOCA Kozjak, CI-182 (in the back in the middle) and Sv. Petar, CI-119 (on the left), both POTA HR-0232 were so close... But, maybe next time.
Magic Band Operation
What German radio amateurs aren't used to is portable operation on the magic band. Here, it's permitted. I monitored the 6-meter band almost every day, and the magic band monitoring worked very well from anywhere with my modified GPA antenna on the car roof. Whenever the band was open, I quickly drove to the nearest POTA, set up a better antenna and my station in the park in a flash, and made the most of the opening until the very end. Sometimes an opportunity arose when I was already in a park and had already activated the park on shortwave – just before I packed up, I would check the magic band and make a few QSOs.
There were occasional days with nice long openings in Europe. I also managed some DX on those days. On one such day, I logged over 60 QSOs on 6m only. On some days, POTA activation on 6m was a real challenge – just getting 10 QSOs in FT8 was difficult. In total, I made over 120 QSOs on the magic band in CW/SSB/FT8 from 7 parks, and in 6 of them I managed over 10 QSOs, which are required for the Activator Six Pack Award. This kind of treasure hunt was incredibly fun.
The Activator Six Pack Award from 9A was definitely a highlight and a wonderful memento. A nice side effect was that I received numerous emails and messages from POTA hunters, all expressing their sincere gratitude for "a new one on 6 meters." This made me very happy, as the Hunter Six Pack Award is not easy to obtain.
What else
Our two-week stay on the island of Cres was wonderful. Cres is definitely our favorite island. It has so much to offer... And as I mentioned above, it most likely wasn't our last visit.
POTA on the Croatian islands is different from what we have in Germany. Of course, there are also very easy activations, for example, the entire island of Cres being a POTA. However, it can be a real adventure, as many POTA are located far from easily accessible roads. Some small POTA islands can only be reached by private boat. There are great opportunities to tailor your own adventures to your preferences and abilities.
I made every opportunity to operate. Every day was a XOTA day. The propagation conditions were variable, but I managed to activate four parks in CW on all ten bands from 80m to 6m. This required several attempts. Some days offered excellent propagation conditions with sporadic-E, allowing me to make over 300 QSOs in a couple of hours. On other days, a QRP activation was a real struggle. I should actually be satisfied with 1744 XOTA QSOs, 87% of which were done in human modes.
Activating HR-0390 resulted in 250 QSOs before the battery ran out.
This was the most productive day and activation on Cres so far.
I successfully completed all the planned XOTA activations. Only a few MOTA and LOTA remained for the GMA triathlon. The only downside, however, is that I didn't manage to qualify some IOCA activations again (Plavnik last year, and Susak and Ilovik this year) because I simply didn't have enough time to hit the required 50 QSOs with QRP. But that's just another reason to visit the island of Cres again and plan better next time.
From the IOCA's point of view, these were qualified according to the IOCA rules:
- Krk – IOCA CI-046, IOTA EU-136, WLOTA LH-1342 – qualified in 2022
- Pag – IOCA CI-082, IOTA EU-170, WLOTA LH-1796 – qualified in 2024
- Cres – IOCA CI-012, IOTA EU-136, WLOTA LH-0553 – qualified in 2025/26
- Lošinj – IOCA CI-058, IOTA EU-136, WLOTA LH-4295 – qualified in 2025/26
Visited but not qualified (yet):
- Plavnik – IOCA CI-088 – 20 QSOs
- Susak – IOCA CI-108 – 28 QSOs
- Illovik – IOCA CI-29 – 26 QSOs
- Male Srakane – IOCA CI-062 – 0 QSOs (no radio)
All in all, am I satisfied? Yes, absolutely!
Some family outings resulted in a nice XOTA activation like this one - the Oil House, MOTA X90254.
The whole family had fun here!
The weather was mostly good, with some very localized thunderstorms.
But there's nothing to complain about regarding the weather!
All logs have been submitted. Tnx QSOs and CU from the next one IOTA next year!
73 de Dzianis, DD1LD
