Crveni otok (Red Island) is really two islets — Sveti Andrija and Maškin — joined by a low causeway, about 15 minutes by boat from Rovinj. It's the biggest island in the Rovinj archipelago and the most complete island-beach day out.

The main islet, Sveti Andrija, has organised rocky and pebble beaches with the full kit — showers, toilets, loungers, parasols, a restaurant, bar, water sports and a diving centre. There's a family-friendly gravel stretch near the harbour where the entry is gentler. The eastern side is sheltered and calm; the western side is rockier, with higher rocks for cliff jumpers and good snorkelling.

Cross the causeway to Maškin and it turns wild and wooded — quieter coves, more privacy, and a long-standing naturist (FKK) section.

Getting there: two ways across. The scheduled island-hotel boat runs from Delfin pier (by the roundabout south of the Old Town, where you also handle parking) — roughly hourly through the day in season, free for hotel guests and a few euros for day visitors; current sailing times are on the Island Hotel Istra boat timetable. Independent taxi boats also run from the town harbour with no fixed schedule — buy a ticket and hop on when one's leaving. Bring cash, agree the return with your boatman, and mind the last boat back. Water shoes help — the beaches are rock and pebble.

Sveti Andrija also carries a quiet history — a medieval monastery that Baron Hütterott turned into a garden estate a century ago. For the full story, see our guide to Rovinj's islands.