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 Mali mol, the small pier in the town harbour by the Old Town — 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.

That is one operator's schedule; there are other ways across and the last return is later than most people plan for. Our island boat timetable has the departures, the fares and both piers.

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.