Moon Bay in Strunjan
| Region | Coastal - Karst Statistical Region |
| Starting point | The Church of the Apparition of the Virgin Mary in Strunjan free parking lot |
| Route length | 643 m (2,109 feet) |
| route duration | 20-30 min |
| Start Point altitude | 108 m (354 feet) |
| End Point Altitude | 0 m (0 feet) |
| Best time to visit | spring, summer, early autumn |
| Appropriate for | Baby Carriers , 3-6 years of age , 6+ years of age |
| Level of difficulty | Moderately demanding route |
Route Description
When you explore the Slovenian coast with your children, a visit to the Moon Bay is a must. This natural landmark will leave you speechless, however, it does take a little effort to climb there.
ACCESS AND PARKING: You can leave your car in a small free parking lot in front of the Church of the Apparition of the Virgin Mary in Strunjan (GKY: 391552, GKX: 44359). If you cannot find a parking space, head to a larger parking lot by the Stjuža Lagoon. If you do not have your own means of transport, you can also get to the location by bus. Get off at the Strunjan bus station, and walk for another 1.5 km (0.93 miles) to the church. The trail has a view of the Piran Salt Pans. At the signs for Strunjan hotels, turn left. When you reach the chapel, which stands at the foot of a paved road, head up the same road uphill to the parish church.
Continue from the Church of the Apparition of the Virgin Mary, or other starting point, with the church on your right. At the first crossroads, turn right, go by the Okrepčevalnica pri Križu Restaurant and continue past the sluice, which prevents cars from driving further. Although you may feel that you are lost, you will soon spot a white cross. When you reach it, a view of the most beautiful Slovenian bay, the Moon Bay opens up. Continue to the right, down towards your finish line.
The route, which will take you about 20 minutes, is suitable for walking with children aged 3.5 years and older. Be careful, as the track is damaged and dangerous in some parts. You can easily walk down the stairs to the bay with a baby carrier. However, the ascent back to the starting point may be harder ;).
Although most visitors come here during summer, the bay is just as magical in spring and autumn. Here are some facts about the Moon Bay...
The Moon Bay is nested along the Slovene coast of the Adriatic Sea in the Strunjan Nature Park. It is considered a hotspot for biodiversity throughout the Gulf of Trieste, because the bottom of the bay is overgrown with seagrass. These are considered indicators of the purity of the sea. The flowering plants of the Strunjan Nature Park - the little Neptune grass, small seagrass and real seagrass - overgrow the shallow sandy bottom and form underwater meadows. They appear only up to a depth of 8 meters (26 feet), as they do not get enough light needed for photosynthesis deeper on. Seahorses, juvenile fish, giant tube worms, cuttlefish and octopuses all live in the seagrass.
HERE IS A TIP FOR ALL PARENTS: You can swim in the baywater, just wear some protective shoes in the water (because of sea urchins). Since there is no shade on the beach, bring a tent or an umbrella with you. Take some snacks and enough drinking water, but leave the unicorn float at home ;).
Interesting Facts
The 80-meter (262-feet) -high Strunjan Cliff rises above the Moon Bay and is the highest flysch cliff in the Adriatic Sea as well as the most characteristic part of the Strunjan Nature Park.
The word cliff refers to a very steep, vertical and sometimes overhanging wall composed of rocks or unbound sediments, located at the junction of land and sea. It is a cyclical sequence of several rocks formed 40 million years ago in the deep sea.
Underwater landslides, triggered by earthquakes, strong storms or tsunamis, carried away mixed sediments and deposited them on the bottom of the deep sea: larger fragments below, and the finer material at the top. From such accumulated sediments, flysch rocks were formed by solidification. Due to tectonic activity, the sea basin narrowed, the sea receded, the flysch rocks broke, wrinkled, and rose to the surface, where we can still admire them today.
An individual cyclic sequence in flysch rock begins with coarse-grained conglomerates, then sandstones and ends with fine-grained siltstones or marls. Individual layers of rocks in flysch are of different thicknesses, in Slovenia they are mostly quite thin (from a few cm/few inches to 10 cm/4 inches thick).
The peculiarity of flysch rocks on the Slovenian coast is that individual layers of limestone in some places reach thicknesses of up to several meters, which is why they are called megalayers.
Interesting, isn't it?
To make the trip even more interesting for all the little hikers, listen to a fairy tale about an Istrian shepherd and fairies.
Map
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Nearby Restaurants
Okrepčevalnica pri Križu Restaurant
Since there are no ice cream stands at the Moon Bay, take some with you to the beach (in a cooler of course).
At the top of the Moon Bay stands an authentic local inn called Okrepčevalnica pri Križu Restaurant. We could smell their stuffed peppers all the way to the bay. It is also the right place to enjoy a good coffee. They have a spacious summer terrace, which is very welcome on hot days. There is also a small botanical garden next to the inn.
Strunjan 144,
6320 Portorož
Vita, Olja and Juna Recommend
Due to the turbidite formation of flysch, there is a large deposit of fossils here. If your kids do now know what fossils are, prepare to be bombarded with questions. Since we are sure not everyone remembers their geography classes, do not worry, we got you! Below is a short explanation, which will help you answer all of your kids’ inquiries ;).
We are talking about trace fossils or ichnofossils. The animals that crawled on the seabed at the time left many traces in the soft seabed. As this area was subjected to rapid sedimentation, a new younger layer of sediment, which was later lithified into a hard rock, quickly covered them. For most ichnofossils, we do not even know which organisms were their causative agents (ichnofossils along with their causative agents are extremely rare).
So why are they important at all? Ichnofossils are important for paleontology because they can be used to determine the circumstances of the environment at that time.
Ichnofossils can't be missed (it's just a little harder to recognize them :)), as they lie all over the beach in the form of more or less twisted pipes and lines.
