The island is a favourite destination of bathers, with the bathing season lasting from May to October and offering an abundance of sandy, pebbly and stony beaches, with something for all: families with children, skilled swimmers and divers, the handicapped and those in the their middle or later years.
Rab also took on a special note with the beginnings of naturism. It was 1936 when English king Edward VIII and Mrs Wallis Simpson, their yacht Nahlin anchored off Rab harbour, visited the old town centre. The city fathers then decided to offer them an excursion to the Frkanj peninsula, which the royal family accepted, and went on to enjoy the first nude swim in the inlet of Kandarola. These were the beginnings of naturism on our island, and the inlet and peninsula have become a paradise for all naturists.
Austrian naturalist Camillo Morgan visited Rab in 1889, 1904 and 1909 and writes, “...the sea in ten or so beautiful bays has a special colour which becomes an emerald-green colour. If the coasts of Italy and France deserve the name Côte d'Azur then this should be called the Côte d'Emerald.”