Durrës

Cape of Rodoni near Rodoni market

This destination is located on the outskirts of the village of Shetaj, which is also the last inhabited point of Cape of Rodoni, about 1 km away from the newly built Prive resort on the northern hill of the Cape on the outskirts of Shetaj village.

This destination is located on the outskirts of the village of Shetaj, which is also the last inhabited point of Cape of Rodoni, about 1 km away from the newly built Prive resort on the northern hill of the Cape on the outskirts of Shetaj village. The distance from Tirana city is 56.1 km away and it takes 1 hour and 10 minutes to drive there, while from Rinas Airport is 46.1 km and it takes 1 hour to drive. To come from Tirana and Rinasi you must follow the Tirana-Durrës highway and turn right at Maminas, heading for Lalzi Bay. Then continue on the Lalzi bay road in the direction of Cape of Rodoni, keeping left in the village of Drac in the direction of the Shetaj village.

 

The distance from Durrës city is 47.3 km and can be reached by car in an 1 hour following the Durrës Tirana highway and then turning at the Maminas underpass in the direction of Manza and then Lalëz Bay towards Cape of Rodoni. This destination has a shallow waterline, clear water and scattered rocks, while in the rainy season a stream flows into the sea, which dries up in summer. The destination is also a station for the fishing boats of the area's fishermen. It is a perfect place to look for vongolas while near the rocks you can find mussels and date ones (an endangered mussel). You can also find sea urchins clinging to the rocks. The fish caught here are sea bass, bream, red mullet, common sole fish, anchovy, but you can also come across lesser weever fish, although rarely.

From Cape of Rodoni the view is breathtaking and on cloudless days you can clearly see the contours of Ishmi bay, Tale beach, Shëngjin bay, Rana e Hedhu beach, Velipoja up to the Buna estuary and the beaches of Ulcinj in Montenegro. Only 2 km from the destination is Roni's restaurant bar where you can taste fresh fish, crudo shrimp, grilled octopus, boiled vongola and mussels with their juice, pickles, soft cheese with homemade bread. And finally you can enjoy a homemade dessert with wheat flour and walnuts. But if you want to cook yourself you can do it while fishing. If you have a grill it is easy to light the fire and grill the fish you have caught. Collect dried sticks around and build a fire where you can roast the fish, always being very careful not to let the fire spread and make sure you put it out completely when you leave. There is no beach near the destination so you can choose the fishing time as you wish. Cape of Rodon has few fishing trails. The area for fishing is limited because in the part of the park that starts from the Cape of Rodon resort, a complex of villas under construction up to its ends at the church of Shen Ndoi and the fortress of Skenderbeu has been granted on concession for maintenance and tourism purposes such as camping, beach, hiking etc.

Fishing is prohibited in this part. Cape of Rodoni is a peninsula that separates the Gulf of Lalzi from the Gulf of Ishmi and extends into the sea for about 10 km from the village of Drac in the north of the Gulf of Lalzi up to the Castle of Skënderbeu at the northwestern end of the Cape. Among the birds that are often found in Cape of Rodon are partridge, common blackbird (Turdus merula), common snipe, wild pigeon (Columba livia), common quail (Coturnix coturnix).

A flock of whales showed up at Rodon Bay in 1963 (the skeleton of one of these whales was exhibited at the Museum of Natural Sciences of Albania at that time), while sharks have visited the area in the last ten years. After fishing, you can choose to go to a camping site near the Church of Shen Ndoi, among greenness, next to the sea and military barracks from the communist era such as bunkers or underground tunnels.