Punat - once a well-known shipyard for building wooden ships and a centre of a powerful steamship association - is today known in Europe for one of the largest and best-equipped tourist marinas on the eastern coast of the Adriatic. The connections are good because of the nearness of Rijeka Airport, near Omišalj on the island of Krk, which has a bridge connection with the mainland, and constant ferry lines with the islands of Cres and Rab.
Punat Marina has 750 berths in the sea and 300 places on the land. Punat, a small town, port and marina on the eastern part of the Puntarska (Kosljunska) Cove, separated by the Prniba peninsula from the Krk Bay, on the south-eastern coast of the island of Krk, 8 km southeast of the town of Krk; population 1,696. Named after a bridge (Lat. pons) which used to stand at the entrance into the Puntarska Cove, connecting Prniba with the eastern coast. Chief occupations include farming, viniculture, olive growing, fishing, shipbuilding and tourism, yachting in particular.
In front of the town, in the middle of the shallow cove, is a forested islet of Kosljun, with a small pier and a Franciscan monastery. Punat is one of the leading centres of yachting tourism on the Croatian coastline. The sea in front of the town is shallow, and the bottom muddy; towards the open sea, on the so-called Usta (Mouth), the depth is between 2.5 and 3 m. Punat is exposed to the bora from the hinterland and the sirocco from the sea. Situated on the local, branching road of the main road (M29) running through the island of Krk.
Tourist activities commenced in Punat already in the mid-19th century, related to the Franciscan monastery on Kosljun, visited by many excursionists, among which Empress Karolina, the widow of the Austrian emperor Ferdinand I, then Maximilian Ferdinand, the younger brother of the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph, the Romanian king Karol I, etc. As soon as in 1908 the Bathing Society was established. However, the first hotel, Vila Lucija, was built by the local entrepreneur Nikola Zic not before 1924.
Maintained beaches, rich vegetation, hotels, boarding-houses, vacation houses, and the all-year-round open marina as the central port for all those who enjoy beauty of the Croatian coastline, various sports and recreational opportunities (tennis, miniature golf, boccia, diving, yachting), domestic food offered in boarding-houses and restaurants, cultural offer - especially the one on the nearby Kosljun - account for Punat having developed into a frequently visited tourist centre.
Punat organizes traditional feasts Puntarska Night and the Fishermen's Night (in August), and the monastery on the small island of Kosljun hosts numerous cultural events throughout the year, particularly in the summer season.