Patok Lagoon is situated 50 km from Tirana at the height of Laç, between Lezha and Cape Rodon. The lagoon, 480 ha, is bounded on the north by the Mat River and on the south by the Ishem River and it is part of the Patok-Fushe Kuqe nature reserve, which includes the wooded site of Bregu i Matit to the north. The Lagoon of Patok is a lagoon of the Adriatic Sea on the Mediterranean Sea in the central coast of Albania.
It was characterized by a geo-morphologic dynamism and created during the Holocene period. The lagoon has largely silted up since the end of the communist system, when the course of the Ishem River was diverted. As a result, the large beach along the central dike has disappeared. On either side of the former hotel complex, now in ruins, water parks have been built, delimited by stakes and nests. On some of the stilts huts, we nevertheless continue to fish for plaice, as on the French Atlantic coast.
Four lagoons separated by littoral cordons correspond to four phases the development on which the lagoons spanned. The fourth lagoon is the current one. A fifth lagoon (the current outer lagoon) is in an active formation process, also influenced by a rapid development of the littoral cordon in the western part. The whole area is flat and characterized by an intensive tectonic process and numerous underground water bodies.
The name “Patok” of the lagoon derives from the Albanian word patë, meaning “duck,” referring to the historically dense and diverse duck population of the area.
It is a veritable paradise for biodiversity lovers because there are approximately 360 different plant species and 180 bird ones populating the entire area. Threatened species are also sometimes present, such as the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) and the Dalmatian pelican (Pelecanus crispus).