SWIMMING IN CROATIA

FIND YOUR (PEBBLE) BEACH

A sandy beach is what this humble traveler covets when he walks out his front door into that great vast world. I’m a Benny from the Jersey shore after all. (Janet is a shoobie) I’ve spent countless days frolicking in the surf and riding waves. I’ve walked miles and miles barefooted on the beaches of New Jersey. I love digging my toes in it. Beaches are a second home. They are for basking, and lounging with friends as we sip beers and ponder the horizon. They are my destination of choice and between work and vacations I have had the great fortune to visit many and each has a unique cherished quality, whether it is the distance traveled, the sand or the vistas, or the companions one shares the time with. Call me a cheapskate, but I collect sand from nearly every place I have visited. Yes, it is true, sand may be a free souvenir, but I am a bona fide Arenophile. Come to our house, and you’ll see the world on display in little jars.

WILDWOOD NJ

Yes, we like sandy beaches, but there’s a big world out there, and on our recent trip to Croatia we did not see any at all. They exist, but we never got close to any of them. Most of the beaches in Croatia are pebbles or small smooth rocks and it is kinda hard to wiggle your toes in that, but what is sacrificed in sand castles is gained by the pristine clarity of the water. Not muddled by swirling sands kicked up by the surf the water is clear and strikingly beautiful. So clear is the water that from the top deck of our Unforgettable Croatia small cruise ship, MV Infinity, I could see the feet of people in the water. That’s something you’d never see at the Jersey shore.

Indeed, beaches in Croatia are more for swimming and aquatic activities than lazing about. Water shoes and padded mats are requisite equipment. It was beautiful everywhere we swam, but I never could get comfortable sitting on the rocks. In New Jersey, or Delaware, we’ve been known to linger for hours on beach chairs and not really go into the water. But, in Croatia we wanted to wade right in and enjoy the soothing warm, calm waters.

 

PRILOVO VIS

Our first week in Croatia we basically jumped off the boat to swim. The Infinity would anchor in a cove for a few hours to enjoy the soothing water. Every day we visited a new island and we had a choice of exploring or tagging along on one of the many excursions Unforgettable Croatia lined up for us. Islands like Korcula and Hvar have sandy beaches, and Vis has some of the best beaches in Croatia, but it would have been a scramble to reach them in our fleeting allotted time. Srebrna on the southeastern coast of Vis and considered one of the most popular beaches in Croatia was too far so we raced over to the harbor beach Prilovo for a quick swim. It was either exploring Vis or foregoing the trek over to Lepanovic Winery arranged by Unforgettable Croatia and later a lovely dinner with good friends in the garden at Villa Koliopa.

I added a few pebbles to my “sand” collection from Prilovo.

POZORA BEACH TRPANJ

ON THE ROCKS

It wasn’t until we reached Trpanj on the Peljesac Peninsula to stay with friends that we had time to explore. There are several places to swim near Zeljko’s summer house within walking distance. Pozora in town is the main pebbled beach that caters mostly to the hotel there and at the end of their street is Belecica, a small beach just large enough to spread out a mat. But the closest “swimming hole” was just across the street from the house. 

WATERING HOLE
TRPANJ

A series of steep steps descends to an outcropping of rocks that had cement poured onto it to smooth over the rough edges to form a platform. One could either leap into the crystalline water or wade down a series of submerged rough-hewn steps. When Zeljko first brought us down to see the swimming area the Adriatic was churning and swells were covering not only the stairs but part of the platform and I thought it was too dangerous for this Benny; I have an aversion to cracking my head; but as the week progressed the sea calmed and we would take daily refreshing dips. We would linger on the rocks to bask in the sun. The end of Hvar was right there, gracefully flowing into the Adriatic and the rugged coastline of Croatia was across the blue water. Amazing views and a quiet serene place to swim. I came to enjoy this little spot very much.

WONDERFUL

There are several beaches near Trpanj and we visited a few by taking Zeljko’s little boat. During the summer he keeps it at Belecica the little beach near his house. One day we traveled west along the northern edge of the Peljesac Peninsula to Divna Bay where there is a popular and very beautiful beach. Yes, you guessed it fair reader, the water is clear and the surrounding landscape was mountainous and spectacular, but there also was a campground here and a crowded beach bar that was so similar to ones back home. There are also a couple of homes at the edge of the beach. The beach itself was pebbly and almost sandy at times. Just off shore at one end of the bay is an islet. Children splashed in the shallow placid water. Divna means “wonderful”.

DIVNA BEACH

For my “sand” collection, I gathered up a few choice pebbles.

                                                                                                    

LUKA

Luka means port in Croatian, and to reach this little shallow watered beach on the eastern edge of Trpanj we passed a number of smaller beaches with one popular with naturist bathers and saw many churches atop hills. We also passed Blace Bay, sought out for its medicinal mud that evidently cures a plethora of ails.

 BLACE BAY

It was a clear day, this area averages only 3 days of rain in July, and the Croatia mainland loomed across the Peljesac bay. Luka beach is very wide and we dragged the boat onto the far end, like we did at Divna and walked on the road for a bit to the Luka Beach Bar. There, we shared drinks and watched a masseuse take customers inside her tent and children splash in the water, and from our perch at a table in the shade of pine trees the resplendent day unfolded nicely.

 

LUKA BEACH BAR TRPANJ

OLIVE OIL TRAIL

On the way back to the good ship Zeljko we passed a sign on the road that mapped out an olive oil trail. Janet and I were excited and mentioned we would love to explore this area of centuries old olive plantations. Croatia is just across the Adriatic from Italy and the olive oil here is very good, but our ex-patriot Bosnian friends don’t appreciate olive oil in the same way. So, we never got to go.

DUBA PELJESKA              

One late afternoon Zeljko drove us to this fishing village further west from Divna where there was a very tiny fishing village and a long curving beach.  It was very beautiful with the setting sun casting a warm glow on the harbor and silhouetting Hvar just across in the near distance, Duba has a pebbly beach but not a lot of residents. It is an isolated location, but we saw quite a number of very modern homes on the western edge of town.

 

DUBA PELJESKA 

VIGNAJ

On the southern side of the peninsula are a series of towns including Orebic where there is a ferry stop to Korcula, just a short distance across the water.  We stopped along the way to see Korcula city, glinting brightly in the morning sun, where we just were the week before while cruising through the Dalmatians.

Orebic was not our final destination though, but a place popular with wind surfers and parasailers, Vignaj. The whole southern coast is very busy and had a real summery beach town feel. Restaurants and bars and people crossing to get to the beach with their boards and sails it was vibrant with activity. The skies and waters of Vignaj were awash with a multitude of flashing swift moving colors as the surfers and sailors darted about catching the wind. We parked near a small peninsula that had a yellow thatched beach bar and watched the swirl of activity for a while. The area is popular with Slovenians and Vignaj is near the end of the Peljesac peninsula. The “pebbles” that comprised the beach were smooth rocks actually, very similar to the rocks at Slatni Rat.

 

VIGNAJ WIND SURFING

I added to my collection by picking up one choice “sand” grain the size of my palm.

WHEREVER YOU GO THERE YOU ARE

That was just a small sampling of the available beaches throughout the Croatian islands. There's so much more to see. Remember it's a big world out there! Here's a list of sandy beaches in Croatia if you need to add to your sand collection!

SANDY BEACHES IN CROATIA

TRPANJ

JUST LIKE I PICTURED IT

After the Sarajevo Winter Olympics in 1984 and our work with ABC television was finished, my Yugoslavian co-worker, Zeljko, and his girlfriend Hana, decided to show me some of their beautiful country. We traveled from Sarajevo to the coast driving through the mountainous terrain of Bosnia I Herzegovina. We visited the destroyed Neretva River railroad bridge whose destruction during WWII in a battle between Yugoslav Partisans and Axis forces was recreated for a movie commemorating the event. We heard the call of the imams from scattered minarets calling the faithful to prayer. We visited the town of Mostar and admired the Stari Most, or Old Bridge. First constructed in the 1500’s the soaring beautiful structure was at the time of its completion the widest man-made arch in the world.

BRIDGE OVER THE NERETVA

We eventually reached the Peljesac Peninsula. We didn’t take the ferry but drove from Mali Ston. After stopping to buy some homemade wine at a farmhouse we finally reached Zeljko’s summer home in Trpanj. It was mid-March though and it was cold and Trpanj was empty and dreary. During the high season the town is vibrant and alive, but there are fewer than one thousand year-round residents. I remember all the restaurants in town were closed and the shelves in the market were empty. But his modest house was fascinating and inviting and had incredible views of the Adriatic. It was a nice trip that late winter trip, but returning this past July was a completely different experience.

 

STARI MOST, MOSTAR

YOU CAN GET THERE FROM HERE

The house was built by Zeljko and his father over the years. Perched on a steep incline on the rugged Peljesac coast, the house, especially the topmost floor, has a clear view of the invitingly blue waters of the Adriatic Sea. Across the bay is the equally rugged Croatian coast and to the left the island of Hvar gracefully dives into the water after its 42 miles and a galaxy away from the revelry of Hvar City. From this sunny perch you can see the ferries that make Trpanj a transit point from the mainland as well as a summer destination. From Trpanj one can travel across the peninsula and get another ferry in Orebic to cross over to Korcula and from there travel to Mljet and Hvar city and Brac. Each of these islands we visited via the Unforgettable Croatia cruise line earlier on this three-week adventure in Croatia.

 

TRPANJ AT SUNSET

Our week in Trpanj was so very different than our travels the first two weeks in Croatia. Rather than tourists we were now residents, living here with good friends. Although we did take a few side trips and went out to dinner a couple of times, most of our time in Trpanj was hanging around the house, swimming in the Adriatic, tooling around in Zeljko’s little motor boat visiting nearby beaches and coves, and reminiscing over all the time that had passed since we last met. Of course, Janet learned how to curse in Croatian, between sips of wine, much to the delight of our hosts.

 

ZELJKO'S HOME IN TRPANJ

Their house is on an impossibly narrow road, about a mile from the town’s center and the harbor where the ferry docks. This little road, with houses like Zeljko’s lining both sides, dead ends about a quarter mile past his place where there is a small rocky beach with enough room to stretch out a mat to bask in the sun. Zeljko keeps his little motor boat here.

Our days in Trpanj were simple and relaxing. Each morning we strolled into town to take coffee at the Buffet Zalo on the quay and from the little tables watch the world slowly pass. There was always a constant stream of people strolling the quay to watch, or the moored bobbing boats held our interest. Nearby, Pozora Beach, in front of the Faraon Hotel was forever crowded and when the cars began to line up to await the ferry along Ulica Kralja Tomislava there was a lot of bustle. Market shelves were filled and after coffee we would go to different places to buy our produce or bread or meat or chocolate for the day. Often, we would fill gallon jugs with red or white wine at one of two winery stores located in town for $8.00 The peninsula is renowned for its wine, especially Dingac and Postup. Along Tomislava there were several touristy stores brimming tacky souvenirs like toys and t-shirts catering to the families that lined up along the road to await the ferry.  

PATIO IN TRPANJ

Hana and Zeljko did a lot of cooking for us. Zeljko was proud of his bbq pit that he built himself. On the top floor patio, he grilled whole fish one night. Another night he made a Peka of beef and lamb another, and another night he made more cevapcici a man could ever eat in a lifetime. Peka is a method of cooking in Croatia in a fireplace where a metal dome is placed over the meal and coals on top of that to slow cook the ingredients. We had a few Peka meals during our travels in Croatia, but Zeljko was very proud of his fireplace and Peka dome that he was using for the first time with us.

 

A BOY AND HIS PEKA

We also went out for dinner a few times. We had pizza one night at Pizza Veslo that is right at the ferry landing and a great view of the sunset. Veslo means oar in Croatian, a nod to the fishing industry that was once very important to Trpanj. It was at Veslo we observed a very peculiar habit of our hosts, they all put ketchup on their pizza as readily as we would put garlic on ours.

We treated them to a meal at Konoba Trpanj, run by Mato Nesonovic. Hana said it was the best restaurant in Trpanj, and how could we disagree. Served family style we shared a massive array of seafood and several bottles of local wine.

 

AT SAINTS HILLS

One night we took them to the Saints Hills winery for a tasting and a dish of Balkan meats and cheeses. Set in an old stone house with lovely views of the valley Saints Hills was and elegant yet surprisingly inexpensive experience with very good wine. Saints Hills is a short drive from Trpanj.

SAINTS HILLS WINERY CROATIA

UTRKA MAGARACA

We also walked into town several evenings to mingle with the modest crowds, sometimes to hear a live band on the beach or to have a drink or cool ourselves with a refreshing gelato. One night, Trpanj hosted their yearly donkey races. We watched the riders try to coax the stubborn beasts to the finish line sometimes unsuccessfully sometimes with a pat on their haunches by seconds. We watched several heats before melting into the crowd on the quay where traditional singers were performing for the crowds and sipped wine from temporary stands. It was a delightful night, and without our hosts we would never have experienced this summer pastime in Trpanj. 

DINNER AT KONOBA TRPANJ

MORE TRPANJ PICTURES     

To travel is one thing but to live with friends in their country is a blessed time. We were very fortunate to have such dear friends and so many happy memories. . 

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