Croatia, Split: seaside edition

Croatia is famous for its transparent sea, clean pebbles beach and intimate bays. During our holiday in Split, we went to three of them! It was such a positive change from the Rimini Italian beach I am used to: in Croatia you may have to walk a bit (and on those pebbles it's not exactly comfortable) but it is not hard to find a hidden and secluded place to have some quiet.

As we were staying on Marjan hill, we started by exploring that area. The first beach we went to is Kašuni beach (map), located on the south-west tip of Marjan hill. We walked until there (there is also a bus going there, n. 12), it was a beautiful scenery of wild gardens and woods of olive trees. When the road takes you down to the sea level, you get to a beautiful bay with a couple of bars at the beginning. Walk to the right until the middle of the bay to find some quiet and to enjoy the view of the islands in front, and start wondering about leaving your job and spend your life sailing :)

The second beach we went to, after steaming for a very hot morning in the centre of Split, is Bačvice beach (map), famous for its sandy shores and the "Picigin" ball game. It was quite disappointing: extremely crowded (maybe because it was a Sunday), the sand was actually dark and heavy and seemed dirty... perhaps I had higher Caribbean expectations? You can get there with a short walk from the city centre, and keep walking bay after bay until you find a free spot. There are lots of stands of sandwiches and fries, some restaurants and bars, and tables to play chess! We finally settled down at the Ovčice beach and had a nice afternoon, watching funny and quiet kids playing (a relief for my ears used to shouting Italian kids) and swimming over to some rocks large enough to climb, lay down on and sunbathe. At sundown it was much better! 

The last beach we went to was the one right in front of our place, Jezinac (or maybe Kastelet, they are next to each other): pebbles and clear water, a view on the mountains in the back and the islands in front, and a bar with nasty waitresses nearby. We even bathed there under the moon on the last night!! The path alongside the sea, from the city centre, is magical.

We also devoted one day to a catamaran excursion with Summer Blues. Among the wide range of choices on the internet and on the pier of the Riva downtown, this seemed the best value for money: a day-long excursion 9-19h on a brand new catamaran for 30-40 people, with sandwiches, salad, fruit included, beer and soft drinks all-you-can-drink. The itinerary start from the port on the Riva of Split, takes us first to a bay in Brac island, then a bay in the tiny islands of Pakleni, around 15h a short visit to the town of Hvar, and a final bath in a bay in Šolta before returning to the Riva of Split. The DJ put on a great soundtrack of every possible genre and all we had to do was lay down on the deck, sunbathe and sip beer, or jump down and explore the clean sea with the goggles available. Bathing in the cool and clean water was such an enjoyable feeling! Somebody of the group even went to the "shores" of the islands, but they were quite rocky and required climbing (on the catamaran there was an emergency kit for cuts). The panorama of the islands was so authentic: little colorful houses hidden in tiny and deep bays, yachts and row boats coming in and out, trees coming down to the sea, larger towns climbing the hills like Hvar, and this peaceful Mediterranean feeling over it all. It was so windy and pleasant that we got quite a sunburnt! We were considering a cheaper solution: taking the ferry to Brac island and then driving around, or taking public transportation to the Zlatni Rat beach, but in the end we were very happy and satisfied with our choice.

Destinations for the next trip: Zlatni Rat beach on Brac Island, Trogir, maybe Sibenik, and of course, Dubrovnik!