Croatia Day 3

A Mama Mia Day

I was up before my alarm went off this morning, but in all honesty, not by much. The morning was another glorious one but a bit hectic trying to get my blog done from last night (I just could not keep my eyes open), to making sure we arrived on time for our boat charter today. I figured since we were on an island, and I had read about some really cool coves, beaches and caves to go to, we would hire a boat as most of the places are not accessible by car or foot and the ones that are, are doubly crowded (and I think you all know how I feel about crowds now). This was a bit of an expense, but worthwhile I had hoped and for really not that much more money than joining a group tour, we could have our own private boat which meant we could stay someplace as long as we like, get the shade if we wanted, sit wherever we wanted etc. – all things I did not feel like fighting for.

We showed up at 9:00 on the dot and met our captain for the day – a cute, 25-year old named Ivan (pronounced like Yvonne). Ivan’s English was understandable and he was eager to let me know that everything we did would be up to us – exactly what I was after. We discussed the planned stops and then agreed that once we were there we would decide if we wanted to stay or move on; the only one that we had agreed ahead of time for sure on was the famous Blue Cave, part of the Vis Archipelago UNESCO Global Geopark created in 2019.

Our route today was a circumnavigation of Vis with a detour over to Bisevo Island where the Blue Cave is located. Our first stop was the submarine tunnel built by the Yugoslavian leader Tito during the Cold War. The tunnel is about 60 feet high and 330 feet long but was never used. It was quite a cool experience going all the way into it.

Our next stop was the small secluded bay Barjoška which was a filming location for Mama Mia 2. It looked a bit different as they brought in props for use in the movie, but either way, the cove was beautiful and it was the first stop, of many to come, where we enjoyed a brisk swim in a place we had basically to ourselves.

Next up was the Blue Cave (or Modra špilja). Because we were traveling with a local company, and not a tour operator from Split or one of the other islands, our tickets included a fast track. Ivan had originally told us he thought it would take us about 30 minutes before we could board the designated boats that are licensed to take you inside the cave, but we lucked out and basically hopped right in.

Our skipper was a funny gal, who gave us some insight into the phenomena we were about to see. From the seaside, there is a small opening that you can crawl into, there is an opening underwater and then there is the opening that is maybe five feet in diameter that allows for one small craft at a time to enter or exit with all passengers needing to duck their heads into the middle of the boat to clear the opening.

Upon first entering you immediately notice a very faint blue glow and I was thinking, “OK. This is not quite as exciting as the pictures make it seem.” But then as you turn a corner, the entire chamber of the cave is a glow in this stunning blue, so much so that Jenny turned to me and said, “Do they have lights on underneath the water there?” And in honesty, if I had not read about this place ahead of time, I would have said it certainly looked like it.

The interior of the cave would be close to pitch black except for that underwater entrance I mentioned earlier. Because the water is so clear, the sunlight can penetrate far down allowing for a reflection of the white sandy bottom to come back up and then cast a radiant blue glow up out of the water back into the darkened chamber. The whole process and result was quite fantastic.

The trip through was quick, like really quick, and for 18 Euros a person it felt a bit like a rip off, even Ivan could not believe the price, but, it was stunning, and I had never seen anything like it before so it made it all worthwhile.

From here we headed to another cove for more swimming but this little cove was again, like nothing I have ever seen. As we motored in, I could see only one other boat tied up to the steep limestone wall and I thought well this is pretty but… Ivan said it got better for which I was confused because it appeared as though the small cove ended.

However, as we got closer, we could see it rounded the bend for another 40 feet or so – absolutely stunning! It was just us and the one other vessel but they had all swam before we got there so we had the water all to ourselves! It was simply gorgeous!

We lingered here, swimming and sunning for quite some time as the place was just too beautiful to move on from, before making our way to the next stop, another cave known as the Green Cave, but first we stopped at a few smaller ones:

Our timing arriving at the Green Cave was perfect as there were two boats full of people that were just leaving so were had the place to ourselves. Unlike the blue cave, the green cave we could swim into. What makes this cave so unique is the two-foot diameter hole in the top that shines a beam of light down into the water. The green comes from the algae that grows on the rocks on the ceiling and under the water. The experience of floating in the beam of light was a bit surreal, reminding me a bit of the movie “Cocoon.” Unfortunately, I could not safely bring my phone in here so this is one of those experiences delegated to our memories.

After so much swimming, we were ready for lunch so Ivan took us to a beautiful bay near the village of Rukavac, that had a charming restaurant overlooking the beach. We enjoyed smoked swordfish and smoked tuna carpaccio, along with a few salads, a fish sandwich, and a couple of drinks. I laughed when we docked and I asked Ivan where we would find the boat and he replied not to worry, “I will be in the bar…” At first I thought he was kidding so I joked, “Having some drinks, huh?” He replied in all sincerity, “Just one cold beer,” which I gladly bought him.

The next stop we were uninterested in making once we pulled up to it. A 2016 article in the British Daily Mail proclaimed Stiniva Beach, the most beautiful beach in Europe, and the word is definitely out. The place was packed full of boats – ridiculously so. Having seen the pictures I knew it is beautiful but the scene was too much and after having enjoyed so many quiet, peaceful locations, this was an affront to our experiences thus far.

So the last stop on our trip was Ivan’s favorite beach and one that was different from all the others as this was a sandy bottom beach – one of only two on the whole island. Smokova Beach was beautiful, only accessible by boat or a thirty minute hike down from the road, so there was only a handful of other people there. It looked like a giant swimming pool but was just as chilly as all the others stops. By this time, Noella had fallen asleep so Jenny and I jumped in and swam to shore. Jenny really loves to swim, especially dunking her head under, and here since it was sand, we could swim without our water shoes on as there were no rocks for the urchins to cling too! 

Our day wrapped up with Ivan dropping us at the dock closest to our apartment and him offering to buy us a beer if we ever return to Vis.

We enjoyed dinner at a pizza restaurant and then returned to the apartment where we stayed up talking until just about midnight.