Vis is all you need in life

Once the real summer (June – September) hits Croatia, the hiking kind of stops for us. Since it gets very hot (35-40 degrees) sweating like a pig, carrying loads of water and cursing at the sun kills the mood a bit. Unless we plan to visit some higher peaks like we did with Slovenia and Triglav this July (check the link), hiking in such heat doesn’t make much sense. So the best option is just to enjoy the Adriatic sea which we did on one of the most beautiful islands out there, Vis!

How about that as a welcome sight. We knew already how good this trip will turn out to be. 10 mins later we were in our apartment where the nicest lady greeted us to show us the place and give us some tips in case we were on Vis for the first time. The biggest selling point of the apartment was its view and it was without a doubt one of the best you could have.

As a welcome gift our lovely host Linda even made us Viška pogača which is a Komiža speacialty made of bread, freshly sliced tomato sauce and salty srdela (european pilchard). She also made us her own limunčelo (lemon rakija). Uhh, it was all so tasty and to spice it all up with this view…priceless. The first day we just enjoyed this relaxing scenery.

STINIVA BEACH

For tourists and foreigners Vis will firstly come up as the island of making the Mamma Mia movie. For locals it is a place of infinite beauty, tranquility, amazing food and stunning nature. One of those places that will always stick to your memory after you see it is the famous beach/cove Stiniva. Located in the south part of Vis and accessable either by a boat or a 15 min downhill trekking route, Stiniva leaves you in awe!

A once closed cave which collapsed onto itself long time ago is now one of the most recognizable landmarks of island Vis. To be honest, picturing this beautiful beach as a closed cave seems even cooler!

Since it is a very touristy place, boats anchor 20m in front of the entrance throughout the day. Majority of them are usually annoyingly loud tourists who only see it as a more exotic place to leave beer cans behind instead of the town. During the summer days you get lucky with 20 mins between the boat tours to enjoy it in peace, but off season is another story. So after a nice, refreshing and surprisingly peaceful morning at Stiniva we decided to explore the town Vis.

The town of Vis

As you enter the Vis harbour via ferry, the buildings you would see in front of you as the fery docks do not amaze as much as the scenery around it. But, just a couple of hundred meters to the east there is the coziest, cutest and prettiest little area called Kut (The corner). The older part of an already old island (IV. century BC) gave off this strong mediterranean charm that knocks you off your feet.

Narrow charming streets where getting lost is never a bad outcome . As if that wasn’t enough, the clear blue sea that awaited us for a deserved refreshment was like a cherry on top.

How to end such a fulfilling day one might ask himself? In Komiža that is not a problem. By having a dinner with these landscapes. Pictures speak for themselves…

BEACH DAY

Something that an island like Vis did not lack in were mesmerizing beaches whether they were organized or wild. The sea was one of the clearest we have seen so far, so absolutely all boxes were checked for a good time. Even though we visited only some of them they all left a strong impression on us. We opened the day with one that is actually not on Vis but Biševo, an island 5.3 miles away.

Blue cave on Biševo

Something you really have to visit when you are on Vis. The sunlight reflecting from the white sand at the seabed enters the cave and creates this intense blue colour. As unique as it was, we still liked the Odysseus cave on Mljet more, but that is very spoiled of us since they were both incredible.

Stončica beach

10 mins from Vis town the road took us to Stončica beach. The asphalt road stops 100m before, so we walked the rest on the dirt road. Tess as a classic Dane prefers sandy beaches while Lovre as a typical Croatian love the rocky ones due to obvious reasons. But, even for Lovre this one was actually good as there were no people and the sea was very clear.

SREBRNA (The Silver beach)

The silver beach got its name due to its big white boulders and wide, flat rock plates that give it a strong white colour. Combined with a turquoise sea it looked incredbily appealing. It was calling for us to take a swim while looking so fresh. Since it was June and the sea was still not as warm it really was a refreshment.

PRITIŠĆINA beach

Just above Komiža, as we were driving up the serpentines we noticed one nice blue spot down at the sea level. We decided to go and check it out and we did not made a mistake. It took us 15 mins one way down the dirt road to reach it, but it was worth it. A small but very private beach (some of the time) was really what we needed. That day the sea was filled with jellyfish, but rather small ones. They sting a bit, but it passes after 3 mins.

Sunset on Hum and Tito’s caves

It would be weird if we didn’t climb somewhere and what better place for that is than the highest point of Vis, Hum. On the way up we decided to make a stop and take a look at Tito’s caves. A communist revolutionary and a politician, leader of the Yugoslavian partisans, president of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1953-1980) Josip Broz Tito was hiding in these caves during the second world war, as this was the place where The supreme Headquarters of the People’s Liberation Partisan were located. An interesting piece of world history.

As the sun was almost setting we proceeded to Hum and by the little “Chapel of the holy spirit” we waited. The results were one of the most soothing sunsets ever. What a way to end the day.

The town of Komiža

It was hard to put into words the magnificent simplicity of this place and the beauty both visible and hidden to the naked eye. To truly feel it, the most suitable way was indeed the simplest way. A morning walk on the promenade followed by a cup of espresso machiato sitting in the shade by the sea and observing the boats out in the open.

Listening to the sounds of the summer, birds, waves and locals shouting in the background. Cats purring, laying in the sun or begging for a piece of your breakfast. Once that was done we took a walk through all the small and narrow streets (called kale in dalmatian).

Honestly, we could stroll around this place for months and it would be just as fulfilling as the first day. The old rock houses, olive trees, flowers, the colourful window shades…pure nirvana.

Couple of hundred meters from the Komiža center is a beautiful church of Sv. Nikola (St. Nicholas) on an even better location. Sv. Nikola is a protector of sailors, seafarers, fishermen and travellers keeping his eyes on Komiža.

Magical isn’t it? As our last day was reaching its end we went back to our apartment, sat on the balcony with the stunning view, made a proper dalmatian finger food plate and raised our glasses to this without a doubt special place that left more than just a memorable impression on us, but crawled under our skin, forever.