Going island hopping the next day meant that we had to get up earlier than I’d perhaps have liked on holidays but the idea of sailing through some of the most beautiful parts of Croatia was more than enough motivation to excitedly jump out of bed and hurry downstairs for breakfast.
The sun was already out in full force (even that early in the morning) though with no breeze in the air, the sea was almost glass-like.
We excited piled onto our boat and before long headed off in search of Croatia’s beauties.
Our first stop was a brief visit to a cave which used to be for the military but is now home to fisherman (who you can still see during the day just going about their business)…
Our next stop was Hvar, a quick whistlestop but not so quick that we didn’t get a chance to fall for the charms of this gorgeous city.
In it’s time, Hvar has been Greek, Slavic, Turkish, Roman, Venetian, Hungarian, Bosnian, Austrian, French, British and Italian! Talk about a varied history!
After a quick stop for an ice-cold drink to cool off in that early morning heat, we proceed to explore Hvar’s many pretty little nooks and crannies.
By the way, when you’re here, be sure to pop round to the theatre here. It’s one of the oldest surviving theatres in Europe (dates back to 1612).
Soon enough, we had to hop back onto our boat and make our way over to the next stop – the Blue Lagoon.
The Blue Lagoon is the perfect spot to cool off with a refreshing dip into Croatia’s beautiful clear blue waters.
Hvar was absolutely amazing but given how hot it was (it was around 35C / 95F) I think this was one I was looking forward one the sun really began to do its thing. ? ? ?
And so back and forth we went, from boat to cool waters, over and over again, only stopping occasionally to cool off with an ice cold beer before diving right back in!
Next off, we went off in search of the Blue Cave or the Blue Grotto, stopping briefly to check out the Green Cave (which you can actually go swimming in) before carrying on.
The Blue Grotto is a UNESCO World Heritage Site now so access to it is restricted and you can’t just go swimming in there like people used to be able to years ago.
Instead, you arrive on the island and then change boats to go on a smaller boat with a guide – which you definitely need as the entrance to the cave is very tight!
Inside it though, it’s absolutely amazing and the reason why it has the name that it does becomes pretty obvious! ?
The cave is lit but an underwater tunnel and it’s just such a beautiful place. Let me show you exactly what I mean…
Leaving the Blue Grotto, we made our way over to nearby Komiža, another pretty little town where we decided to stick around to have lunch in.
It’s such a cute place but alas, the rumbling of hunger in our tummies mean that we had to find some food before checking out the town fully.
Lunch started with aperol spritz (a welcome respite from the heat)…
…before diving into a local meats platter, focaccia, steaks and salads!
Done with food (which took forever to arrive ?), we headed off to make the most of the town.
It’s a cute little place definitely worth spending more time in but we had one more place we wanted to squeeze in before heading back to Brac.
With that, we hopped onto our boat and made our way over to Stiniva Bay – a spot recently featured as one of the best beaches in Europe.
The boats can only go so far here so you have to swim 80 – 100m to get to the bay but it’s so worth it!
After chilling around here for a bit, we finally hopped back onto our boat and made our way back to Brac island in time for sunset drinks by the rooftop pool.
Dinner that even had us in Taverna Riva, easily one of my places in Bol (on Brac island).
We started off with lobster gnocchi for myself and the truffle gnocchi for Lloyd.
The lobster gnocchi was great but the truffle gnocchi was IT!!! Soooo soooo good and definitely the reason why if it was on the menu for dinner (every other night after this in Croatia), we had to have it.
For mains, we went for the calamari – grilled and fried (separated – not all in one dish ? ?) and a grilled fish. All absolutely delicious!
For drinks, we skipped cocktails and went with a local sparkling wine that saw us through the next few hours of dinner till it was time to head back to our hotel, thoroughly exhausted but absolutely loving the beautiful parts of Croatia that we had gotten to explore today!