If you have a chance, don’t sail around the island of Vis as if you were in a regatta. Give it the time it deserves. Only then will you truly experience its beauty and sail into at least some of its fifty-four coves.
Vis is located at a point from which everything on the Adriatic is accessible and manageable. Neither large nor small, the island of Vis has a rich history, from the Hellenes, who established a city with ramparts, houses along a street grid, with a waterfront and necropolis, followed by the unruly Illyrians; the Romans, who gave it a theater and thermal baths; and the Croats, who settled there in the tenth century and several centuries later built Renaissance country palaces and, in the nineteenth century, civic buildings and institutions. Vis is a strategic point for trade routes and the site of naval battles that determined who was the master of this sea. It is an island of the bourgeoisie, fishermen and farmers. Above all, there is a unique ambience in Vis, which is sprawled around the harbor of Sveti Juraj, in Komiža, which is squeezed in the base of its bay, and in the fields in the interior, covered by grapevines, with room only for the villages scattered around their edges.
However, Vis is most of all a marvelous island! For those who come here with their boats, it offers a lot. Give it the time that it deserves—a minimum of ten days. Only then will you experience it in its full splendor and sail into at least some of its fifty-four coves. You will become acquainted with its two largest towns and the local people, and dine at their tables. You will have the opportunity to go into the interior, walk around the fields, visit the villages and climb Mount Hum.
The feeling as we approach the island, when its coves become more clearly visible with every mile, has remained the same. Stončica inexorably grows before us. We pass the lighthouse on the islet of Hrid Krava, we leave the islet of Host behind on the right and sail into the harbor of Vis. It is Thursday and the harbor of Sveti Juraj is not crowded. Most of the charter vessels have sailed away and the crews change on Saturday mornings.
We moor at the village of Kut, where sanitary facilities for seafarers were installed in the new, well designed, spacious reception building. Forty vessels can now moor at the enlarged waterfront. There is also a new restaurant here. We try to count how many of them are in this part of the town: Težok, Vatrica, San Giorgio, Val, Pojoda, Tramontana, Mote i Grgo, Kaliopa and another one is under construction. During the socialist period, the only restaurant here was the Lambik. The best dish served there was grilled fillet of yellow tail. What a lot of progress there has been since then! Five hundred people can eat at the same time at the restaurants in Kut, three of which are excellent. For me, the Pojoda is the best of them all, owing to my friendship oncewith Zoran now with Marko and Vesna, and the high quality of the food they serve. Naturally, we spent the evening together and dined with them. However, first of all I wanted to go to the waterfront in the harbor.
A walk in Vis entails more than a stroll from the Czech Villa to the cove of Stonca, as it is also a journey through the history of the city, including the villa built by the ship owner Topić whose remake is now becoming a hotel, a cemetery for the British sailors killed in 1805 during the first battle of the War in the Adriatic, the fishing harbor of Lučica, the Renaissance palace in Kut, the fortress of Batarija, the beach of Kalafotovo, the excavations of ancient Issa and the Prirova Peninsula.
When we reached Kalafotovo by taking a narrow footpath, the beautiful waterfront stretched before me. The waterfront had been seriously damaged and needed repair and reinforcement. It has been widened by approximately a half a meter with the construction of a wall, under the sea and above the sea, and all the infrastructure and equipment have been replaced.
The Beauties of the Coves of Vis
The next day we sail to the town of Komiža, along the eastern and southern coasts of the island and a series of beautiful coves.
The first of them is Stončica. However, before reaching it, we pass the coves of Stenjalo and Dobra Luka on the right. Although they are excellent shelters from the southern and western winds, we do not see any large boats at anchor. As we pass them, in front of us is the cape of Rt Stračine, which, together with the cape of Rt Stončica, on which there is one of the prettiest Adriatic lighthouses, encloses a deep bay where there are three coves with some attractive old houses.
The bay is deep, a full seven cables. Several buoys are anchored in Stončica, with a couple of sailboats tied to them. The crew is evidently fooling around on the sandy beach or they have found something to eat at the restaurant Stončica, operated on the island by the Lincir brothers. The Lincirs own purse seines, in which they catch excellent fish around the nearby cliffs and islands, so they never run short. They are known for dishes prepared in a baking bell (pod pekom) and grilled meat, and offer good traditional dishes such as dropčića, known on the island as Vis sausage.
East Coast
From the cape of Rt Stončica, the northern coast of the island ends and the eastern coast begins. Right next to the cape are the coves of Mala Smokova and Vela Smokova. Uninhabited, extending five hundred meters inland, exposed to the easterly wind (levant) and choppy when the south wind (jugo) is blowing, they are protected from western and northwestern winds and not particularly popular with seafarers. All the way until a mile and seven cables from Milna, the coast is not indented. The attractions for us who sail are certainly the islets of Greben, Mali Paržanj and Veliki Paržanj, and the cliffs of Pupak, Žuberka and Pločica, the islets of Veli Budihovac (Budikovac) and Mali Budihovac, and Ravnik, which extend parallel to the coast for three miles, all the way to the cape of Rt Polivalo, where the southern coast of Vis begins.
We go to the lagoon of Budihovac, right across from Zaglav, yet another attractive sandy beach and cove sheltered from the mistral. The islet is like a dream. From the one side is a white gravel beach and from the other, Mali Budihovac and the cliff of Sanak. The sea is clean and clear here, so in the lagoon they enclose there are always small vessels and yachts full of swimmers. So now we stop in front of the beach, next to which is Andre Slavić’s small restaurant. We skip lunch because we ate too much last night and devote ourselves to swimming and enjoying the sea.
Two hours passed in a flash and we weigh anchor. We sail along the island of Ravnik and its Green Cave (Zelena Špilja), where an entrance fee is collected during the summer, and by Rukavac, with five or six boats at anchor. There used to be a small fishing village in the harbor of Rukavac but later a large number of vacation cottages were built, which diminished some of the local charm. In the inner harbor in Rukavac are three inns, the best of which is the Dalmatino, right near the pier. It is run by Sandro Karuza and offers traditional local dishes— pita bread, grilled sardines, salted fish …
The harbor is the largest and most sheltered on this part of the coast. It has two branches that share a small peninsula, at the tip of which is a fifteen-meter-long pier. The cape of Rt Polivalo protects the western part from the summer mistrals, as do the islets of Ravnik and Budihovac from the south and east, although not as well. The innkeepers have anchored several buoys for seafarers.
We also stop at Srebrena, the most beautiful beach on the island, pass the coves of Vela Travna and Mala Travna, where Senko Karuza—chef, winegrower and writer—has an inn. We anchor for a short time in front of the cove of Stiniva, board the dinghy, enter the cove and once again marvel at its exceptional beauty disrupted by the crowds of tourists wanting to see it.
We sail on to Komiža without stopping, merely glancing at a couple of small coves and high cliffs where albatrosses are nesting.
Komiža
Komiža does not have large crowds. We find a berth at the breakwater, one of the last ones free, and there are also about fifty buoys here on its northern and southern sides. The most beautiful fishing village in Dalmatia is nestled in the corner of the bay, below Muster, and the nearly six hundred-meter-high Mount Hum. Komiža is truly one of the wondrous places in the Adriatic. The Komiža waterfront is not large but I do not know of any other fishing village pulsating with so much or with a similar sense of local tradition. You can sense this everywhere, especially in the fishing museum we visit every time we moor here and discover something new. We take a stroll along the waterfront, have coffee at the Speedo, and then eat supper on board.
This day was devoted to Komiža. The weather was sunny, ideal for visiting the Blue Cave (Modra Špilja) on the island of Biševo. Then, a little after ten o’clock, a beautiful flotilla of approximately twenty sailboats and motor yachts, as well as several large dinghies carrying day-trippers, sailed toward the Blue Cave, and also a liner. Due to the large number of those who want to visit the Blue Cave, it can only be accessed by Nautical Center vessels from the cove of Mezoporat.
We’ll go to Biševo next time.
All excursion boats, yachts and sailboats moor in Mezoporat or can anchor without charge at the buoys for two hours. All the necessary infrastructures for receiving visitors have been built there. A few years ago, the waterfront, at which ten vessels can moor, was expanded. There are also a souvenir shop and a very nice prefabricated building where you can find something to eat and drink. Moreover, there are now a biological wastewater treatment plant, new toilets for invalids and an anchorage with eighteen buoys. Bravo!
We spend the rest of the morning touring Muster, the fortified church of St. Nicholas on the hill dominating the bay, the church collection, and then go down to the Venetian castle of Komuna on the waterfront, where there is an exhibition on the Komiža fishing tradition. We go in to experience some of this tradition, inspect old fishing tools, and also the Cicibela, the last authentic wooden Komiža fishing boat (gajeta falkuša). Fortunately, two new ones are anchored today in the port. The sea is calm. We unmoor, spend the afternoon at anchor in the cove of Barjaška and then return to our berth.
The evening is reserved for supper at the restaurant Bako,run by the Borčić family. We always eat good fish there. Much attention has been paid to the inn’s décor. It has a good hydroarchaeological collection assembled by the diver and coral diver Tonko Borčić. We savor one of the most beautiful views of Komiža here.
The Side Exposed to the Bura Wind
The next day, we set sail back to Vis and headed to the northern side of the island. Leaving the Komiža Bay, we will pass by the coves of Perna, Barjaška, and Knezice, all three with beautiful pebble beaches. Rounding Cape Barjaci, near the islets Veliki and Mali Barjak, we emerge onto the rugged and desolate side exposed to the bora wind. When it blows, sailing along this coast becomes dangerous.
Passing along the coves of Oključna and Tiha reminds me that this coast has its charms and I have to come back here once and drop anchor, perhaps when the southern side of the island is very hot and the Italians invade it. That would be the moment to sail to this side of the island and find some peace and quiet. Rogačić, the harbor before the entrance to Vis, is nicely filled with boats.
Vis Again
This time we tie up at Luka. It is fairly lively, although only about twenty boats are moored there.
We go for a drink at the Lola, a tavern and bar. The lovely courtyard of the old palace is quite full but some of the terraces have a more intimate atmosphere. You feel as if you were there alone. Ivica Grgić and his Spanish wife, Puri Lojo, will offer you interesting dishes that somewhat resemble tapas but with local ingredients. Nevertheless, we had already decided to go to the restaurant Kantun. The grilled lamb ribs and salad there were scrumptious.
We could have also visited Peskarija, a newly opened, beautifully designed bistro and wine bar run by the younger generation of the Lincir family. In the morning, it operates as a fish market where they sell their own catch, and later in the day, it transforms into a dining spot specializing in blue fish. The dishes are prepared by the talented and energetic young Vis chef, Ivan Poduje.
On the last day of our adventure, we remain moored at Luka and our means of transportation will be rented bicycles. With them, we shall climb the old but nicely renovated road that connects Vis and Komiža, passing through vineyards and connecting all the inland villages. The road has branches that lead to all the coves on the southeastern side of the island. One leads to Mount Hum, another to nearly all the villages in the center of the island, along which are numerous inns, wineries and rural households. We spend the day going around them, tasting wines and savoring pita bread filled with salted anchovies (komiška pogaca) in the wine house Aerodrom next to the former site of an Allied airport at the end of the Second World War.
We also visited our friend Andrzej Kondrat and his wife Eva at their estate, Kula, in the heart of Dračevo Polje. Now naturalized islanders, this Polish winemaker, together with local enologist Monika Roki, founded the Monissa winery, expanding vineyards and producing top-quality Bugava (Vugava).
Had we had more time, we would have taken a detour toward Podstražje and Milna to visit the Vislander winery—the largest and most modern on the island. Built on old family vineyards, it was established by Marko Vojković and Damir Radica.
The next morning we sail to Trogir and make a couple of stops. We are going away, and hundreds of boats are coming toward Hvar and Vis.
