A swimmer’s guide to Split, Croatia

On the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea, Croatia’s second city has plenty to offer swimmers. By Susanne Masters

A city by the sea, Split is a delectable entry point into clear Adriatic water as well as home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Before going feral with your swims, start at Plaža Bačvice, a lively beach in the heart of the city. There are freshwater showers to rinse off under, and an assortment of restaurants around the beach. A ridge of rocks about 200m out offers a fixed point to swim too. On the way there, bare sand is increasingly covered by clumps of seagrass on the seabed that attract clouds of loitering little fish.

Unusual for being sandy in an area where most beaches are pebbly, Bačvice fuelled the invention of picigin. Played in ankle-deep water, picigin looks like net-free one-handed volleyball. Splash landings cushion lunges for the ball. With the aim being to keep the ball in the air, rather than competitiveness, there isn’t point scoring and it accommodates fluctuating numbers of participants. Playing as a group of five, two players aid in passing the ball while three players make energetic sprints for longer shots. Picigin balls are for sale nearby at Stari Pazar, the open-air market on the east side of the Diocletian Palace. In size and shape they are just bald tennis balls.

Walking about 25 minutes to the east, if you don’t get distracted by swims on the way in coves of Kupalište Ovčice and Plaža Firule, Kupalište Trstenik is a pebbly bay. Here the water is deeper, and without the buzz of people playing picigin it is a quieter swimming spot.

A wilder city to swim

To reach beaches that feel rural take bus number 12 from Riva, the harbour promenade in the town centre, or walk over Marjan hill. Covered in Mediterranean forest it’s a fragrant walk under pines, past Dalmatian sage. As the trees come close to the shore, Kasjuni Beach has a green backdrop that makes swimming there seem like a wild countryside swim.

Naturists were swimming quite happily on the northern edge, with no shrieks of alarm and all appendages free in the water as well as on the beach. Meanwhile, I picked up the unwanted holiday souvenir of being stung by a jellyfish tentacle that got squashed in my bikini. I didn’t see the culprit but on the basis of how it felt and the dark mark it left I suspect a mauve stinger (Pelagia noctiluca), which is more commonly encountered in the Mediterranean than back in Britain.

It was easy to spend time here wildlife watching. Hallucinogenic dream fish (Sarpa salpa, pictured) swirled around rocks. Two relatively sedentary animals were easy to see in the shallow water. Gold sea sponges (Aplysina aerophoba) are bright yellow enough to be eye catching. Sea cucumbers (Holothuria tubulosa) also drew attention, initially for being a dubious shape, but with a closer look alive and definitely not human waste. Croatia is famous for its karst limestone, terroir for good wine and freshwater springs. In a couple of places at Kasjuni Beach I saw the haze of freshwater released on the seabed mingling with saltwater. Feeling cool water and noticing its reduced saltiness in comparison to surrounding warm seawater is a teetotal way to appreciate karst.

Island swims

Zlatni Rat (Golden Horn), the beach often called the most beautiful in the Adriatic, is on Brač Island, a short ferry or catamaran ride from Split. On hot summer days the wind builds up in the afternoon, so to enjoy the beach with the sea surface undisturbed by ripples go in the morning. There is a desert island feel to the elongated triangle of its tip jutting out into the sea. On the western side trees offer shade to lounge under that is close to the water.

At the end of a day around Bol, Bijela Kuća and Plaža Kotlina – two halves of a small cove – are well oriented to catch the sunset. Bijela Kuća, next to the Dominican monastery, has a small strip of beach overhung by trees. Swimming heads-up to enjoy the last rays of the sun it was only when I got out and talked with a woman who had been fishing on the beach that I realised what I had missed. She had caught an octopus for her supper, and said “It’s my passion”, not only referring to her seafood supper, but also her life by the sea.

If you go

May and June, and September through till mid-October, offer the sweet spot of warm sunshine and avoiding peak tourism of July and August.

Staying in Split, Marvie Hotel has a rooftop plunge pool, perfect for sunset views, and is within easy walking distance of several great swimming spots: Kupalište Trstenik, Plaža Firule, and Plaža Bačvice.

Staying in Bol on Brač Island, Villa Azzurra is ten minutes walk from the harbour where the catamaran between Split and Bol arrives, a 30-minute stroll to Golden Horn beach, and 10 minutes to Bijela Kuća Beach. Bol can also be reached by taking the ferry to Supetar, and then bus across the island.

If stung by a jellyfish follow standard advice of rinsing with seawater to make sure no bits of tentacle are left stuck to skin, and seek medical advice if you have extreme pain, the reaction spreads beyond the sting site, or becomes infected. Don’t get in for a swim if there is a visible swarm of jellyfish, and wearing a rash vest and leggings while swimming reduces your exposure to stings.