Sailing the Adriatic Sea

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When I first moved over here, I wasn’t too interested in doing planned tours and wanted to plan the majority of my trips by myself, doing small trips here and there as much as money would allow as well as annual leave, to get the most out of my time here. There was however, one tour I was interested in doing and that was a sailing around Croatia trip. As a lot of you may remember. I came back from my Europe trip saying how much Croatia had surpassed all expectations. It truly is a little hidden gem that isn’t as heavily talked about with the likes of London, Paris and Rome, although this appears to be changing with the popularity of Games of Thrones (there’s quite a few filming locations), and I wanted to see more of it. In November 2016, I went to a travel fair being held in London to compare prices and see what each tour company was offering in the way of a sailing trip around Croatia. After a few shots of whiskey being offered at all the Scottish tour tents (it’d be rude not to), I ended up walking away from the travel fair with a tour booked and deposit paid with Topdeck for a tour in June.

Fast forward to the 2^nd June, and I was heading to Dubrovnik on an early morning flight. This also marked my first sleepover at the airport due to the flight being at a ridiculous time of 6:25am and I didn’t want to walk to the bus stop at a ridiculous time so left for the bus around midnight. The past 2 weeks prior to this had been pretty busy with my dad and his wife visiting so all of the tourist things had been done – some I’d done before and some that were brand new to me but it was really cool showing them around a city that has me absolutely mesmerised – so I was able to catch up on some much needed sleep both in the uncomfortable seat at the airport as well as on the plane. I touched down in Dubrovnik mid-morning, got some cash out, bought my bus ticket and was on my way to the city centre. The guest house I was staying in was close by the main bus station as well as being close to the port where my tour would be departing the next day. One thing I had forgotten about Dubrovnik was the amount of stairs so with my carry-on and also the heat beating down, it took me awhile to get right to the top where my guest house was. After I was checked and settled in – my room was nothing to boast about but I had a room to myself and it was only one night – I had a quick shower and headed out to explore. One thing I was no longer used to after living in London for almost 12 months was the heat but it was mighty glorious. The Old City of Dubrovnik was about a half hour or so walk from my accommodation so when I got there, delicious gelato was the first thing on my agenda. Walking through the old city gates, all that familiarity of my first trip here came flooding back – memories of my first time seeing this beautiful walled city, it still looks like something straight out of a fairy tale. I spent the afternoon walking around before heading back to my guest house and getting an early night in as I imagined the next week would be quite crazy with minimal sleep – how right I would be. I also ended up pretty badly sunburnt from my first afternoon but after a few days this turned into a killer tan.

The next morning, I left my guest house and headed down the millions of stairs to Gruz port to find the boat I would be spending the next week on and check in to the tour. Once all the paperwork and introductions were out of the way, we set sail into the Adriatic Sea on our boat for the week, Petrina. Lunch was served not long after we set sail – each day breakfast and a 3 course lunch was provided as part of the tour, as most mornings were spent sailing towards the next island. After lunch, everyone congregated on the top deck to converse and relax – dolphins were also seen frolicking not far from the boat, which was a bit exciting. We also stopped off for our very first swim stop, a daily occurrence, where we all jumped off the side of the boat into the crystal blue waters. Our first stop was Mljet (pronounced M’L-YET), which we got to late afternoon and had time to explore the national park, which is stunning to walk around the two lakes and just in general take in the nature. Our boat was docked in the village of Pomena, which has a population of 52 therefore it’s quite small with not a lot to do so the night was spent at our little boat. After our welcome BBQ dinner, the night’s festivities of drinking games commenced.

The next day I awoke to us already sailing on to our next port. Perfect for a sneaky sleep in, which actually became quite a regular occurrence during the week. Mid-morning, we stopped for our swim stop and lunch before docking into our next port of call sometime in the mid-afternoon. Makarska, are you even real life? The first thing you notice about Makarska when coming in is how scenic and stunning it is – a small town set against a background of mountains, which doesn’t even look real, and surrounded by crystal blue water. My photos do not do this place justice at all. The afternoon was spent exploring the main square of the city and the markets, purchasing my captain’s hat for the Pirates & Sailors party that night and a group of us also sat by the beach eating ice cream. At dinner time, I broke away from the group and opted out of the group dinner to try and watch the funds – this only lasted this one night and after enjoying a cheap pizza by myself, I went back to the boat to get ready for the evening activities. Drinks were had at the boats bar before heading out to a local bar then off to dance the night away in a club tucked away in a cave, which conveniently wasn’t too far from where our boat was docked.

By the time I woke up the next day, the boat was already docked at Omis. After breakfast, the boat headed off to our next port whilst those of us who had signed up to go zip-lining went off to do that. And it was amazing! It was my first time zip-lining so I had no idea what to expect but I had so much fun. And the views over the Cetina River were spectacular. We got geared up then went to a little training area to be shown what to do, how to brake etc. Then we hiked up a hill to begin our zipping adventure. All up, there were 8 lines going down the canyons surrounding the Cetina River– the very first one being the longest at 400m as well as the highest at 150m! Although nerves got the better of me on this first one and although the guides tried to get me to go down first being ridiculously sunburnt (it looked a lot worse than it was), when I did go down, I was in awe of the view the entire time. On one of the lines, I braked too fast and came to a complete stop about ¾ down so had to flip myself around so I was facing backwards and pull myself the rest of the way. Two of the lines did allow for photos/videos whilst going down however as I do not have a go pro in my possession nor would I trust myself holding onto one, I unfortunately don’t have any photos of the surrounds however, google ‘Omis zip line’ and you’ll be able to get a pretty good idea of how amazing this activity was.

After our incredible zip-lining experience, we all hopped on to a shuttle bus and taken to our next port of call - Split! I’ve been lucky enough to have visited Split before so again, it was really cool to be back again. At the centre of Split is Diocletian’s Palace, an ancient Roman palace built in 305AD as a retirement palace for Roman Emperor Diocletian. Although the ruins of the palace still remain, today it is a bustling city centre filled with restaurants, shops and markets – and has also been used as a filming location for Games of Thrones. Once we got back to the boat, everyone got ready and scattered through the town. I, myself, got me yet another gelato for the wander through the little alleyways. Later that afternoon, we all met back at the boat to get ready to go out for dinner. For dinner I tried one of Croatia’s delicacies – black cuttlefish risotto, which tastes much better than it looks for those that saw the photo up on my Facebook post. After dinner, we stopped by the supermarket for some sneaky drinks and sat in the main square, or peristyle, and spent the night chilling out and listening to the band playing in the square. Eventually, we all went back to the boat where some more drinks were had before retiring to bed – we also saw Santa, or a very drunk old guy dressed as Santa. Either way – Santa!

The next day I was awoken by the shots bell. There was a bell at the front of the boat and we were all told on day 1 that if anyone rung the bell, they would be buying the whole group a round of shots. A shot for breakfast followed by a swim and chill up on the top deck – a perfect start to any day. After lunch, we were picked up by a water taxi to take us to our next stop, Hvar, as it was too early for the boat to dock. Known for its night life and best espresso martinis (as rated by our guide, Kimmie), Hvar is an adorable little resort town. Our first stop was a leisurely hike up a hill (and stairs, so many stairs) to the Spanjola Fortress, where we were rewarded with some pretty sweet views of the town below. After some time was spent admiring the view and photos were taken, we made our descent and had some free time before meeting up with our guide for the afternoon activity. We only had about an hour or so, so me and the girl I was rooming with had a wander through the little market that was set up – it was here that I brought Gram a present for her birthday last year, a nicely wrapped lavender soap produced right here in Hvar. It was then time to meet back up with the group and head over to the Hula Hula beach bar, which is right on the water, for afternoon cocktails. After cocktails, we went back to the town’s main square and had dinner at one of the restaurants, where we were able to choose either Thai food or burgers as the owner owns two restaurants side by side offering these cuisines. Unfortunately, the poor owner had had a bit of a disastrous day and was low on staff thus there was quite a wait on the food however, he felt really bad and came out to apologise, giving us our meals on the house – which he absolutely didn’t have to do so I think the majority of us left tips on the table anyway because when the food did arrive, it was pretty damn delicious. Once dinner was done and dusted, it was back to the boat to get ready to check out Hvar’s nightlife that we had heard so much about. Pre-drinks on the boat were had and we headed out to the first bar of the night. The first bar was definitely my favourite, playing all of the 80’s/90’s/guilty pleasure songs from my youth and it was just nice to get my dance on and have a singalong. This particular bar also offered a very unique shot that I did not try because after watching a few people have one, it looked pretty brutal. The Tequila Boom – whilst wearing a helmet, your tequila mixed with a small amount of mixer served in a high ball glass will be hit on to the helmet a few times before being handed to you to drink. This bar gets packed really quickly and being small, also gets really hot so after a bit, the majority of the group was sitting outside on the stairs in the alleyway to get some fresh air. The next bar we went to was also small and again, the music was pretty on point. Here, we were advised to get the espresso martini, which we all did to try since they had been talked up the past few days – I haven’t had a lot of espresso martinis in my time so don’t have a lot to compare to but it was pretty tasty and refreshing. Pretty late in the evening, myself and a few of the other girls called it a night and headed back to the boat, taking a lovely stroll around the port first. There was a club we were told to go to before arriving in Hvar, Carpe Diem which is situated on an island so a water taxi must be taken to get there however, I opted out of going as I couldn’t justify the effort to get there as well as paying the entrance free when I knew I wouldn’t be there for long as I’m not particularly a fan of the house/electro music scene.

Day 5 and another morning where a sleep in was had and my morning was welcomed with another round of shots. Another swim stop was had before lunch however, this time I finally got up the courage to jump off the roof of the top deck of the boat – up until this point, I had only jumped off the top deck which was high enough for me but I ended up getting talked to into going up that little bit extra. During this swim stop, one of the guys had put his go-pro in his holster to wear whilst jumping off the boat however, unfortunately as he hit the water, his go-pro popped out of the holster and sunk to the bottom of the sea. Proof of how clear the water of the Adriatic Sea is – after a frantic half hour of looking from the top of the water, one of the girls was able to sight the go-pro and so one of the other guys along with a crew member tried diving down to retrieve it. After a few tries, the go-pro was back on the surface and the owner was able to upload a pretty entertaining video of the event on his YouTube channel. Shortly after lunch, we made it to Korcula, which is the alleged birth place of Marco Polo – and the town of Korcula is absolutely owning this with a Marco Polo museum and shop as well as tours stopping by Marco Polo’s birth house. Again, it’s a really nice little town. I spent the afternoon aimlessly wandering with a few other people in the group before meeting up with the rest of the group for afternoon cocktails on a terraced bar at sunset. This evening we went to a bar and were split into 2 groups, each given a list of tasks to complete – a scavenger hunt if you will. It was a bit of fun and afterwards, the night was spent dancing before we decided to head back to the boat, stopping at what seemed to be the only kebab place in town to get some food.

The next morning, I finally managed to get up early enough for breakfast (proper food breakfast) however due to seas being quite rough, ended up feeling quite sea sick after only a few bites of breakfast so I ended up going back to bed and slept it off until our next port. Our last stop before heading back to Dubrovnik was Sipan, a tiny port so after a quick walk a few of us went to one of the local coffee shops and just chilled out there for the afternoon before having drinks on the deck of the boat and then heading out to the port’s only bar for a few drinks before calling it a night.

By the time I woke the next morning, we were pulling in to dock back in Dubrovnik. Our adventure was quickly coming to an end although we still had almost a full day as a group before the tour ended the following morning. We were given a daily bus ticket so we were able to get to and from the Old City gates and Port Gruz and headed in as a group, stopping by for gelato to start our afternoon of exploring. We were then led to Buza Bar, which is a hole-in-the-wall bar located on a cliff outside the city walls and popular for cliff diving. The view was nice, I did not have my togs nor adventurous enough to potentially hurt myself jumping off a high cliff (if anyone’s going to get hurt, it’s going to be me) and the drinks were quite pricey so the group split up and did their own thing. A group of us made our way to the cable car to get some even more amazing views of Dubrovnik. After spending some time up there and taking many photos, we made our way back down as some of the girls needed to get back in time for their organised Games of Thrones tour. Having never seen an episode, I opted out and went to an Irish bar with my roommate for a few drinks and the Formula One then we headed back to the boat to get ready for dinner and last night festivities. After dinner, we again got some drinks at the supermarket and this time sat on the ‘shame steps’ from GOT and having mad singalongs, with other members of the public wanting to join in. Then we headed out to the clubs for the night – one that sold cocktail buckets and another that’s built in to the city walls. Being all clubbed out, a few of us grabbed a taxi home as we’d missed the last bus of the evening.

There were no sleep in’s the next morning as we had to be off the boat by 9am so that it could be cleaned and ready for the next group starting their tour that day. So after all our goodbyes, our tour came to and everyone went their own separate ways. As my flight wasn’t until later that evening, I went back to the Old City and had one last wander around as who knows when I’ll be back in this stunning place before retiring to a bar and just relaxing for the afternoon. Around 5pm, I made my way to catch the bus back to the airport, getting there probably earlier than I needed to but feeling pretty chuffed with the holiday that was had. I had my first flight delay, which isn’t bad odds really, which meant we ended up flying out at the same time we should have been arriving back in London. The lines at Gatwick were a nightmare and took ages to get through and by the time I got back to London Bridge station, the sun was starting to rise and I went home to sleep the day away, ready for the next day of work and get ready for the next adventure.

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Photos

Port Gruz
View from the guest house I was staying - had my own room for the night but accommodation wasn't anything to write home about.

Old Town Dubrovnik
Filming location from Games of Thrones

Petrina
My home for a week

Makarska
No photo can do this place justice

Swim stop somewhere in the Adriatic Sea
Take me back to this life

Hvar
Spanjola Fortress

Korcula
Makes a good backdrop for photos

Korcula
Marco Polo's birth house

Sipan
Sunsets on our last night

Old Town Dubrovnik
Feat. gelato

Shame Steps - Old Town Dubrovnik
Drinks and singalongs