On our final day in Dubrovnik we hopped on a boat to check out the Elafati islands, three neighboring isolas (Koločep, Lopud and Šipan) that are known for their sandy beaches and clear water. There are a number of these tours available and they are virtually all the same, so any one you chose should be just as successful as ours.

We started the day by sailing to the island of Lopud. This would be our longest stop of the day, about 4 hours, because of its famous beach Banj. It is one of the most coveted beaches along the Croatian coast and it is claimed that those who swim in the water together shall never part.

We docked on the opposite side of the island, as boats are not permitted directly on the beach. Chris had a quick coffee (of course) and then we began the 1,600 meter walk to the other side. There are golf carts that can take you across the island, but we thought we would be able to see a little more via walking. We did see more, but on a day as hot as this one, the 10HKR (roughly $1.50) to get a ride, may have been a reasonable investment. On the way we did however run into a small chapel, so that was pretty cool. By the time we reached the beach we were ready to dive in! The water was a cool clear blue and remained shallow for about 50 feet; it was actually quite difficult to swim until you were much further out.

After we dried off we took the golf cart back to the boat and sat down for lunch, fresh white fish cooked right there on the boat. Once lunch was finished we got what else, ice cream, and boarded the boat again to go to our next island.

The second island we visited was Šipan a tiny island with a small monastery and a few shops. We were a bit tired so decided to grab an iced cafe latte by the water. We only had about 40 minutes on the island and thought we would just take in the sights.

The next and last island was Koločep, another beautiful island with very nice sandy beaches. One hour and another coffee later we were back on the boat and heading towards the mainland. The trips between the islands offered beautiful views of the city and additional islands that we would have not had otherwise.

Since we got back quite late, we decided to have a quick dinner and head back to the apartment to pack and clean up before our early morning flight to Pula and then another bus to Rovinj. We are really looking forward to the next leg of our journey!