Croatia was one of the first destinations we booked when we started planning our trip, after all, it seems like a no-brainer - beaches, crystal blue water, castles, islands, warm weather...what else could you ask for in the middle of July? To our surprise, it turned out to be even more beautiful than we imagined. 

We started our time in Split and immediately went to the port to board a small boat that we had rented for the day. Our friends Lynn and Vinny were with us as part of their European vacation, which made it even more fun. Our boat skipper, Boran, was an easy-going guy that would take us wherever we wanted, as long as we had fun. After a long ride along the coast, seeing old fortresses and passing island after island, we arrived for a swim at Vela Rina Bay. The water here was so clear that it looks like a swimming pool - you can see straight to the bottom even though it’s too deep to reach. Boran gave us swimming goggles so we could explore a bit while he and his friend swam to the beach and enjoyed a coffee. We all jumped into the cold, but refreshing water before hopping back on the boat to drink some wine. We repeated this at two other stops and ended with a stop at a beachfront restaurant in Necujam that serves fresh seafood caught that day. The waitress brought out all the fish they had caught in the morning to let you pick which one you want cooked - it doesn’t get much fresher than that! 

We spent the rest of our time in Split walking around and seeing the sights. It’s a pretty small city (all Croatian cities are quite small except for Zagreb, the capital located inland), so we were able to see everything in a short amount of time. While we were in Croatia, we also attended the Ultra Music Festival, an EDM festival with 70,000 people that went until 5am (the latest we made it was 4am). 

We had two really excellent meals in Croatia, one at Trattoria Tinel where we were told to get the traditional Croatian dish, pasticada. Pasticada is beef marinated in vinaegar, oil, and fruit for 48 hours, then cooked in that same sauce for 24 hours. The result is an incredibly tender dish that’s perfect for someone quite hungry. Our second amazing meal was at Bokeria, located in the heart of the city and serving up everything from seafood to pastas. 

Before leaving Split we were lucky enough to have breakfast with a classmate of AJ’s from the Naval Academy, Darjia. Darjia is from Croatia but was one of the few international students at the academy. She’s now married with a 5-year old daughter who joined us for breakfast. AJ and Darjia reminisced about their old academy friends and how much their lives have changed since.

After Split we took off for Dubrovnik via a 4 hour bus drive. Dubrovnik is a centered around the Old Town built within the city walls, a fortress built in the Middle Ages. It’s also now known as King’s Landing for those of you who watch Game of Thrones. You can actually walk the top of the wall in about an hour and look down into the city and out into the ocean. Walking around the old town makes you feel like you’ve stepped back in time, everything is well-reserved, beautiful, and other-worldly. 

On our first day in Dubrovnik we took a boat out to Lokrum Island, a small island only a 15 minute boat ride from Dubrovnik. On the uninhabited island, there is an old monastery and small cliffs that people use as beaches. Simply bring a towel and sit along the beautiful coastline, climbing the ladders down into the teal waters when you get warm. We spent a few hours here, but decided not to sunbathe at the nude beach there, rather choosing the clothed side. 

Dubrovnik has a couple incredible bars, Bard Mala Buza, was our favorite. It’s located on the outside of the wall, literally, with tables and chairs on the side of the cliff that overlook Lokrum and the coastline as the sun sets. There are even ladders for people to jump in and swim. We followed that with dinner at Azur, a Croatian-Asian restaurant with some of the best shrimp we’ve ever had. It’s a small restaurant with all the tables outside and was one of our favorite meals of the trip. 

The next day we headed to St. Jacob’s beach, about a 25 minute walk outside of the city. We continued to be floored by how beautiful and peaceful the water is - we could have stayed there forever just staring at the water. Even the drive to the airport showcased the beauty of the country with rugged coastlines and small, seaside towns, there’s no doubt we’ll be coming back to Croatia again.