In the spirit of re-hashing my Croatian sailing saga (you can read the full overview here), I want to make a separate post, dedicated to the lovely island of Korcula, our third destination on our Croatia sailing holiday. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we took two days exploring the island of Mljet, previously (see the post on that here) and having gawked at the sprawling woods, blue lagoons and sky-high pine trees of Croatia’s national park have set sails to our next sailing holiday destination.
This day was made extra special for two reasons mainly. Reason number one is that this was the day we got to see dolphins, as predicted by our skipper, Geoff. In fact, he was pretty much spot on with the location and timing, which is borderline scary in its accuracy. Reason number two is that I got to be at the helm on this morning, which is probably the most fun I have had since I was a kid, in terms of unbridled juvenile excitement. I may have gotten a masters in “line management” on the sailing yacht, but steering the yacht feels (and definitely looks) way cooler. If you are wondering about the dumbfounded look on my face, that would be because, if I recall correctly, I may have lost track of the landmarks I was meant to sail towards. On a number of occasions…
But all is well that ends well and we did make it to the island of Korcula in a decent amount of time.
First of all, after the raw nature of Mljet, Korcula was quite a contrast to my eyes. An imposing medieval fortress overlooking the azure stretch of the water ahead is a sight to behold. Combined with the somewhat overcast sky, it was almost menacing to approach the old town of Korcula from sea.
Luckily, the marina was more than welcoming and we moored in no time, anxious to get down and explore the beautiful architecture of this coastal town. This was our first crowded marina, so I got the first glimpse of the camaraderie that permeates the world of sailing, which struck me as very distinct to this form of travel. It was also a very well equipped marina and I have a whole new appreciation for long showers with scalding hot water, as a result. It’s the little things that count, at the end of the day.
We went out for lunch, as soon as the gangway was down and we took care of the little housekeeping details, specific to holiday sailing (read: ensure that we have power to charge the very many iPhones on board). After climbing the hill, past the stalls selling souvenirs and other knickknacks, we stumbled upon a delightful restaurant, called Filippi. The view from their terrace is amazing and they proudly use local and organic produce for all of their dishes, which felt like a good continuation from our very basic diet of freshly-caught fish of the past two days.
Having sated our appetites with contemporary Dalmatian cuisine at Filippi, we went to explore the wonder that is Korcula. Allegedly, Marco Polo, a.k.a. ‘the world’s first tourist’, has his roots here. Many stores and signs hold this to be true, but I chose to concentrate on the Venetian and Gothic architecture, rather than debate the merits of this story. Having exhausted ourselves and worked up some more appetite, we headed back to what is probably my favorite part of luxury holiday sailing: drinking rosé on the deck of our yacht (my terminology might be off here, but you get my drift). Croatian wine deserves a special mention, as I must admit, I was never a fan of the rosé variety, until this trip. We chilled and passed the time on the yacht, until it was an appropriate time to go out for more food and drink (as you can tell, I take my sailing holidays very seriously) and we went scavenging for an authentic dining experience in Korčula.
But not before we sat and enjoyed the dusk at the Capers bar, perched high above the marina and compensating with terrific views for what it lacked in drinks. And then some. We eventually landed at Konoba Mareta, a lovely authentic restaurant, nestled within the winding streets of Korcula’s old town and feasted on more Croatian fare before we called it a night.
Next morning, we set off into the sea, once again, to try our luck at more dolphin spotting (didn’t happen) and finding new treasures scattered along the Dalmatian coast (definitely happened). If you feel inspired to try luxury sailing around Croatia for yourself, do not hesitate to contact Med Sailing Holidays for your own taste of sailing holiday adventure.
I leave you with some of my favorite photographs, taken around the Korcula fortress, to motivate you to book soonest.
Bella Sovmiz
