Sailing Croatia – sailing around the island of Brac

The beautiful island of Brac is the largest island in Dalmatia and, at 395km², the third largest in the Adriatic. Along its 175 km long coast there are many beautiful smaller and larger bays and well-protected harbors. The largest Dalmatian Island is also the highest among the Adriatic islands – the peak of “Vidova Gora” rose 778 meters above the famous Bol’s beach “Golden cape” (Zlatni Rat).

Another special feature of this island is the limestone that the island is made of. Brac limestone was used to build various temples and palaces in Split, Trogir and Sibenik.

The Illyrians were proven to be the oldest inhabitants of the island Brac, for unknown reasons the Greeks and Romans bypassed this island when colonizing the Adriatic Sea. Therefore, there are no settlements on the island that show inhabitant continuity or Greeks and Romans, such as other Adriatic islands like Vis, (Greek Issa) or Stari Grad (Greek Pharos) on the island of Hvar. Island Brac has developed at its own pace and there are numerous interesting stories and myths about the island. But we want to sail around the island and explore the “sailing side” of it, so let’s devote ourselves to the bays, harbors and winds, as well as other features of this island that are interesting for boaters.

The winds of Brac

The north side of Brac is separated from the mainland coast by a 3 and 7 mile wide “Brac Channel” and is fully exposed to the wind Bura (NE). In this case, none of the twenty or so bays offer good shelter when the Bura blows with all its might. On the south side of the island, of course, wind “Jugo” (SE) causes the greatest problems, the island of Hvar, which is in front of Brac offers a certain amount of protection and in the case of strong Jugo it reduces the wave height a little, but it is still advisable to go to the west side of Brac and find a berth there to get protection from Bura or Jugo.

Bobovisca and Milna

So, let’s start the tour on the island of Brac on its west side. Bobovisca Bay, which is quite popular among charter guests which start they sailing holiday in Split, Trogir and Kastela. The narrow bay of Bobovišća is divided into two arms, with a village of the same name. On the north side is an abandoned pier that was used for loading stones in the past. A little further east, on the north side, are about 20 mooring buoys for charter guests. Don’t go to the end of the left, northeastern part called “Vića”, because there is an underwater wall, the remains of Illyrian civilization. Vića is shallow, between 3 and 5 meters, and the bed is silty, partially covered in sea grass.

• 

• 

• 

• 

In the south-eastern part of the bay, called Bobovisca, there is a small village with about twenty old houses and some newly built summer houses. The depth at the entrance and in front of Bobovišća varies between 8 and 12 metres. The whole village is surrounded by a promenade, on the promenade there are mooring lines with electricity and water for about 10 boats. Otherwise, another 20 buoys are placed at the bay entrance. If you decide to moor here you will be perfectly sheltered from all winds except the Mistral (NW). Bobovišća is a small idyllic place where you can spend a day or two in peace, safely protected on a buoy.

Mooring buoys Bobovišća contact: 00385 91 5001619, Email: sidristebobovisca@gmail.com

Milna harbor

1.5 miles further south is the much wider Milna Bay. The bay is wide open to the northwest at first, then nestles tightly into the mainland to the east. Milna is a beautiful little port town with a very nice atmosphere. The place cannot escape its Venetian origins. The large parish church stands out on the promenade. Milna was known in the past for building large cargo ships, winegrowing and fishing.

There are several shops and restaurants in the harbor, as well as a petrol station on the south side of the bay.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Regarding berths in Milna, you can moor in 3 marinas. Since the bay cuts deep into the land, Milna is well protected from all weathers and wind conditions. The first marina in Milna, “Marina Vlaska” is on the port side. Marina Vlaska offers 72 berths for yachts up to 16m in length. It is moored to floating jetties and mooring lines. Charter yachts are primarily moored at the outer floating dock.

If you sail deeper into the bay, after the gas station on the starboard side, there is the second marina “Nautic Center Milna”, the westernmost jetty belongs to the Nautic Center Milna and offers about 30 mooring places with electricity and water connection, the ACI Marina Milna borders on it. Nautic Center Milna is located in front of a former sardine factory.

ACI Marina Milna is located at the very end of the bay on the right behind the small shipyard. ACI is the biggest marina in Milna and offers 170 berths. Not only the jetties in front of the reception, but also the squares opposite belong to the majority of the ACI Marina.

Berths in Milna:

Marina Vlaska: 00385 21 636 028 & 00385 99 24474 10  info@marinavlaska.com

Nautic Center Milna: 00385 91 263805 & 00385 91 4000 487

ACI Marina Milna: 00385 21 636306 & 00385 98 398 851 m.milna@aci-club.hr

South coast of island Brac

From Milna we sail to the south side of the island of Brac. First you pass the Splitska Vrata, the passage between the islands of Solta and Brac. The first two bays to port side are Osibova and Lucice. There are mooring buoys in both bays, if you want to save on the cost for the buoy there are great anchorage options in both bays.

The Osibova Bay is almost 1 nm cut into the inland of the island and offers very well protected anchoring possibilities over sandy ground in the rearmost tip. In the bay there is a buoy field with cca. 20 mooring buoys. It used to be a lot less busy here and you could enjoy nature to the fullest, now there is a hotel resort and a small water park. Which is a great opportunity to have fun if you are sailing with kids and family.

Buoy field Osibova bay contact: 00385 91 5242820, email: sime.kovacic@gmail.com

The neighboring bay of Lucica, which is divided into five smaller side bays, also offers some good anchorage opportunities. Mooring buoys are located in the two western arms of the bay. Where you can also find two restaurants “Lucica” and “Bonito”. If you’re not interested to stay on a mooring buoy, you can stay on anchor in one of the other three bay arms of the Lucica Bay.

Buoy field/restaurant Lucica Contact: 091 5979311

Bonito restaurant and buoys: 091 6201640

• 

• 

Other partly uninhabited anchor bays on the south side of Brac are Maslinova, Smrka, Krusica and Blaca. Blaca is the most famous of these four. It is a very beautiful bay with a rocky shore surrounded by dense pine forest. The depth in the middle of the bay is 17m. From the shore, a 2 km long hiking trail (approx. 45 min. uphill) leads to the Blaca hermitage.

The hermitage is from the 16th century when monks built their estate and monastery in the remote cave. If you decide to visit the hermitage, we recommend anchoring as close to the end of the cove as possible and additionally attaching a shoreline.

Hot Spot Bol and Zlatni Rat

The locals call the coast between the Blaca bay and Bol “Plaza” – which means beach. Since there is almost no bay on this stretch of coast, at least none that offer good shelter. Approximately in the middle of the island there is one of the most famous natural spectacles (after the Blue Cave on Vis) in the Croatian Adriatic. About 1 nautical mile west of the town of Bol, a promontory stretches into the sea, it is the most visited beach in Croatia – Golden cape or as the locals call it Zlatni Rat. Depending on the wind direction, you can anchor in front of one or the other of these beaches (poor anchoring ground; slabs of rock and stones), although the separated bathing areas must be observed.

As for berths in Bol, the offer is pretty poor. There are 4-5 moorings with electricity and water on the middle pier, about 15 berths on the 100m long quay, about 10 berths on the west bank promenade and 5-10 mooring buoys in front of the harbor. Most of these berths are occupied in midsummer.

• 

• 

• 

Bol is quite a lively seaside resort with a lot of surfing and boat traffic. This is also one of the reasons why many charter guests regard Bol and the Golden Horn only as excursion destinations and often spend the night on neighboring island Hvar (Vrboska or Jelsa). Bol is the best starting point for a mountain hike to the highest peak of all Croatian islands, the 778m high Vidova Gora.

• 

• 

Contact for berths in Bol: 00385 21 635 393 & 0038 95 4545 601

Sumartin

There are no special anchorages or bays on the stretch of coast east of Bol to the village of Sumartin.

Sumartin is the easternmost town on Brac. Next to Supetar (north-west side), Sumartin is the second ferry port on Brac. The ferry provides connection to the mainland town of Makarska and the eastern side of the island. Sumartin does not enjoy a large number of charter boats, in summer there are at most 6-10 charter boats here.

The small port town is dominated by the Franciscan monastery (museum) with the church and bell tower that can be seen from every corner of the port. There are several restaurants and two supermarkets. If you moor in Sumartin, you can take a short hike to Selce, 3 km away. Selce is one of the traditional stone carving centers on the island.

North Coast of Brac

Between Sumartin and Povlja on the eastern part of the coast there is just one single bay, Rasotica. In Rasotica Bay there are mainly swimmers who come for a few hours by boat for a day trip or similar. Rasotica is a fairly small bay, the depth is between 3-5 m. If you decide to stay on anchorage here, we recommend to put lines ashore. From Sumartin we circle the east coast of Brac and reach the small seaside resort of Povlja.

• 

• 

• 

Povlja is a small pretty village. Povlja was founded by the Benedictines, who built a monastery on the remains of the old Christian Basilica in the 12th century.

With a dozen bay arms, Povlja offers safe anchorage for all wind directions. In the easternmost branch lies the town of Povlja with its small port. Moorings are available on the long stone promenade or in the western bay “Uvala Luka” at anchor or on one of the floating jetties with mooring lines or mooring buoys, which belong to the two restaurants “Pipo” (yellow buoys) and “Rojen” (red buoys).

Third possibility is the northern arm, where you should drop anchor and tie up stern to shore.

During the day, there are many boats in the bay that come for a day trip from the nearby towns of Brela, Baska Voda and Makarska. Most of them leaves before night, so you can enjoy the anchorage for yourself.

For culture and history lovers, in Povlja you can see the ruins of the early Christian basilica from the 5th century and the church of John the Baptist.

Buoy field Luka Bay contact:

Restaurant Pipo: 00385 98 781 358 Email: pipo-luke@yahoo.com

Restaurant Rojen : 00385 98 867 292

Bay Pucisca

In all the bays that follow while sailing to Pucisca, which are “Lozna”, “Duboka”, “Kupinova” and “Veselje”, there were stone quarries or they served as ports for loading stone.

Pucisca is a harbor bay that cuts deep into the interior of the island on the north coast. The town is best known for its stonemasonry tradition, where you can still find the island’s largest quarry and the only Stonemasonry School, which tourists love to visit and see future stonemasons at work. The Stonemasonry School in Pucisca (active since 1909) is one of three such schools in Europe, and its complete educational program is attended by around one hundred students per year.

A berth with moorings, electricity and water you can find under the local church or on the new “Riva” (promenade). The harbour lies just under a mile up the inlet to starboard. There are around 20 mooring berths and the bay offers good shelter in all winds except strong N or NE wind. Basically, the port at Bura is not recommended. Pucisca has some restaurants, bars and supermarkets.

Bay Postira

From the western point of Sv. Nikola, where there is a beautiful lighthouse, there are seven bays where you can stop for a swim before we reach Postira village. The first of them is Česminova, half a mile after comes the small bay of Sladiola, then Težišće, Prapatna and Klinica.

Then comes a small bay Lovrecina. This one is mostly visited by day trip boats because of its sandy beach. If you decide to anchor here, keep in mind that about forty meters from the shore, the water is barely knee-deep, so the bay is very shallow. After Lovrecina is a bay Trstena and then comes the village of Postira.

Postira is a small, beautiful fishing village. In the last century Postira was the administrative center of the island of Brac. The old houses of this famous Dalmatian fishing village seem to grow out of the sea. On the hill above the town is the local church from the 15th century and from there it is three kilometers to the medieval settlement of Dol.

• 

• 

A new outer quay and another pier on the west bank of the harbor have been built in Postira since few years. It offers cca. 20 berths for charter boats passing through with electricity and water. Depths in the harbour are around 5.0 – 6.0 metres and on the new yacht quay 4.0 metres.  

Anchoring in the harbour is forbidden in view of the numerous mooring buoys.

In the village you will find a few restaurants, a post office, a supermarket and a small bakery.

Supetar & Sutivan

We continue our sailing journey to the west to Supetar and Sutivan. Supetar is today the main port of the island Brac and the main ferry port to Split. The place has all the hallmarks of a city and is also officially the only city on the island of Brac, so if you’re craving civilization, you can enjoy it here to the fullest. Most of the tourists visiting the island during summer visits mostly Supetar and surrounding places. As such, it is not the quietest of places to moor.

There are some berths with moorings, electricity and water on the new Riva and an additional small pier. As the ‘capital’ of Brac, Supetar is quite lively. In summer there are numerous events and concerts. Here you will find several large supermarkets, numerous restaurants, a bank, post office, ambulance, etc.

• 

• 

• 

• 

In the heart of the island, about ten kilometers from Supetar, lies the 800-year-old “Brac metropolis” Nerezisca and nearby Donji Humac, which we recommend visiting. To get to know the island, you have to explore the interior of the island and only then do you become aware of the history and which island you have sailed around.

From Supetar to Sutivan there is another bay called “Mirca”, which has a breakwater to give protection from Bura. From Mirca it is two nautical miles to Sutivan, the last port on the north side of the island before entering the western part and the last two bays, Stipanska and Stiniva. After that comes Bobovisca Bay, from where we started.

In contrast to Supetar, Sutivan is calmer place. The harbor is very small, there is hardly room for 5-6 boats at the breakwater with moorings, electricity and water.

Westcoast of Brac – back where we started

From Sutivan there are few smaller bays on the north side of the island suitable for a swim stop or if the wind conditions allow it, you can also spend the night on anchor, like bay “Livka” or “Borak”.

After these we come to the western part of the island again and to the bays of “Gomilica”, “Svicurac” and “Martinovica”, which lie south of the north-western tip of Brac, the first larger bay is Stipanska. In the past, residents of village Sutivan used Stipanska Bay, as a western port and shelter from strong Bura gusts. In this narrow bay you can anchor at a depth of 9m in the middle. Stipanksa is popular for charter guests sailing from Split to overnight the first day on anchor if the weather conditions permit.

The other two bays which follows after Stiniva and before the big Bobovisca bay are “Stiniva” and “Tiha” bay. Both bays have sandy bottom and are partly shallow, so anchoring here at NW (Maestral wind) and N (Tramontana wind) is very difficult and not recommended. In this case it is better to find a berth in the 1.5 nautical miles Bobovisca bay.

Ultra Sailing wishes you lots of fun exploring the beautiful island of Brac.