- Sailing Croatia tips
-
by Ultra Sailing Team
At Ultra Sailing, our skippers almost always work a bay or two on Brač into the route, whether guests are sailing out of Split, Trogir or Kaštela. It is an island that rewards a slow approach, and this guide walks through it bay by bay so you can see what each one offers and plan your own stops accordingly.
It is the largest island in Dalmatia and, at 395 square kilometres, the third largest in the Adriatic. Along its 175 kilometre coastline sit dozens of bays, from wide sheltered harbours to narrow coves where you will anchor alone. It is also the highest of the Adriatic islands. Vidova Gora rises 778 metres above Bol’s famous Zlatni Rat beach, and on a clear day the summit looks out over Hvar, Vis and the Croatian mainland.
Brač is built, quite literally, from its own limestone. The pale, fine-grained stone quarried here built palaces and temples in Split, Trogir and Šibenik, and the tradition is still very much alive in the stonemasonry school at Pučišća, one of only three schools in Europe still teaching manual stone carving by hand.
The island’s history is its own too. The Illyrians were its earliest known inhabitants, and for reasons still debated by historians, the Greeks and Romans largely bypassed Brač when they colonised the Adriatic. That means you will not find the kind of continuous Greek or Roman settlement history you see on Vis (ancient Issa) or at Stari Grad on Hvar (ancient Pharos). Brač developed on its own terms, and the island carries plenty of local stories and myths as a result. Our focus here, though, is the sailing side of it: the winds, the bays, the harbours, and the details a skipper actually needs.
Understanding the Winds around Brač
Wind is what decides your route around Brač more than anything else, so it is worth understanding before you look at a single bay. The Brač Channel separates the island’s north coast from the mainland by three to seven nautical miles, and this side lies fully exposed to the Bura, the strong northeasterly wind. When the Bura is blowing hard, none of the twenty-odd bays along the north coast offer real shelter, so plan to be elsewhere.
On the south side, the Jugo, a southeasterly wind, is the main concern. Hvar sits just in front of Brač and takes some of the wave energy out of a strong Jugo, but it will not fully protect you. In either case, the safest general strategy is to head for the west side of the island, where the bays around Bobovišća and Milna give solid protection from both directions.
Bobovišća and Milna: The sheltered West Coast
Starting the circuit on Brač’s west side, Bobovišća Bay is a natural first stop for charter guests sailing out of Split, Trogir or Kaštela. The bay splits into two narrow arms around a small village of the same name. On the north side you will pass an old stone-loading pier, now abandoned, and a little further east about twenty mooring buoys are set out for charter boats. Avoid running to the very end of the northeastern arm, known locally as “Vića”, since an underwater wall from the old Illyrian settlement sits there and the bay itself is shallow and grassy on the bottom.
The southeastern arm, Bobovišća proper, holds a small village of around twenty old stone houses alongside some newer summer homes, all wrapped by a waterside promenade. Depths at the entrance run between eight and twelve metres. About ten boats can tie up on the promenade with electricity and water, and another twenty buoys sit near the bay entrance. Moored here, you are sheltered from everything except the Mistral, the northwesterly.
It is a genuinely peaceful spot worth a day or two, and the buoy field contact is 00385 91 5001619 or sidristebobovisca@gmail.com.
Milna harbor
About one and a half miles south, Milna opens up into a much wider bay, tucked tightly against the mainland on its eastern side. Milna is one of the prettiest working harbour towns on Brač, with a clear Venetian imprint in its architecture and a large parish church anchoring the waterfront. The name itself likely comes from the Old Slavic word “mil,” meaning mud or silt carried down by heavy rains, though locals prefer the more romantic story that it derives from the Latin “Mille Navi,” a thousand ships, a nod to how important a port it once was. Historically it was known for shipbuilding, winegrowing and fishing, and today you will find several shops, restaurants and a petrol station along the south shore.
Milna offers three separate marinas, which makes it one of the best all-weather stops on the island. Marina Vlaška sits to port as you enter, with 72 berths for yachts up to 16 metres on floating jetties, and charter yachts typically moor along the outer dock (00385 21 636 028 or +385 99 244 7410, info@marinavlaska.com).
Further in, past the petrol station on the starboard side, Nautic Center Milna offers about 30 berths with water and electricity in front of what used to be a sardine factory (+385 99 208 0008).
ACI Marina Milna sits at the very back of the bay behind a small shipyard and is the largest of the three, with 170 berths (+385 (0) 98 398 851, 021 636 306 or m.milna@aci-club.hr).
Because the bay cuts so deep into the coastline, Milna stays protected in essentially any wind, which makes it a reliable fallback if the forecast turns.
The South Coast: Osibova, Lučica and the Road to Blaca
Leaving Milna for the south coast, you first pass through Splitska Vrata, the channel between Brač and Šolta. The first two bays on the port side, Osibova and Lučica, Lučica bay offer buoys as well as good anchoring if you would rather skip the mooring fee.
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 was a buoy field with cca. 20 mooring buoys, which were removed. 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. This is a great opportunity to have fun if you are sailing with kids and family.
Next door, Lučica splits into five smaller arms. Buoys sit in the two western arms, where you will also find the restaurants Lučica (091 5979311) and Bonito (091 6201640), while the remaining three arms suit anchoring if you prefer to stay off a mooring line.
Further along the south coast, Maslinova, Smrka, Krušica and Blaca are quieter, largely uninhabited anchorages. Blaca is the standout: a beautiful bay ringed by pine forest with a rocky shoreline, and depths around 17 metres in the middle. From the shore, a hiking trail of about two kilometres, roughly 45 minutes uphill, leads to the Blaca Hermitage, a monastery built into a remote cave by monks in the 16th century. If you plan to visit, anchor as close to the head of the cove as you can and run a line ashore for extra security.
Blaca’s story is more remarkable than its remote setting suggests. From 1862 until 1962, the hermitage was run by a line of Glagolitic priests from the Miličević family, who turned it into one of the island’s most productive economic centres and, less expectedly, ran an astronomical observatory from the site. The tradition was honoured decades later when two asteroids discovered by Croatia’s Višnjan Observatory were named Miličević and Brač, in 2005.
Bol and Zlatni Rat: The Island’s Icon
Locals call the stretch of coast between Blaca and Bol “Plaža”, meaning beach, and it is largely open coastline without real shelter. About a mile west of Bol itself, a long shingle spit reaches out into the sea. This is Zlatni Rat, the Golden Cape, and it is the most photographed and most visited beach in Croatia, arguably the Adriatic’s best-known natural landmark after the Blue Cave on Vis. You can anchor off either side depending on wind direction, though the bottom is mostly rock slabs and stone rather than sand, and you will need to respect the marked swimming zones.
Berths in Bol itself are limited and fill quickly in peak season: four or five spots with power and water on the middle pier, around ten along the hundred-metre quay, roughly ten on the western promenade, and around 5 buoys just offshore (contact 00385 21 635 393 or 091 737 4014). Bol is a lively resort town with heavy surf and boat traffic, which is why many charter guests treat it as a daytime stop and cross to Hvar, to Vrboska or Jelsa, for the night instead.
It is also the best starting point for the hike up Vidova Gora, the 778 metre summit that is the highest point on any Adriatic island. Beyond the beach, Bol is worth a slower look too. The town’s gallery dedicated to Branko Dešković, widely regarded as Croatia’s finest animal sculptor and a native of nearby Pučišća who trained in Venice before working in Vienna and Paris, is a quiet, easy stop if you want a break from the crowds at Zlatni Rat.
Sumartin and the Quiet East Coast
East of Bol, the coastline runs without notable anchorages until Sumartin, the easternmost town on Brač and, alongside Supetar, one of the island’s two ferry ports, this one connecting to Makarska on the mainland. Sumartin sees relatively little charter traffic, usually no more than six to ten boats in summer.
The town is dominated by a Franciscan monastery with a museum, church and bell tower visible from almost anywhere in the harbour, and there are a few restaurants and two small supermarkets. From here, a short walk of about three kilometres brings you to Selce, one of the island’s traditional stone-carving villages, originally a shepherding settlement before it grew into a centre for stonemasons. Selce also carries a heavier piece of history: on August 8, 1943, Italian fascist forces burned the village along with six others on the island, an event still commemorated locally, with a tribute displayed in the library at Pučišća.
The North Coast: Povlja, Pučišća, Postira
Rounding the island toward the north coast, Rasotica is the only real bay between Sumartin and Povlja, small and shallow at three to five metres, mostly used by day-trippers, and best anchored with a line to shore if you plan to stay.
Povlja itself is a pretty village founded by Benedictine monks, who built a monastery here in the 12th century on the remains of an old Christian basilica. The bay has a dozen separate arms, which means Povlja offers safe anchorage in essentially any wind direction. The village and small port sit in the easternmost arm, while the western arm, Uvala Luka, offers anchoring or moorings from the restaurants Pipo (yellow buoys, 00385 98 781 358 pipo-luke@yahoo.com) and Rojen (red buoys, 00385 98 867 292). A third option is the northern arm, anchoring with a stern line to shore. Expect company during the day from boats on excursions out of Brela, Baška Voda and Makarska, most of whom leave before evening. History lovers can visit the ruins of a 5th century early Christian basilica and the church of John the Baptist here.
Continuing west, the bays of Lozna, Duboka, Kupinova and Veselje all once served as loading points for stone quarries.
Bay Pučišća
This brings you to Pučišća, a long, narrow harbour that cuts deep into the island and remains the centre of Brač’s stonemasonry tradition. The island’s largest quarry is here, along with its stonemasonry school, founded in 1909 and still training close to a hundred students a year in techniques largely unchanged for a century. Visitors are welcome to walk through and watch students at work. The town itself once had thirteen small coastal forts, or kaštels, built as protection against pirate raids, most of which are now private homes woven into the old waterfront. If you are looking for something to bring home, marjoram grown locally is a good, simple souvenir. Berths with electricity and water are available near the church or on the newer Riva promenade, about twenty in total, with good shelter from everything except strong northerly or northeasterly wind, so this is not the harbour to choose if a Bura is forecast.
Bay Postira
From the lighthouse at Sv. Nikola, a series of seven small bays, Česminova, Sladinova, Težišće, Prapatna, Klinica, Lovrečina and Trstena, offer swimming stops before Postira. Lovrečina is worth a specific mention for its sandy beach, though it is very shallow, with knee-deep water even forty metres from shore.
Postira is a small fishing village that once served as the administrative centre of the island, with old stone houses that seem to rise directly out of the sea and a 15th-century church on the hill above town, three kilometres from the medieval village of Dol.
A newer outer quay offers about twenty berths for charter boats with electricity and water, at depths of five to six metres, though anchoring inside the harbour itself is prohibited because of the number of mooring buoys.
Supetar & Sutivan
Supetar is the island’s main town and its principal ferry connection to Split, and it looks and feels the part, with large supermarkets, restaurants, a bank and a busy summer events calendar. It is the liveliest place to moor on Brač, though not necessarily the quietest. Inland, about ten kilometres away, the eight-hundred-year-old town of Nerežišća and the nearby village of Donji Humac are worth the detour if you want to understand the island beyond its coastline.
Sutivan, further west, is Supetar’s quieter counterpart, a small harbour with room for only five or six boats along the breakwater, with electricity and water available. Between the two, the bay of Mirca has a breakwater offering some protection from the Bura.
Back to the Start: The Northwest Tip
Closing the loop, a handful of smaller bays, Livka and Borak among them, offer swimming stops or overnight anchoring when conditions allow.
Past these, Stipanska is the first larger bay, historically used by Sutivan residents as a sheltered western port during strong Bura gusts, with anchoring possible at around nine metres in the middle. It is a popular first-night stop for charter guests sailing out of Split. The remaining two bays, Stiniva and Tiha, both have sandy but partly shallow bottoms, making them difficult and not recommended for anchoring in a Maestral or Tramontana. In those conditions, Bobovišća, one and a half miles further on, is the better choice, and brings you back to where this circuit began.
Ultra Sailing wishes you a great time exploring Brač, whichever bays you choose to linger in.
