Every July the same thing happens: the town beaches fill by ten, the postcard coves by eleven. And twenty minutes offshore, whole stretches of coastline sit empty. These are five anchorages we use week in, week out — and why each one works.
1. Pakljena, Šipan
Deeper water on Šipan's south-east side, an old monastery in the pines, and very often nobody else at anchor. Works in the afternoon maestral; skip it in a southerly.
2. Donje Čelo, Koločep
The gentler of Koločep's two villages: a stone waterfront and a bay that shelves slowly enough for nervous swimmers. Best in the morning, before the day breeze builds.
3. Šunj's far corner, Lopud
Yes, Šunj is famous — but the beach crowd stays by the tavernas. Anchor off the eastern arm of the bay and you get the same sand-bottomed turquoise with a fraction of the people.
4. The Jakljan channel
Between Šipan and uninhabited Jakljan runs a narrow, pine-lined channel with flat water in almost any summer wind. No ferry goes there. That is the point.
5. Below Cavtat's pines
Ten minutes from our home harbour, the pine-backed coves south of Cavtat catch the morning sun and lose the crowds to the Old Town boats. Our own families swim here.
How we pick, honestly
The skipper chooses the cove by the wind, not by a script: bura from the north means the sheltered south coves; maestral in the afternoon means the channels. If you ask for a specific cove and the wind disagrees, we'll tell you — and take you somewhere better instead.
