Overall our trip to Croatia was a combination of spending time sightseeing and time relaxing. Most days we were up and out fairly early after a quick breakfast of coffee, prosciutto and cheese. The rare exception being the day after we landed, when exhaustion dictated a collective decision to sleep until 10am. Regardless of how early we were up, every afternoon we returned from the days adventure, grabbed our swimsuits and headed to the beach down the road for the afternoon.

I’m not one to sit around much, especially at the beach and thankfully we didn’t do much sitting there. From right to left, the beach (Uvala Lapad) consisted of a pebble/sandy beach complete with lounge chairs, a seawall to swim off with ladders for access, and then another beach with pebbles/sand. About 50 feet offshore to the left of the seawall was an inflatable floating obstacle course which kept us busy for at least a half an hour each day. The seawall was where we spent the rest of our time swimming, either out to the markers 100 yards offshore or under the surface of the water with the cheap snorkel we purchased. The water had this amazing clear blue coloration to it and was anywhere from 3 to 30 feet deep with an amazing view of the sandy bottom.

Twenty yards inland from the seawall was a small but strategically located cafe. When everyone else wanted to spend some time sitting or lying in the sun, I didn’t complain, after all I will never begrudge anyone their fun. However, if they can have their fun so can I. With plenty of tables and umbrellas, I would find myself a nice place in the shade, put my feet up and have a few drinks. No doubt about it, I washed down my fair share of chips with a gauntlet of ice-cold pints of Croatian beer. Some of the brands I sampled throughout the week while camped out in the shade included Pan, Ožujsko and Karlovačko. It never took long for the sun-worshipers got overheated and ready to swim again. and then we were all back in the water cooling off.

If I wanted a change of scenery or it got to be too hot or if the beach got too crowded, I would grab my towel and water shoes and walk past the Cave Bar More on the “Šetalište Nika i Meda Pucića” (a pedestrian footpath which ran alongside the ocean) to some large rocks which were shaded by trees. Here you had poured concrete/mortar pads to catch sun on or jump off into the Adriatic. The water was warm with that clear blue coloration, calm in between tides, were you can swim, snorkel or float in peace. During the change of tides, the waves and ocean could get intimidating but as long as you relaxed and realized you were in for a good workout, it was a blast! The snorkel really came in handy here with a few types of fish schooling around the rocks and sea urchins hugging the bottom. One thing I do wish was that I took more pictures of the water, we left the phones and cameras back at the apartment so as not to have to keep track of them, and to just completely relax.

Regardless of where I swam, one thing I did notice was that tops were optional. It would be weird if I was back home and someone had their top off, but here enough people went without it, so that after any initial surprise, it really wasn’t a big deal. It seemed that attitudes toward people’s bodies were much more liberal, accepting and not so uptight like they are at home. People seemed genuinely comfortable with their bodies here. You could find men and women of all sizes and shapes with a speedo or bikini on. And there definitely was a lot less creepers here, more than likely because people were brought up this way, and not shamed into some sort of forced modesty or embarrassment. Overall, in my travels, I’ve noticed Europeans are more relaxed with this sort of thing and accepting of their bodies then we are.

It was nice to experience the ocean like this. Aside from Croatia and our trip to the Azores, whenever I’ve ever gone to the beach or ocean it was crowded, sandy, commercialized and way to hot. I’ve never found it pleasant or anything close to relaxing, and ever since I’ve had a choice in the matter, avoided it at all costs. These sort of “beach” adventures are ones I could get used to. Who knows where we will end up next (Malta??), but if it’s a beach or ocean setting, I can guarantee it will be a place like Croatia!