Viz a Viz Viz

I must confess to inheriting a genetic weakness for corny word puns from my paternal grandfather. Frederick Garlick was the king of the groaners, and I can come nowhere near his level of pun-ability, but face to face with Viz was too good to miss out on.

Pavlov anchored in Viska Luka, Viz

Island cruiser and day tripper, pretty luxurious. 

Main street Viska Luka, Viz

We'd been hanging out in Vela Luka on Korcula, but the place was not inspiring us. Nice anchorage,  but not free at Kuna 120 per night. We headed up to Gradina, a small protected bay that we thought would be free for the night. The 'Harbour Authority' turned up in the late afternoon, seeking more money. We said that we were leaving, but managed to delay our departure to the next morning. We'd had enough of paying for anchorages, and Korcula wasn't really doing it for us, so we left for the island of Viz, anchoring in a nice spot right in town and well-sheltered.

Coastal view

Note the water clarity

Viska Luka market place

Viska Luka was hosting Yacht Week, which means a lot of young people chartering  skippered yachts, charging around beautiful anchorages, rafting up and partying till the wee hours. Great if you're in your twenties, but no longer my speed. However, we hopped on a bus down to the town on the other side of the island, Komiza. This was a lovely town, with some local attractions. We managed to jump on an early ferry going to the small island of Bisevo, which boasted of the 'Blue Cave', an underwater cave that could be entered. Jumping off the ferry, we found out that it did not return until 1600, so we might be stuck on the island for the entire day. Seeing no other activity in the small port, we wandered over the island, seeing no sign of this tourist attraction.

Venetian watch tower in Komiza

Attractive stone houses

Cafe setting in Komiza harbour

A traditional Komiza lanteen rigged falucca.

Komiza harbour.

After getting lost wandering the island, and returning to our starting point, we found that small local boats were ferrying tourists to see the Blue Cave, which was inaccessible  by other means. We hopped a ride to the cave.

Abandoned hotel on Bisevo

Cliffs of Bisevo

Entering the small port of Bisevo on the ferry

Coastline of Bisevo

Our boat ride to the cave

Entrance to the Blue Cave

Inside the Blue Cave

From whence the name cometh

Happy fellow speleologists

Some came in on tenders

About to exit the cave

After experiencing the wonders of the Diros caves in Greece which were far more extensive, we were a little underwhelmed by the Blue Cave. The 20 minute trip deposited us back in the port, with absolutely nothing further to do. Rather than spend 6 hours in the hot sun, we tried to hitch a ride back to Komiza on every boat that docked at Bisevo. Eventually, a water taxi skipper took pity on us, and offered us a ride back, with a detour around some of the beaches of Bisevo. We gladly accepted.

Water taxi ride around Bisevo

Returning to Komiza

After a long day, we decided not to pay for the privilege of spending another night in Luka Vela, so we headed to a small bay, Uvula Parja,  a few miles away. It was a very narrow anchorage, so Megan spent the night worrying whether we had enough room to swing, or if we'd hear that horrible sound of rending fibreglass in the middle of the night.

Luka Soline, on Klement

Well, we'd faced off to Viz, so early the next morning, we left Uvula Parja and headed over to the island of Klement, a small low-lying island off the large island of Hvar. We nestled up to a beautiful little cove, took a line to shore and settled in for some tranquil peace and quiet. Just after we got settled and comfortable, a huge flotilla of yachts (from Yacht week on Viz) appears, and proceeded to moor up en-masse in the middle of our beautiful bay. Luckily, they all left well before sundown, and peace returned.

The flotilla arrives!