Stiniva

Stiniva is a hidden cove on the south coast of the Croatian island of Vis, closed off from the open Adriatic by two vertical limestone walls about thirty metres high that stand only some four metres apart. Pass through that slot by boat or by swimming and the cliffs open into an almost round amphitheatre of rock around a small beach of smooth white pebbles and turquoise water. From the sea the entrance is easy to miss altogether.

The shape is a geological accident. The bay is generally explained as the remains of a karst cave, hollowed out of the limestone when the sea stood far lower than today, whose roof later collapsed and left only its walls standing as a ring of cliffs. Inland the cove extends for several hundred metres, enclosed on both sides by high rock faces that cannot be climbed; at its head stand a few small stone houses once used by fishermen and long since uninhabited. Underwater the walls continue in ledges and overhangs that draw divers. Stiniva has been protected as a natural monument since 1967, and the whole island lies within the Vis Archipelago UNESCO Global Geopark, designated in 2019 for its unusual geology.

Vis itself is the farthest inhabited island off the Croatian mainland, and for much of the second half of the twentieth century it was a Yugoslav naval base closed to the public; the army left only in 1989. Stiniva came to wide attention in 2016, when it was voted the best beach in Europe in an online poll run by European Best Destinations. The cove can be reached from the sea or on foot by a steep path down the hillside from above.

Getting there

Stiniva lies on the south coast of Vis, about 59 km from Split across the sea. Vis is connected to Split by car ferry and by catamaran, landing at the town of Vis; on the island, a road crosses the interior to the start of the footpath above the cove. The nearest airport is Split Airport (SPU), on the mainland about 59 km away in a straight line.