Dubrovnik is definitely a great place to see once, for half a day, or for 3h …
😓 Unfortunately, it became so touristy and ridiculously expensive, that after few hours you’d want to run away from those romantic, but super narrow, busy and heated streets to the place with no people, breathtaking views, and refreshing blue sea. So did I!
Here is a list of top 6 non-touristy beaches to visit around Dubrovnik
One note: I selected them randomly. Just by hitting the road and spotting on the google maps presumably a nice beach place. I’m sure that all together we can update this list with at least 10 more great places.
Beach Prapratno (Metohija, to the north from Dubrovnik)
It’s literally my Favorite beach in Croatia. Blue Laguna in the valley, surrounded by the green hills and island in front. Btw, the only half-sanded beach in the whole southern beach line.
It has some infrastructure: accommodated for families with RV’s, it has a kitchen, supermarket, and bathrooms, however, the only minus is that there is no bar there, only a kiosk with ice-cream.
Beach Prapratno, MetohijaVeliki Zal (Dubravica, to the north from Dubrovnik)
This place is really not popular, yet it has an amazing beach with almost no people on it.
Slightly rocky coastline with one restaurant, a shadow, and a bathroom.
Beware, don’t ask for an Iced-coffee in the restaurant. We did an omission and didn’t specify what kind of ice they mean…and here is the result.
Btw, the prices in such places are pretty high, for example, not such a great coffee cost us 3,5eur (25 kunas)
Veliki Zal, DubravicaVrbica (Zaton, to the north from Dubrovnik)
This place definitely deserves to be in my TOP 3
Despite the fact that it has no parking, no restaurants, no bathrooms and actually nothing at all — it also has no people on it and literally a breathtaking view. So if you prefer to keep the whole beach for yourself — that’s definitely your must-visit spot!
Vrbica, ZatonTri brata (Stikovica, to the north from Dubrovnik)
We badly wanted to stop and stay for a while in this beach, however, after few attempts to park and find an entrance, it appeared that you can enter this beach only by boat from the bottom. Thus we had our moment enjoying a lonely and very charming beach only from the top of the hill, from the highway. If we only had a boat — that would be my first place to visit!
Tri brata, StikovicaBucanj (Cavtat, to the south from Dubrovnik)
A pretty strange place (just under the electric station) and a protected entrance. We were confused once we parked, as the beach we are about to visit was not open for tourists.
However, right next to it we found a small rocky beach with a pretty cool bar and few young folks. It seems like a chill place for local millennials who just wanted to run away from tourist crowds.
Bucanj, CavtatStikovica (Zaton)
Probably it’s the first public beach you can find after leaving Dubrovnik to the north. It wasn’t really crowded, however, it still felt like a pretty busy place.It felt like a popular place for Germans and even had a Bavarian restaurant in it. For us, it wasn’t a special place, just a normal beach a little bit outside of Dubrovnik, so we barely spend there even 2h.
Oh, btw, I almost forgot — it’s the only beach where I saw sea urchins, so beware ⚠️
Stikovica beach, Zaton
Hopefully, this list was useful and in case you visit south of Croatia, make sure to visit any of those spots. I’m sure you won’t regret it.
PS. If you remember some amazing places to visit this summer, please let me know and I’ll definitely publish your story in our blog