Discover Vis Island in Croatia

The five to six hours of sailing daily makes it possible to become acquainted with local sites in a different port, island or bay each day.

Among the Dalmatian islands this is the farthest away form the shore at 33 kilometers. A ferry connects it to Split and far 18 kilometers away. Palagrusa, Bisevo, Sveti Andrija, Jabuka, Brusnik and several smaller islands belong to the Vis group of islands. Their entire area exceeds 100 sq/km. The small Bisevo Island is a popular destination of excursionists. Its shores are stiff and unapproachable except for the Western side. Small express service motor boats arriving from Vis Krk dock here.

Once, seven settlement existed on the island but today scarcely 300 inhabitants lived here. Many Dalmatian families have holiday houses here so the number of inhabitants increases in the summer. The ruins of the Saint Sylvester Church and monastery in Bisevo stand deserted. The monks living here flock to Vis to escape the pirates in the middle ages.

The island is famous for the Modra Spilja Cave in the Gulf of Balun today. The beauty of which matches that of the Blue Cave on Capri. The cave has been a tourist site since 1884. It shows its nicest face at noon when the reflection of the perpendicular sun rays on the walls is blue.

Three endangered strictly protected species of plants live on the island and it was here that the Adriatic first sail which is probably since died out was last seen. When glancing at the map it may appear that the islands are always positioned parallel to the coastal mountains.

Long ago the whole seashore was a single mountain range but the deeper valleys were flooded so many peaks became islands. Under water ruins testified that this change in the sea level. Circumstances of their formation also explain why we find high hill tops and stiff clips on the island. The material of the coastal mountains in the island is almost exclusively limestone.

Water seeps to the splits of rocks and after scooping out caves and holes it reaches the sea as an underground river. This is why streams and rivers are rare in such mountains. But the barrenness of mountains is caused by human carelessness which is by no means characteristic only today.