Dubrovnik Elafiti Islands: Private Speed Boat & Blue Cave

5.00

(263 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

We’d barely left Gruž port when our skipper, Luka, waved at a fisherman hauling nets by the bridge. He called out something in Croatian — no idea what, but they both laughed and I felt like we were already part of some local joke. The city slipped away fast behind us, sunlight bouncing off the water and that salty tang hitting my nose. I tried to take a photo but the wind nearly knocked my phone out of my hand — so yeah, hold onto your stuff.

The first stop was Koločep. Luka asked if we wanted to swim into the Blue Cave or just cruise past — he said it’s totally up to us, which felt weirdly freeing after so many group tours. We jumped in (the water’s colder than it looks) and swam into this blue-lit silence that made me forget there were even other people on the boat. My friend tried snorkeling for the first time here; she panicked about her mask fogging up but ended up laughing so hard she swallowed half the Adriatic.

After that, we drifted along cliffs and then over to Lopud Island for Sunj Beach. The sand was warm and soft — not pebbly like most Croatian beaches — and there was this faint smell of pine from somewhere inland. Luka handed us cold beers from a cooler (included in the tour), and I just lay back listening to cicadas buzzing like static in the heat. You can wander into Lopud village if you want monasteries or gardens, but honestly I didn’t move much except for a quick dip.

Heading back, I watched Dubrovnik reappear through sea haze and thought about how close all this is to town but how different it feels out here — slower somehow. I still think about that light inside the cave sometimes. Not everything went as planned (I lost a flip-flop overboard), but maybe that’s half the fun.