Often we write about the beaches that are not easily accessible, and that take some effort to get to.
This week's Beach of the Week is not one of those. In fact, it's really easy to get to that beach by car, as it is just below the road between Korčula and Račišće (it is, in fact, the last bay before you get to Račišće if you're driving that way), and it's literally a couple of steps between the road (and the parking) and the beach.
The beach has undergone some "reconstruction" in the past few years, and the situation now is that it's a very lovely, not too narrow strip of pebbles, with lovely slow entrance to the sea, great for your kids to take a swim at. There is no natural shade at the beach, except that there is a low wall behind it, separating the beach from the vineyards and orchards planted in its background, but don't really count on being able to lie in the shade provided by that wall. If you want some shade, bring a parasol with you - there aren't any to be rented at the beach itself. The other option is to walk past the pebbles on the beach and go to the north-western side of the bay, on the rocky side, where there's trees, not that many people, much less friendly entrance to the sea but still - if you are into that stuff, and don't like people on the towel one meter away from you on either side, that's where you should go.
Of course, there are two islets just off the Kneža beach, Vela and Mala (Big and Little, if you weren't able to figure that out yourself) Kneža islets, and it's really easy to swim to either of the islets from the northern side of the bay, if not from the beach itself. There isn't really much to do on the islets, but it's an achievement to unlock - yet another islet you've managed to conquer while on your vacation.
As we already said, the beach is very close to the road, and just off the village of Kneža, and that village has several restaurants, "konoba", apartments to rent and stores, so you don't have to really worry about bringing a lot of water with you, and you can have a meal there or whatever else you feel like. Also, it's about a kilometer walk from Račišće, if an old fisherman's village on Korčula is something you'd also like to visit.
The Kneža beach is mostly protected from the maestral wind that is an integral part of an afternoon on Korčula, although it's on the northern shores of Korčula. It's protected from the wind by the little peninsula to the north-east, as well as the two islets. On a day with strong maestral you can expect that many sailboats will find shelter in the bay, with people on them taking a swim in the perfectly clear water and waiting for the wind to subside.
