As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes on the 22nd of June, 2020, it's a well-known fact that Croatia is a nautical superpower, and the country is even a global leader by many standards when it comes to charters. Nevertheless, investments in new nautical facilities, primarily marinas, are relatively rare and mostly modest in their nature. That's why the project of Marina Korkyra, which recently came to life in Vela Luka on Korčula, is interesting.

Marina Korkyra is a huge investment of 42 million kuna made by a company called Ovalis nova, owned by the entrepreneurial family Šegon, which built a hotel of the same name in Vela Luka back in 2011 - Hotel Korkyra.

According to Ivo Šegon, the director of the aforementioned marina, after several decades of efforts, a new marina was built and opened in Vela Luka. Thus, Vela Luka can finally be presented as a new port of Croatian nautical tourism.

"Since the 80's, the project of the Port of Nautical Tourism has been waiting to come to life and bring some long-awaited changes to Vela Luka's tourism, as well as the future development of the place as a whole. Although the project took a little longer than we planned, during 2018 and 2019, construction work was carried out, and this year the marina was opened - we received the necessary permit back in mid-May,'' says Šegon.

Marina Korkyra boasts 132 berths, as well as a bar and restaurant overlooking the entire bay of Vela Luka. The marina is made as an island with two modern pavilions that are connected to the coast by bridges, which, according to the director, puts a special "stamp" on the recognisable visual appearance of the marina.

In the first pavilion there is a reception, souvenir shop and toilets, and in the second there is a bar and restaurant which are both open to boaters, as well as to all guests of Vela Luka and of course to the locals. The restaurant, says Šegon, offers dishes based on a combination of traditional and modern recipes, and most of the ingredients are procured from local suppliers.

The designers of Marina Korkyra, Maja Kuzmanović, an architect, and Mladen Vučković, a maritime designer, pointed out that at this moment in time, only the first phase of the marina has been completed, a large breakwater which works to protect the entire marina from adverse weather conditions and the elements, which also provides mooring for boats and promenades for tourists.

They add that this is a unique example of a marina that has pavilions on a large pier rather than on the shore, thus opening up additional space for users. The specificity of Vela Luka and its beautiful 9.5 kilometre-long-bay makes it a naturally safe place for boaters on the Croatian Adriatic.

As they are quite far from most Croatian airports in Vela Luka, as well as the main international roads, Marina Korkyra is currently filling its capacities with transit guests, the director notes.

"We have more and more inquiries from foreign guests who want to transfer their ships to a permanent berth here and we're happy about that,'' Ivo Šegon said.

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