July 29, 2020 - While the last two months of tourist figures show a significant decline in the number of guests compared to the previous year, Viganj on Peljesac can boast excellent results - and there are currently more guests there now than last year!

Index.hr reports that this small windsurfing paradise with only 300 inhabitants in Croatia's extreme south has recorded extraordinary numbers for the last ten days.

"On July 25, we had 1450 registered guests, and last year we had 1305 on that day, so 10 percent less. In the last ten days, Viganj has more guests than last year," said Marko Galiot from the Orebic Tourist Board, whose municipality belongs to the town, otherwise a famous paradise for surfers.

And it was the windsurfing championship held last weekend that attracted an additional number of guests. Among the tourists who chose Viganj for their vacation, Slovenes take the lead (40 percent), followed by the Czechs and Germans, and this year, due to the overall situation, says Galiot, the Brits are absent.

"Viganj has its old guests, the entire town is actually one big beach plus it has two cult places. Čiringito - a restaurant on the beach that stands out from the classic restaurants and K2, a cocktail bar. Viganj has its old guests; there are two schools for surfers that attract a large number of people. It also has two outdoor fitness centers, they also have a surf equipment store, and windsurfing competitions are organized there every year. Last week the championship was held, so that additionally attracted the Czechs," Galiot said.

He says that the associations supported by the Tourist Board are responsible for the promotion of Viganj as a surfing destination. And another big plus near Viganj this year? Camps.

"Viganj has two large camps that are completely full. Now during the pandemic, tourists like to camp the most, they feel safe there, they are outdoors, they have a lot of places for social distancing," Galiot said.

By the way, Viganj boasts only three hundred inhabitants, and their guests are mostly active recreational athletes. Even when there is no wind for windsurfing, guests go hiking, biking, and there are plenty of paragliders descending from the hill above Viganj.

Galiot points out that Viganj has already reached 82 percent of last year's turnover, which, he says, is extraordinary.

"There were no guests in April and May as usual, but they started coming around June 10, and most of them have been there for the last ten days," Galiot said.

For comparison, the municipality of Orebic has weaker results than Viganj and they are now at about 50 percent of last year's turnover. According to Galiot, two hotels in Orebic did not open this year, and in general, other hotels and private accommodation in Orebic are doing worse than in previous years.

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Every summer in Dalmatia, cars miraculously end up in the sea. Either they accidentally roll in because a sun-baked driver has left the handbrake off, or they somehow manage to fall off dry land and drop into the sea, while always unexpected, seeing a car going for a swim in the Adriatic isn't that much of an unusual thing.

What is unusual, is when the car that has gone for a quick swim in the big blue belongs to a mayor, and is very expensive. That's just what happened recently in Trpanj on the beautiful Pelješac peninsula.

As Morski writes on the 12th of August, 2019, an expensive Mazda 6 was seen sliding off dry land and into the sea below.

According to a report from Jutarnji list, this valuable car which ended up taking an unexpected dip in the Adriatic belongs to no less than the mayor of Trpanj, Jakša Franković. There was also information circulating around that it was actually an official vehicle of the Municipality, but this was denied and unfortunately it wasn't possible to be able to discuss this matter with a likely irritated Mayor Franković.

A co-worker of his did speak briefly to Jutarnji list, and she didn't appear very willing to introduce herself or provide her name. She stated: "the mayor isn't at work today and isn't in the mood to talk to the press."

She declined to comment on the unlucky event, saying only that it was "not true that it was an official car."

Watch the video of the poor Mazda's dramatic rescue here:

YouTube/Jutarnji list

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more. If cars going for a swim along the Croatian coast is your thing, check out Dnevna doza prosjecnog Dalmatinca (A daily dose of the average Dalmatian) on Facebook.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marta Duic writes on the 30th of July, 2019, the Mikulić family from Pelješac entered this tourist season with a bit of a novelty on offer - glamping. With their campsite and their boutique winery in Mokalo and the Adriatic Hotel in Orebić, this investment was a logical next step.

"From classic tents, we've switched over to mega luxury and I don't think we've made a mistake in doing so. This is a unique offer not only in the county, but throughout the region," proclaimed Antonio Mikulić.

Mikulić explained that their Adriatic Hotel is the only one in all of Pelješac that operates for 365 days per year, it used to be a parish church, then it was a school, then it was a shop and an apartment building. He notes that none of the six rooms are the same, and thanks to their beautiful design, they're reminiscent of the old sailboats, which they're named after: Stipan, Paulina, Isac, Jacob, Mimbelli, and Pelag. Done in the eye-catching style of a luxury boat lounge, there is also an a la carte restaurant named Stari Kapetan, the terrace of which is a replica of a seventeenth-century ship.

"Our boutique winery is an upgrade the offer of our family-run hotel and campsite, accounting for about 25 percent of this business. Since we live in Orebić, the tourist centre of Pelješac, our market is right there on our doorstep and there's almost no guest who visits our winery who doesn't end up buying our olive oil or our family-branded wine. Although we sell almost everything we produce, we participate in fairs throughout the year, organise presentations, and send off our wines to be judged,'' added Mikulić.

This is a local Pelješac family which has always cultivated vineyards and produced wine. According to Mikulić, his grandfather Josip also worked in the highest quality wine, Plavac, which is cultivated in the family's vineyards in Pelješac to this very day, and in his honour, the wine bears the name Don Josip.

"As a kid, I went with my grandfather to the vineyards and to the cellar, and after graduating from university in Zagreb, I decided to return to Pelješac and devote myself to the job I love the most. We started producing wine in a serious way back in 2014, when we equipped the winery with modern technology and all of the equipment.

Since the guests of the family hotel responded excellently to the first bottles of wine, in March last year, we decided to open our boutique winery on the slopes of Postup (village in Pelješac), where we also do tastings and try to tell the story of the beauty of this peninsula, the weight that Pelješac carries, and premium wines,'' explained Mikulić. They annually produce about 15,000 bottles of Plavac Mali and about six thousand bottles of Pošip.

The Pošip wine is bought from subcontractors from the nearby island of Korcula, and about 80 percent of the Plavac comes from their vineyards that cover 2.5 hectares in the best positions on the slopes of Postup, while another 20 percent is purchased from subcontractors, winemakers who have vineyards next to theirs. In addition to the peninsula, these wines are present in family-run small hotels and in better restaurants, they can be found in Split and Zagreb for sale, and can also be purchased online.

Given that their main priority is high quality and that a good deal of wine is sold to wineries, as well as in the restaurant of the family's hotel and camp, they're not focused on exporting.

"The tasting room looks like an old Dalmatian tavern and is especially interesting to foreign guests, and often they stay longer than planned in the relaxed atmosphere. In the few years that we've been open, we have had guests from almost all European countries, as well as from all over the world.

The most numerous are guests from Germany, Austria, the USA and the Scandinavian countries. These modern guests want to get to know the place they've come to, they want to taste authentic food and wines, and they are especially interested in Plavac which is our indigenous variety, and best results are known to be provided on Pelješac.

We also worked hard on the winery last winter, we made a bank and an archive of wines, so we've rounded it all together with a diverse offer for all guests - from the winery, the beach bar, the beach restaurant, the glamping, the camp, the apartments, the rooms, the hotel, and the restaurant right in the centre of Orebić,'' concluded Mikulić.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle and business pages for much more.

Pelješac is home to much more than just stunning views, golden sunsets and incredible wine, as if that wasn't enough. Home to a wide array of wildlife and many caves, this rugged peninsula in southern Dalmatia is as interesting academically as it is beautiful on the surface, and 2019 brings with it yet another biospeleological expedition of the area.

As Morski writes on the 19th of April, 2019, field research across the entire Pelješac peninsula was conducted at the end of 2018, in close cooperation with the public institution for the management of protected areas of nature of Dubrovnik-Neretva County, the Croatian Biospeleology Society and the Breganja Association. The announcement of the beginning of the second such biospeleological expedition - Pelješac 2019, has arrived, which has been being held since the 19th of April 2019 and will continue until May the 1st, 2019.

In the scope of the Pelješac expedition this year, the plans are to explore this rocky area's numerous caves and pits located along different parts of the peninsula and to obtain more detailed information on the distribution of certain groups and species living underground and within said caves. The expedition is likely to gather more than sixty researchers from around the entire region, meaning it will take on a much more international character, and will include the exploration of speleological ocations across the whole of the Pelješac peninsula.

The goals of the expedition include the detailed sampling and photographing the cave fauna as well as topography and the further exploration of newly found pits and caves.

On the two terrains that preceded the main expedition, the emphasis was placed on finding caves and pits known only in literature and by Pelješac's local population. Over twenty caves and pits of various sizes and in numerous locations were explored during the last such expedition, caves suitable for exploration to seek out any animal species living there were recorded, cave fauna was collected, and entry and exit coordinates were noted.

During this expedition, over 100 hundred known caves across the Pelješac peninsula will be explored.

Stay up to date by following our dedicated lifestyle page.

You'll be hearing an awful lot about the construction of Pelješac Bridge from us over the coming months (or years, probably), but not enough about the upoming bridges' namesake is put out there. Find out why this region has much more to offer than just olives, grapes and wine.

August 17, 2016 - TCN continues looking at the best beaches in Croatia. This time here is Top 5 Pelješac, the best beaches.

The Pelješac peninsula is the second largest in Croatia, ranging around 70 kilometers long. The peninsula connects with the Croatian mainland at Ston, with the Pelješac channel dividing the peninsula from the island of Korčula.

An area that remains still raw in nature, standing amongst commercial and urban values, here are our top 5 beaches for this picturesque peninsula.