This is the smallest town we have stayed in during our time in Croatia and it was my favorite. It had the beautiful alleys, outside restaurants, and old buildings net to the super green clear waters. This time there wasn’t many tourists around when the cruise ships weren’t in which made it feel like we were really a part of Croatia. The cruise ships in small towns really can change a place with the big crowds everywhere following their leader holding a sign and talking to a group of 40 people over headsets. We have seen it before it in other countries and we also like it when the cruise people go back on their boat at night and we get the town back to ourselves. Korcula only had a big ship the first night we were there so it wasn’t that bad.
We follow some retired nomad groups online and there are several of our fellow nomads that will take cheap 30 day repositioning cruises to get across the ocean instead of flying. Prices on these boats aren’t that crazy and it is a little tempting. But we just can’t do it. The big ships are licensed in countries without much labor protections which means they can pay super low wages and force everyone to work long hours without overtime pay. People from underdeveloped countries work on these ships and will send all their money back to their families. When they get tired of this lifestyle, the cruise ships are not good about sending them home… they are basically indentured servants.
But that isn’t the biggest problem with cruise ships. The environmental costs to these gas guzzling boats are enormous. One midsize ship produces the same carbon footprint as 1 million cars. The pollution caused by the many ships in Croatia is way greater the cars used by the 4 million people in this country. The ships do not hook up to power in the Croatian ports so they are spitting our carbon even when they aren’t moving, just to keep the power on in the thousands of rooms. So, while we think about trying cruises again when we get older… we would have to find a way to justify the carbon costs to ourselves…. Yes, we still use airplanes, but we try our best to use trains and buses when possible and only use rental cars when there is no other choice.
Anyway, the town of Croatia was beautiful and we got to a chance to relax and see it during good weather without many people during the offseason with fewer cruise ships.
I did get a chance to rent a bike and see some even smaller towns. Lots of fun to ride next to the clear great water on roads without many cars.
We stayed in an Airbnb just a block from the old town but it felt like we were really living in the neighborhood. Great views from of our deck, not only of the harbor and town but also of our neighbors gardens.
Our host lived on the floor underneath us and shared her liqueurs with us. I am a big liqueur fan.. I like making them and trying them.
Next stop is the grandaddy of the Croatian beach towns- Dubrovnik
