If you’re headed to Croatia this summer, be sure to spend some time in Dubrovnik. It has an incredible history, is the real-life Kings Landing, and also has some of the most beautiful beaches I have ever had the privilege of visiting. But which are the best family beaches in Dubrovnik? Here’s my round-up.
Sveti Jakov
Our favourite family beach in Dubrovnik was St Jacob’s Beach or as its known locally Sveti Jakov. If you can handle the stairs down to the beach, you can easily stay here all day with your family. A mix of sand and pebbles, the water is just shallow enough that the kids can paddle whilst you sit and watch, or if you’re after a bit more adventure, you can try and jump the waves on a choppier day. The beach bar is fantastic and staff are so friendly. Our girls loved grabbing lunch here and of course, an ice cream! A perfect family beach!
How to get there: It’s a short taxi/Uber away from the old town (cost around 60 HRK)
Facilities available: Sunbeds/parasols (150 HRK for 2 beds and a parasol); water taxi back to Old Town; drinks/lunch/ice cream at beach bar; toilets on beach.
Copacabana
Don’t be confused by its Brazillian namesake, this Copacabana Beach can be found just outside of the Dubrovnik city centre. With luxurious cabanas available to rent, this is arguably the best beach near Dubrovnik if you have younger children. We sat on the pebble beach whilst our two girls (5 and 2) pretended to be mermaids and “baked” pebble cakes in the water. There is a beach bar which serves drinks and ice creams. It also does a food menu. For families with young children, this is perhaps the best family beach in Dubrovnik as the water was the shallowest here and it’s very easy to get to.
How to get there: It’s a short taxi/Uber away from the Old Town (cost around 60 HRK)
Facilities available: Cabanas (around 400 HRK for the day); drinks/ice cream/lunch at the beach bar; water sports rental; toilets on beach
Lopud bay (Lopud island)
If you’re up for an adventure and have a bit of experience on the water, I can’t recommend highly enough hiring a boat for the day. There is a guy who can normally be found on Sveti Jakov beach in the day, or by the port in Old Town by night and we chose to hire a boat with him. The service was great and it meant that we had the freedom to explore the nearby Elafiti islands. If you don’t feel up to hiring a boat yourself, there are several excursions you can take and in my mind, are a must-do if you’re looking for an extra-special family beach in Dubrovnik.
Lopud Island has a couple of main beaches to enjoy but with younger children, we preferred the main Lopud Bay beach. Again the water was extremely shallow and so we could let the girls play whilst we sat and watched them. The sandiest of all the beaches we visited, you could even build a sandcastle at Lopud. We only spent an hour or so here before moving on to the next beach but we could have happily stayed all day. There are plenty of beach cafés to get a drink or a bite to eat at and some little shops to explore too.
How to get there: hire a boat for the day, or take a boat excursion. Local ferry would cost around 150 HRK for a family of four return trip. Boat hire costs between 2000-3000 HRK for the whole day from Old Town. Other boat tours that we found from Old Town were around 300 HRK pp and included lunch/soft drinks.
Facilities: Drinks/ice cream/lunch available at several beach cafés on the waterfront, most with toilet facilities. No toilets on beachfront that we saw.
Lokrum island
Under UNESCO protection, Lokrum Island is a special forestry reserve off the coast of Dubrovnik’s Old Town. In fact, you can see the island at almost every point from the Old Town’s coast. It has some fab beaches as well as a “Dead Sea” – a small lake on the island suitable for young children. We also walked around to one of the quieter bays on the island and paddled in the shallows. Some of the beaches are more suited to older children and confident-swimmers, and there are even some sections where you can get out straight into the open sea using ladders from the rocks.
When you’re finished at the beach, you can explore some of the Island’s historic buildings, such as the abandoned monastery which served as the setting of Qarth in Game of Thrones. There was even a replica Iron Throne for us to sit on! Just be sure to get the last boat back to the city as there is supposedly a curse on the island which means no-one is allowed to stay on the island overnight!
How to get there: ferry from port of Old Town (cost around 200 HRK per adult, with entry to the island included). You could alternatively take one of the smaller private boat transfers, but you may have to pay island entry too).
Facilities: two beach bar/cafés on the island; volleyball nets; playground; multiple beaches; “Dead Sea” lake; toilets on the island; historic monastery complex with Game of Thrones exhibition; botanical gardens.
sunj beach, lopud island
Sunj looks like the most idyllic beach you can imagine. Turquoise waters, sailing boats, beach cafés – it has it all. The water is also extremely shallow – to the extent that if you arrive in your own boat, you can anchor it close enough to walk right into the bay with your backpack comfortably above your head! We didn’t stop for long at Sunj – it was quite busy when we got there and late in the day. However if I had to choose one place to revisit and “do properly” it would be here. The only downside is that there seemed to be a lot of people on the beach with local companies and so it was the busiest of all the beaches we visited.
How to get there: hire a boat for the day, or take a boat excursion. Local ferry would cost around 150 HRK for a family of four return trip. Boat hire costs between 2000-3000 HRK for the whole day from Old Town. Other boat tours that we found from Old Town were around 300 HRK pp and included lunch/soft drinks.
Facilities: beach bar with drinks/food; toilets; mooring for boats
make sure you take aqua shoes!
Overall, the beaches of Dubrovnik have plenty to offer everyone. This list hasn’t even included perhaps the most famous of all the Dubrovnik beaches, Banje Beach – a short walk from the Old Town centre. We did visit this beach but compared to the others, felt it was quite busy.
One tip worth remembering is that your feet will be much happier if you invest in some water/aqua shoes! Most of the beaches have at least some rocky/shingle areas and especially with young children, you will thank yourself for buying some! If you don’t want to buy some before you leave, there are plenty of shops near the Old Town with them for sale.
If you’ve got any questions about travelling to Croatia (or anywhere) during the Coronavirus pandemic, make sure you check out my article here. I’m always happy to reply to comments, or email me on monkeyandpal@gmail.com.
