Broce

Broce is a small fishing village on the Pelješac peninsula, about two kilometres south of Ston, tucked into pine forest along the shore of a sheltered bay. It is quiet, and that is largely the point: the 2011 census counted just 87 residents. Gulets still call here because the holding is good, the bay stays calm, and everything worth seeing around Ston is within a few minutes' drive, without any of the crowding you get at the better-known anchorages closer to Dubrovnik.

Ston: Salt, Walls and a Planned Medieval Town

The Republic of Dubrovnik bought Pelješac in 1333 and immediately began laying out Ston as a planned town, one of the earliest deliberate exercises in urban planning in Europe. What it was really protecting was salt. The Ston saltworks are the oldest still-operating salt pans in Europe, with exploitation documented back to Roman times and a local tradition of salt harvesting often put at more than four thousand years. Salt income alone once accounted for roughly a third of the Republic's total revenue, worth in the region of 15,900 gold ducats a year.

The works still run exactly as they always have, on nothing but sea, sun and wind. There are 58 pools arranged in five groups, of which nine are crystallisation pools, eight named after saints and the ninth called simply Mundo, meaning "the world". The harvest is still gathered by hand between April and October and comes to roughly 500 tonnes a year. It is a working industrial site rather than a reconstruction, which is precisely what makes an hour walking between the pools worth the detour.

The walls above the town were built to defend all this. Construction began in 1358 and continued into the 15th century; the complex originally ran to more than seven kilometres, of which about 5.5 kilometres survive, along with roughly twenty of an original forty towers and five fortresses, including Veliki kaštio at Ston and Koruna at Mali Ston. Often nicknamed the European Great Wall of China, they sit on Croatia's UNESCO tentative list and were badly damaged by earthquakes in 1667 and again in 1996 before being restored. Walking the full circuit takes well over an hour and climbs steeply, so it is a morning job rather than an afternoon one in high summer.

Oysters in Mali Ston Bay

The other reason to stop here lies on the far side of the isthmus. Mali Ston Bay is a protected special marine reserve, and its combination of sheltered shallow water and nutrient inflow makes it one of the best shellfish grounds in Europe. Farming is based on two species, the European flat oyster and the Mediterranean mussel, with young oysters cemented and hung on ropes in a method used only here. The bay accounts for around 90 per cent of Croatian oyster production, spat is still collected from the wild rather than raised in hatcheries, and the Mali Ston oyster holds EU protected designation of origin status. Written records of the oyster trade go back to the 16th century, and a documented farm using wooden structures existed by 1667.

The bay also has a new landmark. The Pelješac Bridge opened on 26 July 2022, 2,404 metres long, finally linking the peninsula to the Croatian mainland without crossing Bosnian territory at Neum. For boats it leaves a navigable channel 200 metres wide with 55 metres of clearance, so it changes the skyline rather than the sailing.

Anchoring, Swimming and Getting Around

The harbour at Broce sits in around 5 metres of water over a mud-and-weed bottom, which holds an anchor well in most conditions. August tends to bring the calmest weather, with daytime temperatures around 30 degrees Celsius and light winds, and the bay stays noticeably quieter than anchorages further north. Broce's own small beach is sheltered and shallow, good for snorkelling and easy going with children.

For a proper swim, Prapratno is the one to aim for: a sandy bay roughly three kilometres west of Ston, backed by pines and old olive trees, with a campsite behind the beach and the car ferry to Sobra on Mljet running from the same cove, a crossing of about 45 minutes if you want to add another island to the itinerary. Beyond that, Pelješac runs 65 kilometres northwest to Cape Lovišta and rises to 961 metres at Sveti Ilija, with the Dingač and Postup vineyards along the way. It is a popular stop for gulet charter guests exploring Dubrovnik, almost always combined with a walk on the Ston walls and a lunch built around oysters.