Submarine Military Tunnels

Rogačić Bay, just west of Vis Town on Vis Island, looks like any other quiet Adriatic anchorage — until you notice the tunnel mouth cut into the rock on its western shore. This stretch of coast, along with the neighbouring Parja Bay, was once one of the most closely guarded military sites in the former Yugoslavia.

Vis played a real role in World War II as a hideout for Josip Broz Tito and the Partisan leadership, who made use of the island's caves and coves while fighting the Germans. That strategic value stuck with the Yugoslav military long after the war ended — through the Cold War decades, the Yugoslav Navy carved roughly 20 kilometres of tunnels, bunkers, and submarine shelters into the island's hills, and Vis remained a closed military zone, off-limits to both foreigners and ordinary Yugoslav civilians, until 1991.

The tunnel at Rogačić was built to shelter and service submarines and torpedo boats, hidden from aerial view but visible if you knew where to look from the road above the bay. It runs roughly 120 metres into the hillside, with the water inside reaching a depth of around 12 metres — enough for a proper swim or dive if you bring a torch, with walkways along both sides for anyone who'd rather stay dry. Smaller side chambers, once used for maintenance and storage, branch off the main passage.

Since the Yugoslav Navy pulled out in the early 1990s, the tunnels have taken on new lives — a few, elsewhere on the island, have even been converted into wine cellars, since the constant temperature and total darkness turn out to be excellent for ageing wine. Rogačić itself stays closer to its original state: a cool, slightly eerie swim-through, with the Adriatic outside warming to a pleasant 26–27°C in summer. It's an easy stop by boat, and one of the more unusual anchorages you'll find worth a visit if you're chartering a gulet in Croatia — half history lesson, half novelty swim.