Krknjasi Bay

Krknjaši Bay, better known as the Blue Lagoon, lies between the islands of Drvenik Veli and Drvenik Mali in the central Dalmatian archipelago, sheltered by two small islets, Krknjaš Veli and Krknjaš Mali. The islets and the shallow, sandy bottom — depths generally run 2 to 4 metres — turn the bay into a calm, turquoise lagoon that stays clear even with dozens of boats moored inside it.

The Island Behind the Lagoon

The shelter comes from Drvenik Veli, an island of roughly 12 square kilometres lying about 1.8 kilometres off the mainland and north-west of Šolta, from which it is separated by the Šoltanski channel. Its high point, Buhalj, reaches 178 metres, and its coastline runs to nearly 24 kilometres, mostly rock broken by a handful of sand and pebble beaches, of which Krknjaši and Kokošinje are the best known. Drvenik Mali sits about two kilometres further west across a channel called Drvenička vrata. The Romans knew the island as Zirona, and Croatian documents from the 13th century record it as Girona or Giruna, though permanent settlement appears to date only from the 15th or 16th century, reinforced by families who crossed over in the 17th century from Drvenik near Makarska.

A Village That Has Emptied Out

There is one settlement on the island, Drvenik Veliki, gathered around a deep bay on the south-western shore with the parish church of St George above it. Its population tells the story of the whole archipelago: 1,069 people were counted here in 1921, a figure that collapsed through the second half of the century to 229 by 1981 and a low of 145 in 1991. The 2021 census recorded 170. Agriculture, fishing and, increasingly, tourism keep the place going, and that near-absence of development is precisely why the water in Krknjaši is as clear as it is: there is no town, no river and no industry upstream of it.

Anchoring and Sea Conditions

What makes the bay work as an anchorage is simple geometry. The two Krknjaš islets close off the seaward side almost entirely, so swell coming down the channel breaks outside while the water inside stays flat, and the shallow sandy bottom reflects the light that gives the lagoon its colour. The seabed is a mix of sand and Posidonia oceanica, the protected Mediterranean seagrass that does much of the work of keeping the water clear, so skippers are asked to pick up the marked mooring buoys rather than drop anchor into the meadows. The shelter is good but not absolute: Krknjaši is open from the east and north-east, and the only bay on Drvenik Veli genuinely protected from every wind is Grabule on the western side, with Mala Luka, Pernatica and Solinska as further options if the forecast turns.

Getting There and When to Go

It sits about 15 kilometres (8 nautical miles) from Trogir and 26 kilometres (14 nautical miles) from Split, close enough that it's one of the anchorages you'll visit on a private gulet charter from Trogir, alongside day-trip speedboats running similar routes out of both towns. Access is by boat only — there is no permanent settlement on the small islets — and a couple of seasonal restaurants operate on the Drvenik Veli shoreline for those who want to eat ashore. Timing matters more here than in most Dalmatian bays. The large day-cruise fleets out of Split and Trogir tend to arrive around midday and clear out by mid-afternoon, so the lagoon is emptiest before eleven in the morning and again after three. May and late September deliver the same colour with a fraction of the traffic, though the water is noticeably cooler either side of high summer. Snorkelling is the main reason to stay on: visibility is often well over ten metres in the morning calm, and the edges of the seagrass hold seabream and the occasional octopus.