Going Loco for Lokrum

Lokrum, Croatia
Oct 8, 2016
4 min read

Just a short boat ride to the south of Dubrovnik, there is a small island called Lokrum. It is said that when Richard Lionheart of England was on one of his crusades, he suffered a shipwreck, and found safety on this island. Today, it is said to be an oasis of peace, quiet and natural beauty, and a very popular tourist attraction. There’s supposed to be a botanical garden, a monastery, a saltwater swimming pond on the middle of the island and - my favourite part - lots of peacocks. Sounds good: let’s go!

From our hotel in Plat we could easily order a water cab to Dubrovnik. They picked us up at an old, rather questionable jetty. At first I wondered if they could actually moor the boat there, but I forgot these guys were experienced Croatians. Of course they could.

The first part of the boat ride was private: we could enjoy the view wherever we wanted. We had picked the right day to go to Lokrum, because after all those days of rain, the weather was finally absolutely fantastic! Our privacy disappeared when we arrived at Mlini. There was a whole crowd of elderly people of undoubtable British origins waiting there and I was sure the boat would capsize if they all tried to get on. Once again, I stood corrected. These Croatians really seem to know what they’re doing.

After arriving in Dubrovnik, we had some time to walk around Old City and have lunch before the boat would leave. The Old City still wasn't that interesting, so after having a rather poorly chosen ham and cheese platter for lunch, we got on the boat to Lokrum itself.

The people who told us about the island didn’t lie. Unlike Pfaueninsel in Berlin, where you would expect a lot of peacocks but actually have to search rather hard to find them, this island was filled to the brim with the birds! Not only that, but they were also very unafraid of humans whatsoever. I actually saw one of them trying to pickpocket a lady’s purse while she wasn’t looking. True story!

The peacocks were only the beginning. The island was also inhabited by a crowd of rabbits and many different birds. But Mother Nature did quite a number on it herself: the landscape was breathtaking! The shoreline was covered with flat rocks on which you could walk (the peacocks as well, apparently) and where little ponds of seawater would gather. Those ponds were filled with fish and small sea creatures like urchins and crabs: the more you looked into them, the more you saw. The rest of the island was densely populated by trees, which made it easy to flee from the other tourists if you needed a moment of quiet.

After exploring the shoreline, it was time for a swim! The saltwater pond, Mrtvo More [Dead Sea], was indeed gorgeous. The color of the water was just like that of the sea: turquoise, translucent and very attractive. When we saw it we were on a kind of cliff, and I couldn’t wait to jump in! As soon as we got down to the beach, I wished I could keep my shoes on, though. The beach was a mix of pebbles and shells, so it wasn’t very foot-friendly. I was hoping it would get better once we were in the water, but alas: the pebbles were everywhere and didn’t make it very easy to get in and out of the water in an elegant manner. On top of that the water was quite cold, so I pretty much cast all elegance aside and went in looking like a crippled penguin. Once in, the temperature was quite enjoyable, and we set out to explore the tiny cave on the side of the lake. I quickly deemed the cave fairly uninteresting, and I found myself swimming back outside in quite a hurry. It was damn cold, dark and small in there, and from the bit I could see the walls were covered in spider webs. One of my less heroic days, I must admit.

When we were all dried up, we had a beer at the restaurant. Once again accompanied by many peacocks of course, this time including chicks. Supercute! After we finished we wandered a bit more around the island, enjoying the lovely peace and quite and the shade the trees were giving us. We climbed up to a kind of watchtower at the top of the island, where we could enjoy the breathtaking view until the sun started to set.

Time flew on this amazing island where there were so many things to see and to do. Still, we felt a little more relaxed and energized than when we arrived. Sadly we had to leave it all behind now and return to our hotel. It was time to catch the last boat back to Dubrovnik.