Postcard from Hvar
If you’ve traveled in Europe during the peak summer season, you’ve probably been to or at least heard about the many beach clubs found in the South of France or on the islands of Ibiza and Mykonos. On Hvar, we experienced beach club life, Croatian-style.
A short walk from our hotel overlooking Hvar’s famous marina, is the eponymous Hvar Beach Club, a turquoise and white gauze-draped haven where the cabanas are suspended over the clear blue water and colorful boats dot the harbor. The champagne is chilled and ready to pour when we arrived at 11:00 am — more day-drinking! It’s easy to feel like one of the lucky ones, as you recline on your daybed above the water’s edge. When you get hot, you can dive right in and then climb back up and begin the process again. Eventually lunch is served (order the fish tacos and tuna tartare!). This is definitely the life.
The next morning we set out to discover some of the beach clubs that dot the Pakleni Islands, the archipelago of 70+ islands just offshore from Hvar. Some cater mostly to the locals, some to families with children, and some become chic late-night party scenes. Another, Jerolim, is the nude beach. Carpe Diem is one of the “sceniest”, or so we’re told. Enterprising locals begin running shuttles between Hvar marina and Carpe Diem starting around midnight. We only saw it during the day, when there’s just a dock, a mostly-deserted pool and a few twenty-somethings lounging on beach chairs. It wasn’t clear if they’d arrived that morning or were still recovering from the night before.
It’s a perfect day on the water. There are sailboats, powerboats and traditional gulets, the masted wooden sailing ships of the eastern Mediterranean, sharing the calm seas. Yachts and super-yachts are anchored in many of the private coves and inlets.
We drop anchor in a quiet bay off the island of Palmizana, an island I visited the last time I was on Hvar. I learned then that the island has been lovingly maintained by 4 generations of the Menenghello family for more than a century. The patriarch, Eugen, began planting thousands of indigenous and exotic species on the Rocky outcrop back in 1906. Since then, subsequent generations have built and opened a small inn, 2 restaurants, and a museum/art gallery. Today, the museum and gallery feature new Croatian artists and craftsmen, as well as the family’s personal art collection. Guests of the inn and daytrippers can visit the arboretum, wander the gardens and view the sculpture at their leisure.
Our boat docks at Langanini, another of Hvar’s famous beach clubs. We’re escorted to a palapa-style cabana, decorated in black and white with Moët-branded cushions, deep couches and daybeds. In addition to private cabanas of all sizes, Langanini has a bar a restaurant and a separate area for families where small children can wade in shallow water. We spent the rest of the morning sipping champagne and wondering how we got so lucky.
After a tour of the facilities, we cruise across the harbor to the dock at Toto’s, the Menenghello family’s casual waterfront restaurant. Appetizers were bruschetta, topped with tomato, basil and olive oil, and tuna tartare. The main courses were fish ravioli (a first, and really good!) and grilled tuna with zucchini and a local dish of Swiss chard with potatoes. All delicious. And the rosé was lovely.