Another one of the famous beaches on Korčula: Pupnatska luka on the southern-facing side of the island.
Pupnatska Luka (translates to English as the Port of Pupnat) is the most well-known beach on the Korčula island on the southern, so-called defora side of the island, which means it’s facing South (although most beaches on the “defora” side of Korčula actually face south-west, and Pupnatska luka does as well). It’s one of the largest bays on the Korčula’s south side, with a wonderful, wide and quite accommodating pebble beach at the bottom of the bay.
One of the major problems with the beaches on the Korčula’s defora side is that they are difficult to get to, especially if you’re a modern tourist with a bunch of stuff, as it is difficult to get your car anywhere near the beach itself. With Pupnatska luka, that isn’t that big of a problem, as there is a road going from the village of Pupnat to the beach itself, and it is (theoretically) possible to park within 100 meters of jumping into the sea. We say theoretically because, although there is parking on the road, and the road is indeed close to the beach, don’t count on finding parking anywhere nearby during the peak tourist season. Most people who visit Korčula correctly decide that they need to go visit Pupnatska luka as well, so it will be crowded at all times during July and August.
As it is very popular and quite large, there’s quite of lot of tourist infrastructure on the beach: you can rent the beach chairs, parasols, there are showers and two bars really close to the beach. One of them is owned by the same family that owns the only Korčulan Michelin-recommended restaurant, Konoba Kod Mate from Pupnat. The beach itself would, let’s be honest, perfect, if it wasn’t for all those people on it. The seawater is perfectly clear there almost always, the pebbles are just as you’d want them to be on a Dalmatian pebble beach, the entry into the sea is just perfect, steep enough so you don’t have to walk your legs off and still be standing in the shallow water. The swimming is spectacular in the bay, with picture-perfect presentation of the clear water and wonderful sea bottom. There will be some sailboats moored in the bay, so that the sailors can also enjoy their swim.
The main problem of the beach for the modern tourist (except for the fact that there are, at peak season, too many of those modern tourists there) is that there isn’t much natural shade on or around the beach, so you should either bring your own parasols to the beach, or rent them for the day there (the prices of such rentals seem to depend on many, many factors and change quite a lot) if you don’t enjoy the southern sun on your body all day long. There is some shade “on the side of the beach”, near the houses that were allowed to be built in the past, but don’t count on finding the perfect shady spot there those during peak season.
