First Korčula Beach of the Week is the most famous of beaches on Korčula: Vela Pržina near Lumbarda!
Vela Pržina is probably the most popular of all the beaches on the island of Korčula. It’s a quite a long sandy beach near Lumbarda, at the eastern-most tip of the island, facing south (thus the name, as the sun tends to be very strong there and that would be the literal translation of the name). The sea is very shallow there, so if you’re an adult person wanting to go for a swim and cool off in the deeper sea, prepare for a long walk and going by many, many children playing in the shallow water. There is a safety net at a significant distance, to protect you from many sailors who love to come to Pržina for a swim in beautiful, clear water – and it is almost always unbelievably clear!
Vela Pržina beach is easily accessible by car (although you will have to pay for parking there), and you can also walk from the centre of Lumbarda, which will take about 20 minutes through the Grk vineyards – if you manage to fight off the desire to stop in one of many wineries you’ll walk past on your way. It is, of course, possible to walk to Pržina from Korčula as well, and if you’re up for even more walking, either go to Bilin Žal on the opposite, Northern side (just beware of the “maestral” wind, which tends to be quite strong in the afternoon), or try and discover the abandoned army tunnels close to Vela Pržina
Since the beach is so popular, especially with families, you can find a lot of stuff beach-goer needs here, so there are two bars (at least one of them is a restaurant as well – don’t expect haute cuisine here, just decent freshly prepared food), you can rent parasols and deck chairs, there’s a beach volleyball court there; you can even get a massage right on the beach, if all the kids start to get on your nerves. If you want to get away from the crowds at the sandy part of the beach, you can just walk a bit towards the West or the East (for the more adventurous people!) and find wonderful spots on the rocks there, but in that case you’re in the sun, as there’s no natural shade there either. One other interesting thing about Vela Pržina is that is seems to have a microclimate of its own, so it will often happen that it rains in Korčula or even in Lumbarda, while at the same time it’s lovely and sunny on Pržina. And sometimes you’ll even get to see this, and still go for a swim:
