Kasjuni over Bačvice: where to actually swim in Split

The first beach I tried in Split was Bačvice, because it was a ten minute walk from the hostel and three different people said go there. It is sand, which is rare in Croatia, and the water is warm and shallow and you can wade out forever. It is also packed, loud, and half of it is concrete. I lasted about an hour before a guy at Charlie’s bar told me to get the number 12 bus instead. That was the best tip of the whole week.

Here is where I actually ended up swimming, and the ones I’d skip.

Kasjuni is the one. Get the 12.

Kasjuni sits about 3km west of the old town at the foot of Marjan Hill, tucked in a cove with pine trees behind it and cliffs on both sides. The water is clear and green-blue and the whole place feels a world away from the city even though it is fifteen minutes out. There is one beach bar, Joe’s, where a cocktail and a sunbed will not break you, and the pebbles are big and smooth so bring something to lie on.

Two ways in: bus 12 from the western end of the Riva, or an Uber for around €6 each way. There is a free car park behind the beach but in July it fills by mid-morning, so don’t count on it.

It does get busy in peak summer. The trick is to come early, before 10, or save it for the end of the day. Kasjuni faces west, so the sunset here is the move. Grab a drink at Joe’s, watch it go down behind the headland, then roll back into town for dinner. The far western end is clothing-optional if that matters to you either way, and the south end is dog-friendly.

Arrive before 10am or after 5pm. The middle of a July day at Kasjuni is a fight for a flat rock.

Bačvice: fun, not pretty

I’m not going to tell you to avoid Bačvice completely. It is the closest beach to the old town, a ten minute stroll past the ferry port, and the sand and shallow water make it an easy first swim when you land. It is also the home of picigin, the daft shallow-water ball game the locals have been playing here since 1908. Sit and watch for ten minutes and you’ll see grown men throwing themselves flat into thirty centimetres of water to keep a tiny ball up. It is great.

But it is busy, the edges are concrete, and it turns into a nightlife strip after dark rather than a place to relax. Come for the picigin and a beer, not for a quiet afternoon. Buses 3, 5, 8, 11, 14 and 17 all stop nearby if you don’t want the walk.

The walkable middle ground: Kastelet and Jezinac

If you want Marjan-style water without the bus, walk twenty to thirty minutes west from the old town to Kastelet (also signed as Obojena Svjetlost) and Jezinac, right by the Meštrović Gallery. Pebbly, clear, a younger crowd, and Jezinac has a few cliff-jumping spots if you’re into that. Less polished than Kasjuni, but you can be in the water without planning a bus around it.

A few more, depending on your mood

• Ovčice, right next to Bačvice, has a tiny beach bar with the cheapest drinks I found on the coast. Rakija for about €2, a draft beer around €3, cocktails under €9. Mostly a local crowd and a good sunset.
• Firule is the other sandy one, about 1.5km along, calm and shallow and full of families. Easy swim, nothing wild.
• Bene sits on the quiet north side of Marjan (bus 12 to the last stop, or hike it through the forest). Loads of pine shade, very chilled, a bit of a faff to reach. Worth it on a brutally hot day, skippable otherwise.
• Žnjan, 8km southeast, was rebuilt a couple of years back into a big white-pebble city beach with bars and proper facilities. Good if you want everything in one place and don’t mind the scale of it.

The honest version: Split is a fantastic base, but the world-class beaches are out on the islands and a boat ride away. For an in-town swim though, Kasjuni at sunset beats everything else by a mile.

If a friend texted me asking where to go for their one free morning, I’d say: pack water and a towel, get the 12 by 9am, claim a spot near the pines at Kasjuni, and don’t bother with the sunbed until you’ve had your first swim.