KomižaVis Island

Komiža is the fishing village on the west coast of Vis, tucked into a deep bay that faces the open sea and the setting sun. For centuries it was the fishing capital of the Adriatic: its sailors invented the falkuša, a fast wooden boat with a huge lateen sail, to reach the rich waters around the outer islands, and the village grew around salting anchovies and sardines. That heritage is still on the quay. Colourful wooden boats line the harbour, the Fishermen's Museum sits in the Venetian Komuna tower of 1585 on the waterfront, and the daily fish market is still where the restaurants buy.

The old town is a maze of narrow stone streets climbing from the riva. Above it the fortified Benedictine monastery of St Nicholas, called Muster, watches the bay, and at the far end of the harbour the little church of Our Lady of the Pirates stands right on the beach at Gusarica. The town beaches, Gusarica and Kamenice, are pebble with clear, calm water, and Kamenice has a beach bar for the afternoon.

Eating is the other reason to stop. Komiža is home to komiška pogača, a flat bread filled with anchovies, onion and tomato, and to some of the best fish restaurants on the islands. Jastožera, built out over the old lobster pens in the harbour, is the famous one for lobster; the konobas along the riva do grilled fish and the local white, Vugava. The village also served as a location for Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, which is why the harbour may look familiar.

For us Komiža is above all the gateway to the Blue Cave. Biševo lies five nautical miles off the bay, and Komiža is the traditional departure point for the cave. On our Blue Cave & Island Vis tour it is the natural lunch stop after the caves, or the swim stop before the run home, and the bay's calm water makes it an easy place to moor for an hour or two.

From Hvar Town it is 22 nautical miles, the longest leg of any of our routes, which is why it only appears on full-day trips. It is worth the distance. Komiža feels further from the mainland than anywhere else you can reach in a day from Hvar, and it is the last place on the way out before the open Adriatic.