“Lastovo is the far end of the Croatian map: a nature-park island with a dark sky, free moorings at the restaurants, and a stone town hidden inland from the sea.”
Lastovo is one of the remotest inhabited islands in the Adriatic, a nature park of oak and pine 30 miles south of Korčula and further from the mainland than anywhere else on our routes. It was a closed military island for decades, which is why it stayed empty, and it still has almost no light pollution: our Trogir loop calls it one of the best stops on the whole route for stargazing. The town is inland, out of sight of the sea, which is unusual for a Dalmatian island, with fifteenth-century Venetian houses and the carved chimneys, the fumari, it is known for.
For a yacht it is one night, sometimes two, in Zaklopatica on the north side, where every restaurant offers free moorings and the kitchens cook from their own gardens; or in Skrivena Luka, the hidden bay on the south side that looks straight out towards Italy. It is day five of our Split to Dubrovnik week, day four of the Trogir loop, and the stop our where-to-charter guide adds for a group that likes the quiet end of the map.
Must-dos on Lastovo
- A restaurant mooring in Zaklopatica, dinner at Augusta Insula from their own garden
- The stars from the deck, almost no light pollution this far from the mainland
- The walk up to Lastovo town, thirty minutes from the bay to the chimneys and the amphitheatre of stone houses
- Skrivena Luka and Porto Rosso, the hidden bay facing Italy
- Sušac on the way, the lighthouse islet between Vis and Lastovo
Zaklopatica: the restaurant moorings and the night sky
Zaklopatica is the bay on the north coast where yachts spend the night: naturally sheltered behind an islet, a favourite among sailors, and lined with a few restaurants that each keep their own moorings and give them free to boats that eat there. Augusta Insula is the standout on our routes, cooking with produce from the family garden; the baked octopus is the island dish. There is no marina and no need for one.
After dinner the point of Lastovo is the sky. This far from the mainland there is almost no light, and a night on the mooring with the stars down to the horizon is the thing guests remember from the southern week. Our Trogir loop calls it one of the best stops on the whole route for stargazing.
Lastovo town: the hidden amphitheatre and the fumari
Lastovo town is a thirty-minute walk uphill from Zaklopatica and worth it. It sits in a hollow inland, hidden from the sea, which is how it survived pirates and why it looks like no other Dalmatian town: stone houses climbing the slope in an amphitheatre, the church of Saints Cosmas and Damian from the fourteenth century in the middle, and the fumari, the tall, carved chimneys on the roofs that are the island’s signature, an open-air exhibition of stone sculpture. Most of what stands is fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Venetian. The food is seasonal and grown on the island; the menus stayed their own because the island stayed cut off.
Skrivena Luka, Ubli and Sušac: the south side and the way in
Skrivena Luka, the hidden harbour, is the bay on the south coast, a deep inlet with the Struga lighthouse on the cliffs at its mouth and Porto Rosso, the restaurant with moorings at its head, looking straight out to the open sea and Italy beyond. It is the alternative overnight when the group wants the anchorage rather than the restaurant row. Ubli, at the western end, is the ferry port and fuel stop.
Sušac is the islet halfway between Vis and Lastovo, a lighthouse rock with one sheltered cove; our Split round trip makes it the optional overnight after the Blue Cave when the sea is calm, and boats coming from Vis pass it on the way in.
Fitting Lastovo into the week
Lastovo is the quiet night between Korčula and Mljet, or between Korčula and Vis:
- Split to Dubrovnik: day five, 27 nautical miles from Korčula, two hours fifty, then 30 miles on to Mljet National Park the next day; our seven-day route.
- The Trogir loop: day four, 20 miles from Badija off Korčula, then across to Vis; our Trogir round trip.
- From Vis: about 35 miles via Sušac, the long empty leg that makes Lastovo feel as far as it is.
It does not fit a week that also wants Dubrovnik and a Split return; a Split loop turns at Korčula or Vis and leaves Lastovo for the one-way run south.
People also ask about Lastovo
Is Lastovo worth the detour on a yacht charter?
Yes, for a group that wants the quiet end of the map: a nature-park island with a dark sky, restaurant moorings instead of a marina, and a hidden stone town. It is on our Split to Dubrovnik week and our Trogir loop; skip it if lively evenings ashore are the priority.
Where do yachts stay overnight on Lastovo?
Zaklopatica on the north coast, on the free moorings the restaurants keep for guests who eat there, or Skrivena Luka on the south side at the Porto Rosso moorings or at anchor. There is no marina; Ubli is the ferry port and fuel stop.
How far is Lastovo from Korčula, Vis and Mljet?
About 20 to 27 nautical miles from Korčula depending on the start point, two to three hours; about 30 miles to Mljet; about 35 to Vis via Sušac.
What is Lastovo known for?
Its remoteness, the fumari chimneys on the roofs of Lastovo town, the fifteenth-century Venetian houses, its seafood, and a night sky with almost no light pollution. The whole archipelago is a nature park.
Can you see Lastovo town from the boat?
No. The town sits in a hollow inland, hidden from the sea on purpose, a thirty-minute walk up from Zaklopatica. That is the walk to do before dinner.
Lastovo or Mljet?
Both on a Split to Dubrovnik week; they are consecutive nights. Mljet is the green national park with the salt lakes; Lastovo is the empty island with the dark sky and the restaurant moorings. On a shorter loop, Mljet is closer to Dubrovnik and Lastovo is closer to Vis.
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