Day 102/188: Gloating While Boating, Part 2 — Seeing (the world) 2̶0̶2̶0̶ 2022!

Since we couldn’t see The Blue Cave on our private boat tour, Ivica invited us to join a group tour the following day. This one would be a full-day tour, with several other people, so we knew it would be different. We had enjoyed the previous day so much, and we were pretty tired, so we were tempted to just skip it and end on a high note.

But I kept thinking about my mom’s email to us, where she mentioned how she had read about The Blue Cave in a book when she was a kid, and it had seemed so amazing. (Also, it was the only thing she’d known about Croatia for a long time.) It’s not like she was obsessed with it or anything, but it seemed dumb to skip seeing something that was potentially so cool when we were so close to it and might never be again.

So, once we knew the weather was allowing folks in, we dragged our sleepy butts onto the boat and settled in for the day trip.

No surprise, the entire ride was calmer - physically and mentally. The other tourists were a mix of (I think) German, French, and British. Everyone mostly kept to themselves, including us. The first stop of the day was the cave, which was a couple hours away. While this ride wasn’t nearly as exciting as the day before, it was still lovely. I didn’t feel the need to take pictures of everything along the way this time, and I had my headphones on to listen to music.

Sagan, who has never in his life been able to stay awake on a boat, napped. I had to send my friend Heather proof of life pictures so she’d know we weren’t pulling a “Weekend at Bernie’s” with him.

When we arrived at the cave, we got off our boat, bought tickets (in the off-season, it’s less than 10 euros per person), and then got into another, smaller boat. When you get on the little boats and see the entrance to the cave, it’s immediately clear why any change in weather can shut the thing down for a day. Even though the boat is as low-profile as they can get, the passengers are all still asked to duck down completely while you’re going in. Our very bald tour guide joked that he cut his hair that way so he’d fit.

Umm, we’re gonna fit in there how exactly?

Just a quick bit of Harry Potter reverse birth canal magic, and we’re in.

Before I tell you whether or not this all-day boat ride was worth it, let me warn you that the “tour” is super quick. You get on the boat, get a spiel from a guide that could almost be an auctioneer on the short trip to the cave, then you go in, hear some more info coming at you rapid fire, and then you’re back out. The whole thing lasts maybe ten minutes?

So…worth it? Is it really that cool? Did my mom’s random childhood “wonders of the world” or whatever book tell the truth?

Hell yes! It’s amazing! During the ten minutes in there, you see the most gorgeous blue light you can imagine, glowing up from below you. What you don’t see is any source of light that causes that glow. There’s no artificial light anywhere, either. And no, no filters on any of my photos. These were just taken with my not-fancy-or-brand-new phone.

You do get an explanation about the light while you’re in there. I was half-listening to it, though, because it was fast and with a strong accent. Plus I was frantically trying to soak up all the images into my eyeballs while I could. I figured I could look up the details online later. (Short answer is light comes in under one of the walls that doesn’t go all the way down, and it bounces off the white sand. Or something like that. Science!)

As with all of my opinions on Croatia, I add in the big asterisk that we were there right after the high season ended. That means the weather was still warm - but not hot - and nothing was crowded anywhere. I know in the peak summer months, you might wait over an hour for your turn at a 5-minute zip into and out of the cave. I think I’d still feel like it was worth it then, but it’s possible the glow would feel less magical if that was the case. So if you’re ever thinking about going, aim for late September or early October if at all possible. Oh, and contact Ivica if you need a recommendation for a boat ride there. Tell him Story sent you!