≈ 30 min · Split
Bačvice — the city beach
Bačvice is the closest sandy beach to Trogir, about half an hour away right in the heart of Split, a short walk from the ferry port. It's a sandy cove roughly a hundred metres wide, and it's an institution: this is where Split comes to swim, and where the local ball game picigin is played in the shallows all year round.
The honest caveat: in July and August it is very, very full — locals and visitors packed onto not much sand. If Bačvice is the beach you're after, it's at its best in spring and autumn, when you get the sand, the café terraces and the city buzz without the crush. In peak summer, we'd carry on down the coast to the next two.
≈ 50 min · near Omiš
Duće — kilometres of shallow sand
About fifty minutes from Trogir, just before Omiš, the coast changes character completely: at Duće several kilometres of sandy beach run along the shore, in places turning to very fine pebbles. The water is shallow and slopes so gently that small children can paddle a long way out — which is exactly why this stretch is such a favourite with families.
It's not one single "sight" so much as a long ribbon of easy beach — pick a spot, settle in, and let the kids get on with it.
≈ 50 min · Omiš
Velika Plaža — "The Big Beach"
Right where the Cetina river meets the Adriatic at Omiš lies Velika Plaža — "The Big Beach" — a natural sandy beach around 700 metres long. It earns the name: there's room for everyone, plus a playground, volleyball and space for a game of football on the sand. And the setting is something else — the grey walls of the Omiš mountains rise almost straight out of the sea behind the town, so you swim with a genuinely dramatic backdrop.
The river mouth is part of the charm: fresh water meeting the sea keeps the scene changing, and Omiš town — with its pirate history and the Cetina canyon behind it — is worth a wander while you're there.
