Lumbarda is a place where the vineyards meet the sea and the water is as crystal clear as can be. The island of Korcula has both the town of Korcula as well as a few other towns on it – Lumbarda is one of those towns. Lumbarda is best known for producing a type of wine called Grk (pronounced kind of like “grriick”), and the grapes that produce Grk are only grown in Lumbarda.
Lumbarda has a combination type of soil that’s sandy and the climate is perfect, so this type of wine is well-known as one of their key products. I went to Lumbarda just for a day – it’s an easy day trip from Korcula. There are busses that go every hour, and the bus ride is only about half an hour. The beaches in Lumbarda are also much better than the beaches in Korcula proper. In Korcula, the beaches are all pebbles or rocks (believe it or not, the pebble beaches are the more comfortable ones!). But in Lumbarda, there are sand beaches!
I was told this by several of the locals in Korcula, about how incredible the sand beaches in Lumbarda are, and how gorgeous they are. So that’s a key reason I went.
But alas, this was one of those times I realized how completely spoiled I am by living in Florida. When people say “sand beach,” I hear “vast expanse of fluffy sand” like they are in Florida. This was certainly not that.
In fact, when I arrived at the beach, I was a little like “wait, am I actually at the beach?”
The beach was quite small – in fact, there was only about six feet of sand between where the seawall was and the water was. And that was not at high tide. There were also quite a few rocks interspersed in the sand.
But it was still a gorgeous beach. The thing with the rocky beaches that makes them amazing is that without the sand of Florida, the water is so incredibly crystal clear that it’s just like looking through glass.
The beach in Lumbarda had all kinds of sea life too – there were some kids playing out beyond the rock where I was sitting at one point, and they found an Octopus! I went over to see it, and they (of course, as kids do), poked it and then it spewed ink out! I’d never seen that before, and I have to admit it was kind of cool to watch.
After spending a good amount of time on the beach, I decided that it was time to go taste some of the Grk I’d been hearing about. I went up to one of the wineries for a tasting, and it was the most scenic tasting I have ever had. The tasting room was open-air, and it looked out upon rolling hills of vineyards, a small town, and the sea. I think it helped the wine taste even better!
The Grk came in red, white, and rose varities, and it was pretty good! I found it a bit drier, and a bit like a combination of Chardonnay and Sauvingon Blanc.
Lumbarda was an amazing and relaxing day – it kept with the feeling that on Korcula, every day is Sunday!
