Where are the best beaches in the Split area?
Swim guide to the best Split beaches (for families and young adults)
While Split may be known for its rich cultural and historical heritage, it’s also a sea town, which means it offers a number of water activities, including parasailing, stand-up surfing, driving a pedal boat, and many more.
If you traveling in Split, we recommend reading our swim guide “best beaches in Split“, Split travel guide, and the complete Croatia travel guide where you can find many useful travel tips for an optimal experience in our lovely country.
Even though the south side of Split is directed to the sea, you might not want to swim right on the waterfront or be surrounded by boats and ferries. Fortunately, Split offers a variety of beaches where everyone will find something for themselves – from sand and pebbles to paved beaches, with beach bars and nightclubs, or surrounded by the forest.
No matter the type of beach, Split’s sea is of great quality, just like the sea of nearby islands and small towns so you don’t have to worry while searching for the best Split beaches.
1. Znjan city beach Split
Surface: gravel, pebbles
Split’s largest beach, Žnjan, is only a 15-minute drive from the main bus station. Alternatively, you can go on foot (which will take around 40 minutes) or rent a bike and drive to it with a sea view the whole time. It’s a characteristic Dalmatian coast beach full of small round pebbles.
It’s also packed with water activities and sports like volleyball and surfing. There’s also a kids’ entertainment park, so it’s great if you’re traveling with your family.
Even though it’s the largest beach in town, it can still get pretty crowded in the summer, but the water quality is measured as great, just like other best beaches in Split.
The water never gets muddy since its seabed is also made of pebbles. As a popular family destination, this beach has a number of beach bars, restaurants, food stands, and ice cream stands, so it’s perfect for a longer trip to the beach – you can even do an all-day stay since it has outdoors showers, toilets, and changing cabins.
If you wish to, you can rent sunbeds and parasols, but you have to get there in time since they get “sold out” pretty fast.
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Things to do on Public Beach Žnjan in Split:
Rent a pedal boat, Water Tubes, Parasailing
2. Bacvice Beach – the best sandy beaches in Split
Surface: sand, concrete
A testament to the popularity and cultural importance of this beach is the fact that there’s a song written about it „Let’s go to the Bačvice!” by Ivo Ružić Kalada. The song itself talks about the beauty of the sandy Bačvice beach and how people from all around the world enjoy it.
Bačvice beach is definitely one of the most famous Split beaches and also one of the best sandy beaches in Split, partly because it was one of the first modern bathing areas in this town, with its facilities built-in 1919, and partly because of its proximity to the old town.
Today, those facilities are turned into beach bars and nightclubs, thanks to which you can enjoy this beach 24/7. It’s only a few minutes’ walks from the bus station and about 10 minutes from the Diocletian palace, which makes it the closest beach to the city.
Proximity to the old town core and the bus/train station can also be a flaw because Bačvice is almost always crowded in the summer. If you’re into beach bars and don’t mind music and the vicinity of other people, Bačvice is a great beach for you because it’s a perfect place for meeting other travelers as well as the young local population.
Even though it’s crowded, the water has a blue flag which translates to „great quality of water” and this is a fact – the water might seem muddy in the afternoon because of the great number of people walking on its sandy seabed, but the quality of it doesn’t change.
Another thing that emphasizes the uniqueness of this beach is the fact that it’s home to the game of picking, which is a part of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List. If you’ve visited any part of Dalmatia, you might have noticed a bunch of people standing in a circle, jumping, and trying to punch a small ball – that’s picking.
It was originally invented on Bačvice beach, with its sandy floor and low sea level being a perfect terrain for this game. All in all, Bačvice beach is not for people who like to lie in peace while listening to the sea, but if you go to the beach to have fun, meet other people and enjoy beach bars, it’s definitely one of the best Split beaches for you.
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3. Radisson Beach
Surface: pebbles, gravel
If you’re more into luxury vacations and combining pool swimming with the sea, you’ll enjoy the Radisson Blu Hotel waterfront. This beach in Split has a platform surrounded by rocky seafront where you can enjoy sunbeds and bars on one end and a finely pebbled beach with rentable sunbeds and parasols.
Since this beach is a property of the Radisson Blu Hotel, it has great service and is really well kept so if you’re more of a sea fan than a pool person, you can opt for this place.
It’s relatively small (only 400 meters long) and only has a number of sunbeds so it’s rarely overcrowded and you can enjoy sunbathing in peace.
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4. Kasjuni beach
Surface: gravel, pebbles, rocks
The Kašjuni beach in Split is one of a kind – it’s located at the foot of the Marjan hill, so you can have a beautiful view of the mountain while swimming, and it’s similar to the secluded beaches near Split.
This is an often occurring phenomenon in Dalmatia, especially in the area from Split to Makarska because of the mountains Omiška Dinara and Biokovo. What’s special about this beach is the thick Mediterranean forest surrounding it, so it offers shade without having to rent parasols.
There’s also a kind of ambiance thanks to the smell of the trees and birds singing. Kašjuni beach is also a great swimming place for anyone taking a walk or going on a run at Marjan since it’s easily accessible from the hill itself.
If you’re coming from the town, you can go by car, bus, and foot or by a boat that drives every half hour and enjoy the panoramic view of the sea and Marjan. Concerning the beach, it’s made of pebbles and bigger rocks, from which you can jump. In contrast to other city beaches, it’s quieter and less crowded, so it’s a great place to rest and sunbathe in peace.
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5. Trstenik Beach Split
Surface: fine gravel, pebbles
Trstenik is a beach close to both Žnjan and Radisson beaches. Actually, in a broader sense, it includes the Radisson beach on one side, but the Trstenik beach is completely public, with only the Radisson part being VIP.
Trstenik has pebbled, almost sandy ground and a few jumping spots with big rocks. It’s accessible by foot thanks to the promenade along with it, and it has some benches, but you can also rent sunbeds and parasols, which you will definitely need since it doesn’t have a lot of shade.
Its position allows it to be free of wind most of the time, and it’s quieter and less crowded than other best beaches in Split Croatia.
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6. Ovcice Beach
Surface: gravel, concrete
Ovčice beach in Split is right next to Bačvice but it’s usually much less crowded and its visitors are mostly locals. What separates it from Bačvice is that it’s pebbled and it’s much deeper, so you don’t have to walk a lot before starting to swim.
Just like Bačvice, it’s only a few minutes’ walks from the old town core, so it’s perfect for going for a swim after a day of visiting cultural and historical sights. There is a forest on the back of the beach, so there’s some shade on it, but if you want to rest away from the sun, you can actually go into the forest and enjoy the sounds of the sea without burning in the sun.
Ovčice is not packed with beach bars like some other places, but it has one café, which is really all you need on this small beach.
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7. Jadran Beach Split
Surface: Concrete
Jadran is one of the few completely paved beaches in Split that is surrounded by natural rocks. It’s a great place for jumping, but it also has ladders for getting out.
It’s mostly a sunbathing place with a lot of rentable sunbeds on a narrow surface and a beach bar with a great view. Jadran beach bar also works at night, so you can enjoy a stroll on this beach while going for a drink in one of the more peaceful beach bars.
What’s interesting about Jadran beach is that it has a pool only a few meters from the sea, so if you’re more into pools but also like a sea view, this is a great place to visit – it’ll get you that luxury feeling of swimming in a pool while watching the sea, but it’s not as expensive as it could be.
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8. Obojena svjetlost (Kastelet) Beach
Surface: gravel, pebbles
Of all the mentioned places, Kaštelet, or “colored light” beach is the most similar to Kašjuni beach.
It is also located at the foot of Marjan hill, only a 15-minute drive from the bus station and a 40-minute walk or bike ride.
It is also in proximity to the Ivan Meštrović Gallery, which is definitely a place to visit while you’re in Split – both for the works of Ivan Meštrović inside the gallery and for the sight of the building and its Mediterranean garden.
The pebbled Kaštelet beach is divided into two parts: the first one has a beach bar and is mostly occupied by young people who are there to have fun and meet other people; the second one is actually a separate Ježinac beach.
While it doesn’t have a forest like the Kašjuni beach, there are some trees that provide shade, and the view from the sea is also stunning.
This beach has a snack bar and a beach bar, which is a popular place for young people to go for a cocktail. If this is not your thing, you should definitely check out one of the next best beaches in Split on the list.
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9. Jezinac Beach Split
Surface: gravel, concrete, rocks
As was mentioned, Ježinac beach is right next to the beach Kaštelet, and while it’s a mostly pebbled beach, it has some concrete and rocky parts which are great for jumping into the water.
There are more trees here than on the Kaštelet beach so there’s more shade. The Ježinac beach got its name from the Croatian word for sea urchin, which is “ježinac” of which there is a sculpture, but you don’t have to worry, there aren’t any urchins in the shallow waters.
However, if you decide to go scuba diving in the deeper water, you might find some echinoderms and an abundance of sea life, which confirms that the quality of the water is great. Anyway, even though Ježinac is next to or even a part of the Kaštelet beach, it’s much quieter and often visited by locals who appreciate their peace.
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10. Bene Beach
Surface: rocks, concrete
Bene beach is one of the oldest beaches in Split and it has preserved its natural properties the most. It’s a mostly rocky beach, with some cemented parts that make it easier to lie down.
Just like the few aforementioned beaches, it’s a part of Marjan hill, but it’s not accessible by car, so you have to take a short walk to get to it.
Its main advantage is that you can easily position yourself in the forest because it extends almost all the way to the water, so even though you can rent sunbeds and parasols, you probably won’t have to. Rocky beaches with pine trees are one of the most common kinds of beaches in Croatia, so here you’ll get a sense of what it feels like to live in coastal Croatia.
Just behind the beach, there is a sports center where you can rent equipment and play tennis. Since the seafloor of this beach is mostly untouched, the marine life of Bene is probably the richest of all the places on this list, so it’s a great diving place – whether it’s scuba diving or simply snorkeling.
The seabed is sandy with some rocks extending from the shore, so it can get a little muddy if there are a lot of people, but the water quality is still great.
All in all, Bene beach is great for families who want to explore different activities as well as solo travelers who’d like to find some peace near the pine trees.
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11. Duilovo dog-friendly beach Split
Surface: sand, gravel, concrete
After all, when you travel, you can’t leave your best friend alone at home, but dogs are prohibited on most of the city beaches, so it’s good to know that Split has a dog-friendly beach Duilovo.
It’s a long, pebbled beach perfect for letting your dog run and have fun with other dogs, and it also has all kinds of facilities for dogs.
It’s good to know that this beach is kept clean by a volunteer organization, Eko Duilovo, so your dog can roam free without you worrying.
All in all, Split has a variety of great beaches in proximity to the city center, and for those that like even less crowded, completely natural beaches, there are some great places just outside the city.
