Split, Makarska Riviera, Brač and Hvar
A bracelet gone in the pebbles, or in the sand at Bačvice
Bačvice and Marjan in Split, the Cetina mouth at Omiš, Punta Rata at Brela, the Makarska and Tučepi shore, Zlatni rat at Bol, and Hvar Town with the Pakleni Islands.
Something lost between Split and Hvar can often be found, and the deciding thing is how small an area you can draw round it: the beach first, then the end of it you were on. Seven towns sit on this page and each has more than one place to swim, so narrowing the ground comes first.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewellery recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch or phone in Split, the Makarska Riviera, Brač and Hvar with a metal detectorist who can search there. The seven towns here are Split, Omiš, Brela, Makarska, Tučepi, Bol on Brač and Hvar Town.
Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach your beach, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
The town, then the beach, then the end of it
The name of the town rarely gets a detectorist to the right piece of ground here. What does is one solid landmark near where you sat: the steps you came down, a harbour wall, a hotel front, the last pine before the pebble starts. Photograph it.
Then drop a pin where you think it happened, add a close photograph of the missing item, and say whether you were on the beach, in the water, or on the walk between the two.
Places we cover in Split, the Makarska Riviera, Brač and Hvar
- Split city centre, the Riva and Matejuška
- Bačvice, Ovčice and Firule
- Zenta, Trstenik, Žnjan and Duilovo
- Marjan Forest Park, Kašjuni and Kaštelet
- Omiš Old Town
- The Cetina river mouth
- Velika plaža and the Camp Almissa beach
- Brzet, Nemira and Stanići
- Lokva Rogoznica, Medići, Marušići and Pisak
- Duće and Ruskamen
- Brela, Punta Rata and the Brela Stone
- Podrače, Jakiruša, Soline and Loznica
- The Makarska town beach and the city harbour
- Kačić Square in Makarska
- Osejava and the Sveti Petar peninsula
- Nugal, Biloševac and Cvitačka
- Tučepi, Kraj, Slatina and Podstup
- Gornji Ratac at Tučepi
- The Biokovo road, the Skywalk and the lookouts
- Bol on Brač, Zlatni rat, Borak and Potočine
- Hvar Town and the Pjaca, St Stephen's Square
- Pokonji dol, Mekićevica and Milna
- The Pakleni Islands, Jerolim, Stipanska and Palmižana
From the Split city beaches out to the islands
Split and Marjan, Omiš and the Cetina, Brela, Makarska with Tučepi, Bol on Brač, and Hvar Town.
Bačvice, the lungomare and Marjan
Bačvice is sand, in the middle of the city next to the harbour, and has been the municipal beach since 1919. East of it the lungomare carries on past Ovčice, Firule, Zenta and Trstenik to Duilovo, Firule fine sand and Trstenik pebble. West of the centre the Marjan peninsula is forest park, with Kašjuni at its western end, small pebbles over a deep bay.
Omiš, the Cetina mouth and the riviera
Omiš sits where the Cetina comes down to the sea, with the old town gathered behind the river mouth. Velika plaža is the biggest sandy beach here and within walking distance of the old town, and the Camp Almissa beach is the only other sand in Omiš. Brzet is pebble and also a walk from the centre, then Nemira, Stanići, Lokva Rogoznica, Medići, Marušići and Pisak along the riviera.
Brela and Punta Rata
Brela has about seven kilometres of pebble coast, white stone carried down off Biokovo and rounded by the sea. Punta Rata is small pebbles underfoot with Aleppo pines growing straight out of the stone, and the Brela Stone sits off its western side. Podrače, Jakiruša at the westernmost end, Stomarica, Soline and Loznica follow along the same shore.
Makarska, Osejava and Tučepi
The Makarska town beach runs the whole inhabited western side of the town, from the city harbour to the last hotel complexes, fine pebble with pine shade behind it. Biloševac and Cvitačka lie west of it, Nugal south under high cliffs, reached on foot or by boat. Osejava closes the southern side with paths through pine forest, and Tučepi continues the riviera below Biokovo. From the Staza entrance on the Makarska to Vrgorac road, the Biokovo road climbs to the Skywalk, a glass lookout beside the info centre at the thirteenth kilometre.
Bol and Zlatni rat
Bol is the oldest coastal settlement on Brač, on the southern side of the island. Zlatni rat reaches west of the town almost half a kilometre into the sea, built up by fine pebbles settling round an underwater reef. Borak and Potočine are the other bathing places in the town.
Hvar Town and the Pakleni Islands
Pokonji dol is the largest city beach at Hvar, a kilometre and a half from the centre. Mekićevica lies two and a half kilometres east of the town and Milna four, both of them pebble. In the town, St Stephen's Square, the Pjaca, is the largest square in Dalmatia, and was a deep bay before it was filled in. Offshore lie Jerolim, Stipanska on Marinkovac, and Palmižana in Vinogradišće bay, part pebble and part sand.
How a job on this coast is handled
Told once, and that is enough
Everything stays in the one WhatsApp thread you start, so you go through the afternoon once and it does not come round again.
Who ends up walking that beach
Seven towns is more coast than one person covers, so our first job is working out who can actually get to the spot you have described.
What we make of it, early
Some of what reaches us from this coast is worth a search and some is not. You get a plain opinion before you have committed to anything.
Seven towns, and only two with sand
The Split city beaches and the two at Omiš are sand. Brela, Makarska, Tučepi, Bol and Hvar are pebble, gravel or rock. That one answer narrows the list of people we go to.
Nothing starts before you have the figure
You will be told the cost of searching that spot before anybody is asked to go out, and nothing moves until you say so.
What the ground is actually like
Sand in a few places, pebble and gravel nearly everywhere else, and a great deal of shoreline in between.
Two sandy towns and a lot of pebble
Bačvice and Firule in Split are sand, and so are the two beaches at Omiš. Brela is white pebble off Biokovo, the Makarska town beach fine pebble, Zlatni rat fine pebbles, and the beaches around Hvar Town pebble and rock, with sand out at Palmižana. Saying which you were on removes most of the guesswork.
Standing depth changes from town to town
At Velika plaža in Omiš you can be 100 to 200 metres out with your feet still on the bottom. Kašjuni under Marjan has a deep bay. Whether you could stand up where it happened is one of the first things we ask.
Zlatni rat does not keep one shape
The spit is built up by fine pebbles settling round an underwater reef, and its tip changes shape with the waves and the currents, so a photograph taken on the day counts for a lot there.
Long fronts where an afternoon wanders
The Split lungomare runs from the Marjan side past Bačvice, Ovčice and Firule to Duilovo, the Makarska beach from the harbour to the last hotels, and Brela is about seven kilometres of coast. An afternoon on any of them covers more ground than people remember, so put the whole walk in.
Questions about Split, the Makarska Riviera, Brač and Hvar
A bracelet came off in the pebbles at Punta Rata. Where would a search start?
On the western side of the beach. The Brela Stone stands off that side with pines growing out of it, and it is the one thing at Punta Rata everybody can point to. Tell us whether you were north or south of it, how far along the pebble you had walked, and whether you had been in the water.
Our wedding band went missing at Bačvice. Does sand make it easier?
It changes the job rather than making it simple. Bačvice is sand in the middle of Split, beside the city harbour, and has been the municipal beach since 1919. If you were in the shallows playing picigin, say so, because that puts you in the water rather than back on the towels.
We were out at the far end of Zlatni rat. Is that a bad place to lose something?
It is the part we ask most questions about. The spit runs almost half a kilometre west of Bol into the sea, and its tip changes shape with the waves and the currents. Work back from the town end of it rather than from the water line, and send any photograph taken on the day.
We have lost a watch on the Makarska town beach and cannot narrow it down. Is it too big?
Not once you cut it down. That beach runs along the whole inhabited western side of the town, from the city harbour out to the last hotel complexes, so the name on its own covers a long walk. Name the hotel you came down from, or the part of the promenade you crossed.
We were on sand at Omiš and cannot remember which beach. Does it matter?
There are only two to choose between here, which helps. Velika plaža is the big sandy beach within walking distance of the old town, and the Camp Almissa beach is the only other sand in Omiš. At Velika plaža you can be 100 to 200 metres out with your feet still on the bottom, so we will ask how far you had waded.
An earring or an Oura ring has gone at Tučepi. Is something that small any use to report?
Yes, and the smaller the item the sooner it wants reporting. Tučepi is on the Makarska Riviera at the foot of Biokovo, with Gornji Ratac, Kraj, Slatina and Podstup all part of it, so a name for where you were staying cuts the ground down.
Something went missing on a day out from Hvar Town. What can actually be worked?
It depends where the day took you. In the town, St Stephen's Square, the Pjaca, is the largest square in Dalmatia and has been fully paved since 1780, so all of it is ground somebody can go over. Out at Jerolim or Stipanska, where you only arrive by boat, it is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first.
Split, Makarska Riviera, Brač and Hvar
Put the afternoon back in order while it is fresh
Name the town, then the beach, then the end of it you were on, and say how far out you got.
Put the lot in one go. You get a straight reading of it and the cost of searching there, and nothing is arranged until you have both.