Croatia · Dalmatia

Plitko jezero

Directions

Plitko jezero, the Shallow Lake, is one of the six joined Baćina lakes just outside Ploče, beside the Adriatic Highway near the mouth of the Neretva. Narrow channels link it with its neighbours, and close by, at Klokun, rises the spring that supplies drinking water to Ploče and the country around it.

How it formed

The Baćina lakes fill a karst cryptodepression: their surface stands just above sea level, while their beds lie below it. Underground springs and channels feed them, and the water moves from lake to lake before draining towards the sea near Ploče. A tunnel built between 1914 and 1938 to carry the floodwater of the Vrgorac field to the sea lowered the whole group, though the level still rises noticeably in winter.

Nature

Reed beds, willow thickets and water lilies fringe the lakes, wetland plant communities that are rare on the eastern Adriatic coast. The group belongs to the Natura 2000 network and holds many kinds of fish, several of them rare endemics, and in 2022 a North African dragonfly, the violet dropwing, was recorded here for the first time in Croatia.

Visit

Swimming

No reliable information

Tips

The Baćina lakes lie a few kilometres from Ploče, just off the main road between Makarska and Dubrovnik; the viewpoint car park on the main road fills quickly in high summer, while the lakeside is usually quieter. A walking and cycling path links the six joined lakes, with benches, springs and information boards about the dragonflies, amphibians, reptiles and birds that live here.

A ride in a lađa, the traditional Neretva boat, takes you across all six lakes, and kayaks and paddleboards reach the quiet coves and small beaches. The main bathing spots are near the Mindel spring; in summer the lakes are a few degrees warmer than the sea, so the swimming season starts early and lasts long.