Our last day with the girls we decided to pack in as much as we could with a water tour in the morning, and wine in the hills in the afternoon. First, we took what I call a ‘zoom zoom’ (fast motor boat) out to see the bay and the famous Blue Cave.

Our guide, Pieter, took us to back to the side of the bay near Rose, but this time showed us two larger submarine tunnels than what we had explored by foot.

The tunnels were just as amazing to see by water as they were by land. After a little bit of time there, we went on for the main attraction of the Blue Cave.

The Blue Cave is on the Adriatic side of the Lustica Peninsula, and we had waited for a day when conditions were just right. Blue skies and no wind, otherwise the cave is sometimes unnavigable.

The water is absolutely breathtaking. We were particularly lucky that we came early in the season, as we only had one other boat sharing the cave briefly. According to Pieter, during the height of summer there can be 30+ boats jockeying for position, plus people jumping in the water. As he said it – an accident waiting to happen.

We were back on the dock before noon, and it was a good thing, because we had more planned for our last day. We showered and changed into better clothes, packed into the car, and headed back to Savina Winery in Herceg Novi, where Trip and I visited last fall.

We stopped at the Savina Monastery on the way up this time (it was closed when we were there last fall), partly to admire the elaborate gravesites, and partly to buy a couple of bottles of wine. The monastery donated land for vines, and the winery gives them bottles of wine in return to sell for the church’s profit. I wanted a couple of bottles because they have their own labels (the Orthodox Church still uses the Cyrillic alphabet). I also discovered that they might not know the value of their wines, as we picked up a merlot and a 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon for 30 euros!

Then it was up to the winery for some nibbles, some wine, some lovely views of Boka Bay, and a final afternoon to enjoy having Madeleine and Erin with us.