Bačvice

Split's living-room beach, minutes on foot from Diocletian's Palace — and a rarity on this coast for being genuinely sandy and shallow. Bačvice is the cradle of picigin, the shallow-water ball game protected as Croatian intangible cultural heritage since 2008 and played here year-round, world championship included. This is an urban beach in full: packed in summer, ringed by cafés, and lively well into the night at the surrounding bars. Come for the culture and the convenience, not for seclusion — quieter Firule and Ovčice are a short walk east.