Only a mile and a half west of the town of Korčula are two large, sheltered anchorages, in Banja Harbour and Vrbovica Bay. If you want to visit Korčula without mooring in a marina or on a waterfront, these bays are a good choice. As you approach, you will see a large, red, tower with a sign, rising from the shallows in front of the entrance to Vrbovica. Although a row of houses almost joins it to Korčula, which you can reach by a pleasant footpath along the shore, the more eastern of the two bays, Banja, and the many houses in it, belong to the inhabitants of Žrnova, a village a kilometre away, on the hill above the bay. If you end up here, and the weather is stable, it is worth walking to Žrnova. Compare its rural, wine-growing character with the bustle of urban, Renaissance Korčula, with its maritime and shipbuilding activities. You can anchor anywhere in the bay, in the sandy or gravel bed, covered in places in sea grass. There is good purchase for the anchor. Depending on the weather, choose your anchorage location. If the bura or E wind is up, the eastern section is better, or the area below the peninsula by the entrance. You should tie up stern to shore during the bura. If a W or SW wind is blowing, the western section is better. It does not make much difference where you anchor during a S wind. Vrbovica, to the west, is much less built up. There are only a score of houses here, but during the summer, the campsite is open. You will have more privacy than in Banja. There are two pretty beaches in the bay, which you can reach by dinghy. There is good shelter from all winds except the bura. Anchor in either arm, in the silty bed, (there are some areas of gravel), at a depth of between 4 and 8 metres.