We took a ferry to Mljet and hired bikes at the landing point. A tough ride up hill and a pleasant freewheel back down again took us in to the nature reserve. You can follow the road around the island but it doesn't make a circuit so don't try and do a lap. I recommend you get off the road and carry the bike up one of the tracks where you can find secluded places to swim. I'm really not a cyclist but thoroughly enjoyed it, hopping off into the water when I got too hot. The island is stunning

Besides the salt water lakes, there's nothing much to see here. The old monastery couldn't entice us either. You pay for everything (parking, visiting, ...) and you drive a lot, give the shape of the island.

We booked a trip with an excursion company, Sta Travel, in the oldtown. It cost us £50pp, with lunch included. As we were out of tourist season, or group only consisted of four people. We got the ferry over which took about 1.5 hrs, and then we had to get a taxi to the entrance of the national park. First stop was St Mary's island which can be reached by boat. It is a tiny island, with a monastery and a couple of restaurants. The Monastery is worth a look, although rumour has it that it is to be bought to turn into a hotel? There is also a very tiny chapel next to it. We had lunch here in one of the restaurants, which was excellent as it was shaded and gave us some relief from the heat. We then went back over to the national park where we had a swim in the lake, which is surprisingly warm! You also have the option to hire a bike or a canoe, but we were happy lounging around and enjoying the paradise. The only downside was that we did not have enough time there! It really is a stunning place and if we were to come back to Croatia Mijet would definitely be my choice. I wish we had know about it before so we could have booked one of the hotels near the ferry port.

TIP- Try and go to the toilet in one of the bars near the ferry port. My partner went to the toilet in the park and it was a wooden shack with a hole in the ground. He didn't want to sit on it as there was wasps and other creepy crawlies coming out from the hole and the whole thing stunk!

Well, if there is another one more beautiful I don't know about it. We day tripped from Korcula, going on a super cool speedboat, we had visited before from there in 2004 but I had no photos as my camera died. A walk through woods, take the boat to the monastery, and then back to the little lake and find your own paradise corner to swim and sunbathe. No need to fret about swimsuits in this part of the world. Where we were looked like a lagoon in Hawaii. Bring a bottle of wine and a picnic. The lake swimming is out of this world, a piece of heaven.