Today, Čiovo appears peaceful and sunlit… but for centuries, life here was difficult and entirely shaped by the sea.

The people of Čiovo were fishermen, small-scale sailors, and sponge divers — people who knew the sea almost as if it were a living being.

The old sponge divers descended without modern equipment, carrying only a stone weight and the air in their lungs, diving among rocks and underwater caves in search of natural sea sponges, once a highly valued treasure of the Mediterranean.

Alongside sponge diving, nearly every family on Čiovo was connected to fishing. Sardines, mackerel, horse mackerel, and octopus were caught here, while night fishing under the light of lanterns was part of everyday life. The sea was not romance — it was survival.

The people of Čiovo were also known as skilled small sailors and boat builders. Many owned wooden boats that connected Trogir, Split, and the surrounding islands, transporting wine, olives, figs, and stone across the Adriatic.

What is especially fascinating is that Čiovo was once far more forested than it is today. Its pine forests provided wood for boats, oars, and the repair of fishing nets, so the life of the sea and the life of stone on the island were always deeply connected.

Here, the sea was never only beauty. The sea was bread, work, and destiny. And perhaps that is why the people of these islands still carry such a special relationship with the sea today — not as a landscape… but as something remembered through generations.