Elaphiti Island cruise (Dubrovnik log 6)

The Elaphiti islands consist of several islands to the north of Dubrovnik; one of the popular excursions is a cruise which visits three of these islands, in the following order

• Koločep – It is the closest island to Dubrovnik, located 5 km from the Dubrovnik harbour at Gruž. It used to be an important shipbuilding site in the Republic of Ragusa period. It is one of the most indented and the southernmost permanently inhabited Croatian island with a population of 294 inhabitants. It has seven pre-Romanesque churches dating back to the times of the Croatian kings, from the 9th to the 11th century.

• Šipan – The farthest and largest island in terms of area (15.8 km²) and population of 436 inhabitants. It also has two settlements, Šipanska Luka and Suđurađ, both served by Jadrolinija ferry lines.

• Lopud – Second in size and best known for its sandy beaches, it is located between Šipan and Koločep islands. It's well developed in terms of tourism infrastructure, including the Lafodia hotel in the town of Lopud.

As opposed to our previous excursions, these cruises don't have a guide explaining anything about the islands which is a shame.  As such, today came across as a perfunctory cruise to one island, where we disembarked for half an hour, during which we ate an ice cream; a short cruise to the next island where we had lunch on the boat, followed by another forty minutes of desultory wandering around during baking heat; another short cruise to the final island where we had three hours to spend. I imagine that most people spent that time in the water; I sat in the shade and read books on my Kindle. Finally an hour of sailing back to Dubrovnik.

I wonder whether I would have found today more enjoyable had the temperature been somewhat lower than the incredible 35 degrees centigrade. I think that I would have been as bored as I was today, although of course a lower temperature would have allowed me the opportunity to wander around more.

One wonders on what the economy of these islands is based; conceivably it could be solely tourism - so what do the residents do during the months October - May?