It is protected from cold northern winds and enjoys an abundance of sunny days. The typically mild winters are here even milder and even more pleasant. In the old days, people used to live in the today abandoned little village in small stone cottages built high up in the mountain. 

They lived of hard work, olives, wine and fishing in the rich waters along the coast of the island of Šćedro. The only way to reach the nearest town on the north side was the narrow stone path, which leads across the mountain; on foot or on the back of a donkey. 

And then, just around 40 years ago, almost by coincidence, a tunnel was built and then widened (more exactly a hole through the mountain) which connects the villages of Pitve and Zavala, the north and the south of the island. That was also the beginning of this side. 

More and more people started discovering Zavala and kept returning to the village year after year. Some fishermen cottages were converted into guesthouses, gradually people started building B&B’s, cozy restaurants and apartment houses and Zavala shyly started appearing in guidebooks as an ideal holiday resort for families.