The beach, hour by hour
The same stretch of sand at eight in the morning, at two in the afternoon and at seven in the evening, and which of them is worth going down for.
The sea · July 2, 2026 · 2 min read
The apartment is on the first line, so the beach is not somewhere you travel to. It is on the other side of the door, and that changes how you use it. You are not committing to a day out. You can go down for forty minutes and come back up for a coffee.
I have watched it from the balcony for a few seasons now, and the day follows the same pattern.
Early, before nine
The sea is at its flattest and the sand has just been cleaned. This is the only part of the day when the water is properly still, so it is the time to swim if you want to swim rather than stand in it. Almost nobody is out.
It is also the only time the light comes over the town rather than off the water, so photographs taken now are not all glare.
The middle of the day
From about eleven the wind gets up and stays up, and by early afternoon there is usually chop. Families with small children tend to move up the beach or go inside around this time.
In July and August I would spend the middle of the day indoors. This is when having the apartment thirty seconds away helps most: you come up, eat, sit in the cool, and go back down at five.
Late afternoon into evening
The wind drops and the water goes flat again. Durrës faces west, so the sun sets straight into the sea in front of you rather than behind the buildings. You can watch it from the sand, or from the balcony if you would rather not move.
After sunset the front fills with people walking. This is the evening xhiro, a local habit rather than something put on for visitors. Dinner here is late, and nobody eats at six.
A note on this stretch
The apartment is away from the central strip and its bars, which is why it is quiet at night. If you have come for nightlife, the bars are a fifteen-minute taxi ride away. Better to know that before you book than after.
