San Simon Bay, Izola: Swimming Beside a 2,000-Year-Old Roman Villa

Slovenia | Izola | Slovenian Istria

I went to San Simon Bay mostly for the swim, and ended up spending almost as long in the small archaeological park next to it as I did in the water. What’s there is the remains of an actual Roman seaside villa, built sometime between the 1st century BC and the 3rd century AD, with floor mosaics covering roughly 600 square metres across a villa complex of around 3,000 square metres total — one of the largest collections of Roman mosaic flooring anywhere in Slovenia. The site once formed part of Haliaetum, an ancient port settlement that sat alongside what is now nearby Jagodje, and the villa itself belonged to a wealthy Roman aristocrat who clearly wanted his summer house built somewhere worth showing off.

I should be honest about scale before anyone gets their expectations too high: this isn’t a sprawling ruin you wander for hours. It’s a compact, well-tended park, with patches of preserved mosaic protected under cover, a couple of small visitor pavilions explaining the villa’s layout and the daily life of the people who once lived there, and figs and other greenery growing up around the stonework in a way that actually suited the place rather than looking neglected. I’d call it interesting rather than spectacular, the kind of stop that rewards twenty unhurried minutes rather than demanding a whole morning. Entry is free, though I left a small donation in the box by the entrance, which felt like the right thing to do given how modest the operation clearly is.

The villa wasn’t the only thing worth noticing on the walk in. The small Church of St Mary of Haliaetum, dating back to the 11th century with later Baroque additions, sits looking down over the ruins from slightly higher ground — a genuinely strange and pleasing juxtaposition, a medieval church watching over a far older Roman estate, both now sharing the same quiet stretch of coast a few minutes from a public beach.

Getting There: A Flat Walk or Ride From Izola, Easy Parking by Slovenian Coastal Standards

I walked it from central Izola, following the coastal path southwest past the marina, and it took me a relaxed twenty minutes or so — flat the entire way, easy enough that I saw families pushing buggies and older couples on bicycles covering the same stretch without any trouble. If you’d rather cycle, the same path works just as well and cuts the time roughly in half.

By car, the H6 regional highway runs along this stretch of coast, with a clearly marked turn for Simonov zaliv. I was genuinely relieved to find a proper paid parking field right at the entrance to the resort area — after fighting for street parking near some of the smaller town beaches further along this coast, having a dedicated lot here felt like a small luxury. I’d still arrive reasonably early on a summer weekend, since the lot does fill, but it’s nowhere near the scramble I’d had elsewhere.

Regional buses connecting Piran and Koper to Izola stop at the main Izola terminal, with a dedicated Simonov zaliv stop also serving the resort directly, a short walk down toward the water from either.

The Beach: Sandy-Bottomed and Genuinely Gentle, the Most Forgiving Entry on This Coast

This is the detail that actually surprised me most. Most of the Slovenian coast is pebble or stone, sharp enough underfoot that I’d been bringing water shoes everywhere without thinking twice about it. San Simon Bay is different — a sandy seabed beneath the water, smooth and soft, sloping down so gradually that I walked out a genuinely long way before the water reached my chest. I can see exactly why this specific bay has the reputation it does for families with small children; I watched toddlers wading confidently in water that stayed shallow far longer than anywhere else I’d swum on this trip.

The bay itself sits sheltered by a natural cape, which kept the water calm and clear the entire afternoon I was there, a clean turquoise that held up well even with a reasonable crowd in the water. The shoreline mixes sand and gravel with mown lawns and concrete sunbathing terraces, giving visitors a genuine choice of surface depending on preference — I switched between a patch of grass and a towel directly on the sand more than once just to see which I liked better.

Sunbeds and umbrellas are available to rent in clearly organised sections, with plenty of free lawn space left over for anyone who’d rather not pay. Showers, changing cabins, and clean restrooms are all present and properly maintained, a lifeguard was stationed and visibly attentive the whole time, and a decent water slide structure operates for anyone wanting something more active than a straightforward swim — I didn’t try it myself, but the queue of teenagers waiting their turn suggested it was popular for good reason.

Eating and Drinking Around the Bay

The promenade wrapping the resort carries a fair spread of pizzerias, casual bistros, and beach bars, and I ended up at Bistro San Simon, close enough to the water that I could keep an eye on my towel while I ate. Fresh mussels steamed in white wine and garlic, the local Istrian Malvazija to drink, and a plate of fried calamari that didn’t pretend to be anything fancier than it was — simple, well executed, and reasonably priced for a resort beach. For dessert, I found one of the gelato stands along the same stretch and ate it walking back toward the archaeological park rather than sitting down again.

San Simon Bay, just outside Izola, pairs the most genuinely swimmable beach on this stretch of coast — sandy-bottomed, gently sloping, calm and sheltered — with a real Roman seaside villa next door, around 600 square metres of preserved mosaic flooring from a complex that once formed part of the ancient port of Haliaetum. The archaeological park is small and modest rather than grand, but worth the free, unhurried half hour it takes to walk through. The beach itself is properly organised, with sunbeds, a water slide, lifeguards, and good food along the promenade, and reaching it from Izola is an easy flat walk or ride. Parking, for once on this coast, is genuinely manageable.

Walk or cycle from central Izola along the coastal path. Bring an extra hour for the archaeological park, even though the beach is the main draw. Let the kids wade out further than they could anywhere else on this coast — the sandy bottom here makes that the safest place to do it.