The Neretva rises near Neretva village in the Zelengora mountains, making this the starting point of one of Bosnia's major rivers — which flows 218 kilometres to the Adriatic at Ploče. The headwaters here are among the most pristine river water in Europe: Class I purity with temperatures of just 7–8°C year-round, fed by snowmelt and limestone springs.
The river in its upper stretch carves through steep limestone gorges, and the water is strikingly clear. Fishing is a traditional local activity — the cold, clean water supports trout. The surrounding landscape gives a sense of what the Dinaric Alps looked like before development reached the lower valleys: raw limestone, dense mixed forest, and long views over uninhabited ridges.