Okrug Gornji is the main tourist settlement on Čiovo and the most developed part of the island. It sits on the southwest coast facing the open sea, and its draw is simple: Copacabana beach, a long arc of fine gravel that stretches for nearly two kilometres backed by beach bars, sunbed hire, and a strip of bars and restaurants that keep running well into the evening.
In July and August the beach gets busy — this is package-holiday Croatia at its most accessible — but the water stays clean and the atmosphere is good-natured. The beach runs west to a series of quieter coves that reward anyone willing to walk ten minutes along the coastal path. Families cluster on the sheltered end near Okrug Donji; younger crowds gravitate toward the beach bars.
The village itself, set back slightly from the shore, has supermarkets, bike hire, and boat hire. A small boat is one of the best ways to explore the coastline around Čiovo: the coves between Okrug Gornji and the western tip of the island are accessible mainly from the water, and the snorkelling in some of them is excellent.