Vela Luka sits at the western tip of Korčula island, a working harbour town built around one of the deepest natural bays on the Adriatic. It sees far fewer visitors than Korčula town at the island's other end, and has a plainer, more everyday character as a result.
The main sight is Vela Spila, a cave on the slope of Pinski Rat hill above town where excavations have found twenty thousand years of continuous human occupation, one of the most important prehistoric sites in Europe. In summer, the town also hosts Kumpanija, a traditional sword dance shared with the neighbouring villages of Blato, Smokvica, Čara, and Pupnat.