The Best Boat Tour on Hvar
The port of Hvar Town in all its summer glory.
Note: All of our recommendations are unsponsored and unbiased. Just our honest opinion!
If you haven’t been to Hvar before, or even if you have, it’s not easy to design a perfect excursion on the water. Every day on a boat is a new day, shaped by unique weather conditions, other boat traffic, and our clients’ preferences.
That said, there are definitely some destinations that consistently offer better or worse experiences. We’ll offer a few tips on what to avoid when it comes to boat tours on Hvar, and then offer one of our favorite itineraries, which can easily be tweaked to meet a wide spectrum of tastes and budgets.
What Not to Do: Why We “Hate” Blue Cave
Advertisements for “Five Island Tour” or a “Blue Cave Tour” are everywhere in Dalmatia (aka southern coastal Croatia). These two types of tour are very similar and also very popular. People frequently reach out to us requesting them. But we encourage visitors to consider other options.
The mouth of Blue Cave on Island Biševo, near Vis.
Travel by boat is not like travel by car. It can be fun and exhilarating, but it’s also bouncy and pretty loud. You’re not going to have any deep conversations while you’re in transit, and you probably won’t even be able to scroll your phone for very long. Most people enjoy it for about 45 minutes, and then they’re ready to switch it up - with a swim break, a stop for lunch, or some other form of recreation.
It takes longer than you might think by boat to reach destinations visible to the eye. Vis - which is next to the famous Blue Cave - doesn’t look that far away. But by powerboat, it takes at least an hour to get there from Hvar Town and 90 minutes from Stari Grad. Jelsa and Vrboska are even further away. Dalmatia usually gets headwinds on summer afternoons, which adds even more time to those figures on the return trip. All of this means that you can easily spend half of your day just getting from point A to point B, if your goal is to see Blue Cave.
Is Blue Cave worth it? In a word, no. We don’t actually hate Blue Cave, of course. It’s a special place and well worth visiting - if you’re starting early from Vis Town, Komiža, or another spot on the beautiful Vis Archipelago. It definitely isn’t worth driving over 2 hours to see. The cave is about the size of a small house and it receives a thousand visitors or more each day. Imagine a thousand people waiting in a sunbaked parking lot to enter a 40-seat theater, and you have a good sense of the dynamics. Here are some other points to consider:
You wait in no fewer than 3 lines to enter.
Admission is more expensive every year - the current price is 18 euro per adult.
You absolutely will not swim. It has been banned for years.
You will be sharing the space with about 30 other tourists and their cameras.
Perhaps most important, you are only in the cave for about 5 minutes.
As people who love Dalmatia and spend a lot of time on boats, it is both puzzling and sad for us to see so many tourists waste their brief holidays ferrying back and forth to one of Croatia’s most distant islands, when the area has so many equally rewarding destinations that are far more accessible. Here’s what to do instead.
A Perfect Itinerary for Hvar
Destinations described below are circled in red. Map courtesy of skippercity.com.
When you are planning a boat trip on Hvar, you have four basic areas to explore:
The Southern Coast
The Northern Coast
The Pakleni Archipelago
Stari Grad Bay
Below, we will describe an itinerary that covers three out of these four areas: Southside, Pakleni, and Stari Grad Bay. In just a few hours, you can experience singular natural beauty, centuries-old Mediterranean heritage, and the laidback luxury of Hvar’s summer yacht culture.
Part 1: The Southern Coast
Red Rocks has safe cliff diving spots ranging from 2m - 15m in height.
Start your tour with a morning swim at Red Rocks, which is about an hour from Stari Grad. You’ll get the biggest chunk of the driving out of the way, and then you can spend the rest of your day leisurely making your way back, with stops for swimming, food, and sight-seeing. Red Rocks is a stunning limestone formation with perfect perches for diving. The crystal clear, blue-green waters used to be a favorite with lobsters, but the crustaceans have long since given way to swan dives and cannonballs. One of Hvar’s most charming beaches, Bay Lučišća, is also just around the corner, if you fancy lounging and wading.
On the hills beyond Red Rocks, you will spy steep, sun-soaked vineyards. You can taste the wine that comes from those grapes at Bilo Idro, which is just a few minutes away. Bilo Idro is the restaurant and tasting room of one of Hvar’s first commercial wineries, Zlatan Otok. The history of winemaking on Hvar stretches back millennia, to the Greeks who introduced it in 4th century B.C. and wine played a major role in the island’s economy in the 19th century. But under the constraints of communism and in the years after the dissolution of Yugoslavia, people fell back to simply making wines for themselves and their friends. The founder of Zlatan Otok was a pioneer in suggesting that there might be a wider interest in the island’s vintages, and the family-owned firm continues to produce highly-regarded, traditional-style wines today. The tasting room is located in a striking 19th century wine warehouse, located directly on the sea, with its own marina for easy access.
Part 2: The Pakleni Archipelago
Yachts and sailboats moored in the Pakleni.
Once swimming and wine flights have you thinking of lunch, head over to Palmižana in the Pakleni Islands. Located just offshore from Hvar Town, the Pakleni are one of Europe’s yachting hubs, and Palmižana is at the epicenter. As a place where the wealthy and adventurous stop to refuel, Palmižana has many dining options. Here are two favorites:
Zori’s for inspired seafood and other creative dishes that will appeal to sophisticated palates.
Toto’s for a superlative take on the Dalmatian classics, including freshly caught local fish. As an added bonus, the restauranteur’s son has painstakingly cultivated a lush botanical garden and orchard with indigenous and culinary plants. Perfect for a stroll after eating.
After lunch, pick up ice cream and an espresso from the leafy bodega next to the ACI Marina. You might stop by the Meneghello Art Collection, which has offered residencies to a number of young Croatian painters over the past decades or take a peek at the world-famous nightclub Carpe Diem, although it is fairly subdued in the daylight hours. The Pakleni archipelago is also a good place to try out snorkeling. Just steer towards a quiet cove - Tarsce Bay often has good wildlife, while Perna Bay has a sand beach - and don’t be surprised if you find yourself surrounded by fish.
Part 3: Stari Grad Bay
A lighthouse on the eastern tip of Hvar.
After exploring the Paklenis, it’s time to start making your way back to Stari Grad. Along the way, hug the coast and stop by one or two bays that capture your imagination.
One of our favorites is Stiniva. Pine-covered cliffs frame crystal clear waters and a cluster of old stone cottages with a chapel gives way to a grove of olive trees that continues up the valley. One of several truly enchanted spots that ring the Stari Grad Bay, Stiniva has a simple, family-owned restaurant that can serve up a glass of wine or a plate of prosciutto should the mood strike.
Before returning all the way back to port, run a brush through your hair and hop off for a quick drink and spoonful of dessert at Maslina Resort. In addition to boasting its own very pretty bay, Maslina has a superb restaurant with a new chef who is clearly en route for a Michelin rating. The prices are what you would expect to pay in Manhattan, but the drinks earn their keep and the atmosphere is outstanding.
Conclusion
We hope that this sample itinerary has given you a sense of how fun, special, and memorable a boat tour on Hvar can and should be. A bit of glamour, a dash of excitement, and lots of pure, Mediterranean charm. The basic building blocks of this itinerary can be modified in infinite ways to suit different budgets and tastes. Get in touch with us to start brainstorming your Hvar adventure.
