VIDEO: EXPLORING CROATIAN ISLANDS HVAR & VIS BY BOAT

If you are planning to visit Hvar next summer and partying is not on your To-do list, I would recommend you plan your holiday in the off-season. May-early June and late September-October are best times to avoid traffic jams, crowded beaches and restaurants and also high prices. And if you are still not planning to visit Hvar, you should definitely start.

Daily boat trip from Hvar

If you decide to go on a daily boat trip you can go to Mandrać, next to main square in Hvar and ask for Tea or Tonči. You can find their contact on the bottom of this post. In the high-season you will need to book the trip a few days ahead.

We met with Tea in the morning to go to island Vis, little did we know that we would have the best crew on the boat a few minutes later. Lucky 3 surfers from Peru joined us on our 9 hour trip around the islands.

Monk seal cave on Biševo Island

Our first stop was the south-eastern part of the island – Monk Seal Cave. Its entrance is a narrow, almost thirty meters high gap in the cliff. The cave is 160 m long and it was the habitat of one of the most endangered mammals in the world – the Mediterranean monk seal, a very rare type of seal. After a long period of almost complete absence, it can now be again found in Adriatic sea, but very rarely. Therefore, it is not unrealistic to expect that the Monk Seal Cave welcomes its old occupants again.

Monk Seal Cave has been under protection since 1967. Besides Blue and Monk Seal Cave, there are still eight more caves on the island of Biševo.

Blue cave on Biševo Island

The Blue Cave (Modra špilja) is located in a small cove of Balun on the island of Biševo. The cave itself is 24 meters long, 10–12 meters deep and up to 15 meters high, while the entrance to it measures 1.5 meters high and 2.5 meters wide so you have to bend to enter with a boat.

The cave has two entrances: the smaller one artificially widened and deepened so that the boat could sail through, and the wider one, located at the southern part of the cave – the underwater passage, through which the magical game of the light and water is performed…

Depending on the season, the ideal moment to visit the cave is between 9 and 13 o’clock in the morning. And the only way to visit the cave is by organized boat transport for 6,5€ (price for adults is off-season). You will not stay in the cave long, maybe 3-5 min and you are not allowed to swim in there. But it´s still definitely worth visiting.

We were able to buy a ticket and hop on the next boat. But I heard that in high season there can be up to 3h line, so another reason to avoid doing this trip in July-August.

Here are some tips from www.chasingthedonkey.com if you want to visit the Blue Cave from Split.

Green cave on Island Vis

Green cave is  known for the visible green beam of light that penetrates through the opening on its top and breaks on the sea surface.
We came a little bit too late, so the sun was not coming through that strong, but it was still amazing to be there alone. You are allowed to swim in the cave and jump from the top if you are brave enough.

Bays of Island Vis

Pritišćina bay 

Pakleni islands and back to Town Hvar

We made a little tour around Vis, went for lunch, cruised around Pakleni islands and back to Hvar. Tip for off-season trips: bring warm clothes because it can get pretty cold on a speed boat. 

Teja & Tonci rent-a-boat and boat trips:  +385 91 797 87 27 & +385 91 519 8763

Hvar is the best! And the best way to see and experience it, is definitely from the boat. So if Hvar is on your travel list this summer, visit www.hvarbyboat.com and book a daily boat trip. You won´t be sorry! 

Enjoy,

Mateja