Getting around
To see the islands you’ll need to either use a yacht or public ferries. Being on-board a yacht gives you the opportunity to see smaller / uninhabited islands but on the down side unless you have a group of friends wanting to travel with you, you’ll be stuck in very close confines for a week or so with people you don’t know.
Staying on the islands at night also means you have the chance to see them early in the morning (or late at night) when they are way less crowded (early mornings I often found myself the only one walking around). For me this was a big plus so I was happy to go with ferries.
Based on my experience, they are pretty reliable, leaving and arriving on schedule. They are comfortable and relatively cheap. All have small cafes if you are after a meal, drink or snack.
In the high season ferries tend to get very busy and while there are plenty of ferries to and from Split and Dubrovnik and the islands, between islands there may only be one ferry a day, so book as far in advance as you can.
Which islands
There are a lot of islands and which ones you choose depends on how much time you have and whether you are looking for somewhere crowded and with a good nightlife or somewhere quieter. I went to Bol, Hvar and Korcula. In order of preference for me it went Korcula, Bol and Hvar quite a way behind those.
Bol
Brac island is fairly large, but it’s likely you’ll spend your time in Bol. The town itself is fairly small and very relaxed. The ferry is only a very short walk from the centre of town.
The main attraction of the island is Zlanti Rat, one of the most popular beaches in Croatia and one that adorns a large proportion of the tourism photos for Croatia. It is about 20 minute walk along a tree lined promenade from Bol.
Dotted along the promenade are stalls selling beach gear. Its worth buying a pair of the reef shoes (50KN) as the pebbles on the beach and in the water can be very rough on your feet.
The beach is pretty crowded and the water full of swimmers and windsurfers. There is also a small water park.
Water taxis regularly travel from the beach back to Bol (10KN) if you don’t feel like walking in both directions. They also provide some good photo opportunities.
Hvar
Hvar is the most upmarket of the islands. Luxury cruisers jostle for position along the main promenade. It can get very crowded, with around 20,000 people in Hvar town daily in the high season.
Restaurants tend to be more expensive than in other parts of Croatia, but unfortunately this doesn’t translate to a higher quality of food. Restaurants are aimed squarely at the tourist market.
To get to a beach you’ll need to walk about 20 minutes from the port. The first beach you’ll come to is Pokonji Dol. There is a restaurant there and sun lounges for hire. It tends to get fairly crowded so if you prefer something a bit quieter keep walking further around the coast in the same direction and you’ll come to other beaches and secluded little bays. On a cloudy day I was able to find a spot all to myself.
Korcula
Korcula was my favourite island. It has an incredibly relaxed vibe, an old town with amazing historic architecture and red roofed houses which reflect onto the water giving it a red glow in the morning light.
I stayed in an airbnb apartment right in the centre of the old town, a few minutes walk from the port. I’d highly recommend doing the same. You”ll be surrounded by restaurants and get to see the town how the locals do.
Eating
There are a lot of great restaurants in Korcula. If you dine at one of the high end ones the food won’t be cheap but the quality will match the prices. One of the best is LD Restaurant:
Unfortunately I got there a little too late in the evening for the degustation menu but the steak I had and the dessert were wonderful. The degustation is better value than ordering individual meals and gives you the opportunity to try so much more, so I’d recommend choosing that and settling in for a few hours.
Around Korcula
There are a number of wineries around 15 minutes outside Korcula at Lumbarda. The mountains provides an amazing background to the wineries (see the second picture below). You can reach them by doing an organised tour or getting a public bus from the station near the port. If you are going to do a self-guided tour it is worth ringing ahead to the wineries to make sure they are open as on the day I visited one of them was closed as they were bottling the wine.
Near the wineries is a sandy beach Vela Przina Beach which seems to get a lot of positive reviews on traveller sites. Having been there, I think it’s probably because of the novelty of a beach with sand as opposed to pebbles in Croatia.
If you are Australian you’ll probably be pretty disappointed by the beach (see the first picture below). There is a cafe at the beach but the menu is restricted to the typical tourist offerings of burgers, pizzas etc. I ate there because it was the only place nearby and while the service was very friendly the food quality was pretty mediocre, reflective of the captive audience.
A far nicer beach and with more food options is at Lumbarda town itself. The beach adjoins the port and while only small it has the pristine water you see everywhere in Croatia and a great view of the mountain.
Buses run fairly frequently from there back into Korcula town. However, a more scenic alternative to getting the bus both ways is getting a water taxi from the little port near the beach. Check the timetable at the stop for running times.
The cost of a one way trip is 80KN (or 200Kn for an all day ride ticket). The trip takes about 20 minutes with a number of stops along the way which gives the opportunity to see some of the little islands.
Other places in Croatia
If you’d like to read my posts on other places in Croatia see the following links: