I visit Croatia every summer and there is plenty of cities along the coast, where you can spend an amazing holiday.
I usually go to Makarska, which is the capital city of Makarska Riviera – a long and narrow area in the region of Dalmatia. From there, I went on a one-day boat trip to the Croatian islands Hvar and Brač.
The boat I went with was called Viganj (I’ve done the same trip before with a boat called Calypso) and the price for the trip was 250 Croatian kunas, which is around 35 €. The price includes a lunch on the boat, which can be either a grilled mackerel fish (a definite must if you love fish!) or some grilled chicken meat plus some cabbage salad, pasta, bread and a drink.
With the calm background music (differently from the Calypso boat, which is more of a party boat), wind in my hair, sun on my skin and the excitement for exploring I knew it will be a wonderful day.
We started the trip at 9 a.m., slowly sailing toward the beautiful island of Hvar and its city Jelsa.
Jelsa is a small town on the coast of Hvar island and it is built in the typical old Dalmatian style. You can walk among the narrow stone streets and the beautiful stone buildings with green wooden windows, there is an old stone church close to the Riva (port) and there are several small cafes and ice cream shops. Another beautiful thing is that there are flowers everywhere, hanging down the walls and houses. To the left of the port, there is a beautiful tree alley with a nice walking path.
Overall, it is a cute coastal town, but since it is pretty small, there is not much to do, especially if you want an extremely rich nightlife or a close by beach.
The closest beach is 1.5 km away from the centre, so it’s not so convenient if you don’t want to walk far to get in the water. However there is a small swimming area with some sand approximately 0.5 km away, but it is beside the road, which I personally don’t like – I love a beach fully surrounded by nature. But if you want to spend your summer days in a peaceful town which is not crowded, it is definitely worth your visit.
After walking around Jelsa (we had one free hour to explore it on our own), I got myself a scoop of chocolate ice cream and soon it was time to return to the boat. We slowly sailed toward our next stop – the island of Brač.
When we came back on board it was time for lunch (I picked the grilled mackerel fish – yum). Enjoying my food while sailing to our second island was really nice. It was also fun to feed the seagulls who started to fly above us the very moment they smelled the food. One of them even took some fish out of my hand (you can see that in the vlog)! 🙂
When we filled up our bellies we enjoyed in the amazing surroundings of the dark blue sea, it’s surface shining in the sunlight, the magnificent Biokovo mountains behind us and the awesome nature of the islands in front of us.
When we arrived in Bol, a city on the island of Brač, we were free to explore for some hours and if desired visit the most famous beach in Croatia – the Zlatni Rat beach.
Bol is a beautiful city, (much bigger than Jelsa) where you’ll find a big number of restaurants, cafes, bars and clubs. Nature there is just amazing: the crystal clear sea reflects in all the shades of blue and there is a beautiful and long tree walking alley, perfect for a peaceful stroll.
Walking through this alley, you arrive at the Zlatni Rat beach. If you don’t want to walk and you want to go directly to this beach, you can take a water taxi (small boat), which costs 15 Croatian kunas (app. 2 euro) for a one-way ride.
There are also windsurfers everywhere since the wind is great around the island. So if you are into that, you can give it a go.
The Zlatni Rat beach is a pebbled beach, and it is famous for its narrow, horn-like shape.
You can enjoy the clean water and the view of the beautiful surroundings, or have a drink in the nearby beach bars.
After spending around 3 hours in Bol, it was time to go back to our boat and head off back to Makarska.
On the way back, we sailed along the islands and nature was really breathtaking. You can see it all in my youtube vlog of the trip. 🙂
We arrived back to Makarska at around 6 p.m., so in total, the trip lasted approximately 9 hours.
It was definitely an amazing experience which I enjoyed a lot and I wish we would sail on for at least a few more days. The food on the boat was great as well and overall, it really was a wonderful day!
QUICK TIP: Don’t forget to take your sunglasses, because it’s very windy on the boat and your eyes will not like it after a while. 🙂
Have you been to these islands before? Have you sailed in Croatia? Do you want to go there?
Let me know in the comments below.
And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my Youtube Channel for more travel vlogs.
Happy travels! 🙂
Katja
