Where: Various Islands, Croatia
When: August 2015
Charter Company: AVENTUR Travel Agency and Yacht Charter
Why Island Hopping: Everything I had read about Croatia said that as amazing as the Croatian mainland is, the islands are equally, or even more so, spectacular. However, getting to these islands the most inexpensive way – a ferry – seemed like the least ideal option. The routes were slow, they could get crowded…and everything that this vacation wasn’t supposed to be. So I started reading about renting private boats (with a skipper) and was really hesitant because of the price – which was a bit higher than I would normally (or ever) spend on an excursion. But this was a big vacation for us – so I went with it!
The Trip: The day was absolutely perfect. Blue skies, warm weather – all ideal for a day on the weather. The plan was to meet at the agencies office, meet the skipper and head out!
Our rental boat.
Our itinerary was to make a brief stop at an island close to Trogir, before heading to the “Blue Cave,” one of the main attractions of the day, then to Hvar (prounounced Var) before heading home.
A great view of the fortress on our way out of Trogir.
Once we got out of the channel, the skipper turned up the speed and we were off. The Adriatic Sea is the body of water we were in – part of the entire Mediterranean Sea…and on this day, it was CHOPPY! I sat up in the front of the boat for a little while but almost getting tossed out a couple of times made me quickly move to the back! MUCH more smooth!
One of the many beautiful boats we passed on our way into our first port.
John at our first stop.
Love all the vibrant colors!
The water was amazing.
I actually have no idea what the name of the first island we stopped at was, but it was a nice, quick break to grab some water, stretch our legs and make the way out to the Blue Cave on the island of Vis. It was about a 90 minute ride from Trogia, but it literally flew by! However, when we got to Vis, the wait was over an hour long – and everything in my head about this nice relaxing day did NOT include waiting in a line for an hour for a 10-minute ride. So, to the surprise of our skipper, we decided to move on. No FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) for us. We wanted to swim and relax, and there was another Cave we could go to anyway that did not include a line.
Our next stop, the Green Cave.
The highlight of these caves is how the sun hits the water. As seen here, and then it changes the entire color of the cave.
As if the colors could get prettier!
John swimming in the cave.
I have about a million pictures of the water! SO clear and blue.
Leaving the cave.
Our next destination was a swimming hole only accessible by private boat. It was getting really warm by this point, so we definitely were ready for a little more swimming!
Pulling in to the swimming hole.
This was a great little place. I absolutely love swimming in the Med. It requires very little work, thanks to the saltiness, so you just kind of bob there. You can stay in for hours.
After leaving the swimming hole, our skipper took us by another place to swim – but we were a bit hungry at this point, so we asked him to take us to an island where we could eat!
It was tempting to jump in, but we were hungry so we passed. But look at that water!
Enjoying lunch on Pakleni Island!
Our lunch view!
Post-lunch we made our way to the well-known island of Hvar. This was much more populated than any of the other places we had been. We enjoyed walking around – but this being the end spot, we walked a bit before just sitting and enjoying the harbor view.
Pulling into port.
The Hvar marina
We made it!
It’s a cool island – I just preferred the smaller islands to this more populous one.
Tired and happy!
Final Impressions: This was definitely the way to see the islands – especially after we would see the ferries, which just looked hot and overcrowded. We got to pick our itinerary and could go when we wanted or stay longer. I would definitely book a boat again!
Adventures Abroad 