Hvar sailing

6 hours · daily · group or private

Six hours under sail across the channel to the Pakleni Islands: two swim stops, lunch if you want it, and Hvar town growing small behind the stern.

The Pakleni Islands sit directly opposite Hvar town — close enough to see from the waterfront, far enough that the bays on their seaward side stay quiet all summer. This is the tour that introduces them properly. You leave the harbour at ten, the skipper puts the sails up as soon as you clear the breakwater, and the rest of the morning is spent crossing to whichever bays the wind has made best that day.

Two stops, usually one for a long swim and snorkel and one for lunch or a paddle on the SUP board. Mlini, Perna, Ždrilca, Palmizana and the smaller coves between them are all within reach, and the skipper decides on the morning rather than sticking to a fixed route. You are back in Hvar town by late afternoon, in time for a shower before dinner.

It runs as a group departure priced per person, so you sail with other guests, or as a private charter where the whole boat is yours for the day and the itinerary bends entirely to your group.

Mlini, Perna, Ždrilca and Palmizana in the Pakleni archipelago, plus the smaller coves on the seaward side. The exact bays depend on the wind and swell on the day.

10 hours · private · wine, history, sailing

A full private day across the open channel to Vis: the crossing under sail, a guided run round the island, its wine and its military past, and swim stops on the way back.

Vis is the furthest inhabited island from the Croatian mainland and it feels it. Closed to foreigners until 1989 because of the naval base, it kept its vineyards, its stone villages and its empty coastline while the rest of the coast filled up. Sailing there from Hvar takes a couple of hours across open water — the best sailing of any tour on this page.

Once alongside, a van and a local guide take over: the tunnels and bunkers left by the Yugoslav navy, the vineyards behind Plisko Polje, Komiža on the far side, and the abandoned English cricket ground that has been played on since the 1800s. Lunch is in a konoba rather than a restaurant on the front.

The sail home is the reward. Late afternoon wind on the beam, one or two swim stops in bays you cannot reach by road, and Hvar town lit up as you come back in.

Across the Vis channel to Vis town and Komiža, with swim stops in the bays on the Hvar side of the crossing on the way home.

2 to 6 days · private · sleep aboard

Hvar to Vis, Komiža, Korčula and Mljet at sailing pace, sleeping aboard, breakfast on deck, mooring and cleaning already in the price.

A day tour shows you the bays you can reach and get home from. An overnight trip removes that limit. You wake up where you anchored, swim before breakfast, and sail on — which is how the Adriatic was meant to be seen and how it still works if you have more than a day.

The short version is two days: Hvar to Vis and back. Three adds Komiža on the far side of Vis. Four reaches Korčula, five brings in Mljet and its salt lakes, and six can start from Split and work the whole chain. Nights are spent in town harbours or at anchor, depending on the weather and what you feel like.

Breakfast, mooring fees, the final cleaning, tourist tax, linen and bath towels are all included, so the price you see is close to the price you pay. Lunch and dinner ashore are yours.

The central Dalmatian chain: Vis and Komiža, Korčula, Mljet and the Pakleni Islands, with Split as an optional start or finish.

4 hours · April and October

The shoulder-season version of the Pakleni tour: empty bays, low warm light and the steadiest sailing wind of the year.

April and October are the two months when Hvar belongs to the people who live here. The water is cool but swimmable in a wetsuit or briefly without one, the bays that are full of boats in August have nobody in them, and the wind is more reliable than it is at the height of summer.

The tour is four hours: out to the Pakleni Islands, one long stop, and back. It runs as a group departure or as a private charter, at the same prices as the summer half-day tours. Bring a jacket — it is noticeably cooler under sail than it is on the waterfront.

If you are on the island outside the season and want to see the archipelago from the water, this is the only sailing tour that runs.

The Pakleni Islands opposite Hvar town, with the bay chosen on the day for shelter from the wind.

full day · private · up to 6

A compact private sailing boat for up to six guests, leaving Hvar town for the Pakleni Islands with drinks, snorkelling gear and a skipper aboard.

The Elan 31S is the small end of the fleet and, for a group of four to six, the sensible one. You are not paying for a 40-foot yacht you do not need, and a 31-foot boat gets into the shallower bays in the Pakleni Islands that the bigger yachts have to anchor outside of.

The boat has swim ladders, a cushioned sundeck forward, seating aft, a canopy for shade, speakers, a toilet, an ice box and snorkelling masks on board. Departure is usually between nine and ten in the morning from the Mario rent office or the Mario rent corner in Hvar town.

Drinks are included, as is a discount voucher for a set of restaurants and bars in Hvar town. If the weather turns, you reschedule or take a full refund.

The Pakleni Islands opposite Hvar town — Mlini and Perna bays among them — with the route set on the morning by the skipper.