7 DAYS SAILING ITINERARY FROM SPLIT TO THE SOUTH
SPLIT - MILNA - VRBOSKA - HVAR - KOMIŽA - STARI GRAD - SPLIT
CA 140 NM, on average 2-3 hours of sailing/motoring per day
An ideal route for first-time sailors, families with small children, and those who do not want to spend more than 2-3 hours per day traveling from one place to the other. Leaves plenty of time to spend swimming and sunbathing in some beautiful bay on the way.
DAY 1 - SATURDAY
Split – Milna – 14NM
Arrival in the ACI marina Split and finalization of the paperwork in our office. Boarding the boat around 5 PM and setting sails for the first destination – MILNA. Milna is a beautiful and peaceful village on the western side of the island of Brač, famous for its marvelous bay where emperor Diocletian found a secure harbor in the time of building his palace in Split. Nowadays, thanks to the fact that it is the biggest natural harbor on the island with even three marinas, it is a very popular nautical destination and the most usual first-night destination for charters starting from Split. Magnificent architecture, nice coves with pebble beaches as in town as in the close vicinity, a number of restaurants offering local delicacies are just a few of its attractions.
DAY 2 - SUNDAY
Milna – Vrboska – 15NM
VRBOSKA - the smallest town on the island of Hvar lying along a curved and narrow fjord. Often referred to as „little Venice“ thanks to numerous small bridges. From a fishermen's village and harbor, it developed into a beautiful small town with the typical Mediterranean architecture. A rich fishermen tradition can be seen in the local gastronomic offer. Close to Vrboska is the other charming settlement on the northern side of Hvar, JELSA, which can be easily reached by bike, scooter, or car that can be rented in Vrboska.
DAY 3 - MONDAY
Vrboska – Palmižana (St.Klement - Hvar)-20NM
Stop for swimming, sunbathing, and lunch in Taršće bay on St Klement island in front of Hvar; in the afternoon, go to the ACI marina Palmižana for overnight mooring.
St Klement island is the biggest island of the Paklinski Islands, the group of islands in front of Hvar. Palmižana is the bay/village on the northern side of St Klement with a well-equipped marina and a number of excellent restaurants. Walking from Palmižana bay over the hill (10 minutes) through the botanical park you reach Vinogradišće bay, a beautiful bay with a white sandy beach and turquoise color of the sea, surrounded by the restaurants which terraces border the seafront. HVAR, the most popular if not even the most beautiful destination on the coast, is to be reached by taxi boats operating each half an hour. Mooring with a sailboat in the harbor of Hvar is almost impossible in the season since the rather small and narrow city's harbor is occupied with different vessels: from local fishermen's boats to mega yachts. The city of Hvar is a unique fusion of luxurious Mediterranean nature, rich cultural and historical heritage, and mundane, tourist present.
THE SIGHTS TO VISIT IN HVAR: Franciscan monastery & Museum, Fortica, St Stephen's square and cathedral, Hvar's theatre (and Arsenal), Bishop's Treasury, and Benedictine Monastery.
DAY 4 - TUESDAY
Hvar – Komiža - 26NM
If the weather is nice - sunny and with moderate or no wind – head first for the little island of Biševo in front of Komiža and visit the famous Blue Cave. In order to be able to enjoy the spectacular color scheme in Blue Cave, it is necessary to reach it between 9:30 – 11:30, which means an early start from Hvar. Overnight mooring in the harbor of KOMIŽA. Komiža is a small, picturesque Mediterranean town placed at the foot of a 600-meter high mountain Hum. Narrow streets, small stone houses squeezed together, fishermen vessels dominating the harbor, pebble beaches... is the shortest description of this charming place. The sights not to be missed in Komiža are Muster - St Nicholas monastery, Kaštel – 16th-century Venetian tower and home of Fishermen's Museum, Romanesque church, Baroque shrine.
DAY 5 - WEDNESDAY
Komiža – Vis - 10NM
On the way to Vis, stop for swimming and sunbathing in the nearby Stončica bay (south of Vis) or Luka Rogačić (north of Vis). Vis is a stretched settlement grown out of the two settlements, Kut and Luka, which became one entity in the 16th century. After the Second World War till the beginning of the Croatian War of Independence (1991-1995), Vis was closed for foreign tourists. It was a Yugoslav military base and the military remains to witness this period are to be found all around Vis. Although the visitors, especially yachtsmen, are increasingly coming to Vis and the island is being changed daily, the authentic Mediterranean environment is still well preserved. Overnight mooring is possible in the port of Vis, where you have access to water, electricity, and toilet facilities.
SIGHTS IN VIS: Vis Museum, Archeological sites: ancient remains of Issa, the first urban center in Croatia, Franciscan church and Conventual Franciscan monastery
DAY 6 - THURSDAY
Vis – Stari Grad - 20NM
Head for Starigrad after breakfast. Stop for swimming, sunbathing, and lunch in well-protected Tiha bay.
Stari Grad (literally Old Town) is a town on the northern side of the island of Hvar in Dalmatia, Croatia. One of the oldest towns in Europe, its position at the end of a long, protected bay and next to prime agricultural land, makes it attractive for human settlement for a long time now. The most ancient part of Stari Grad falls into the UNESCO Protected World Heritage Site of the Stari Grad Plain. It was originally named Faros (Greek: ΦAPOΣ) by the Greek settlers from the island of Paros, who arrived in 384 BC. Overnight in Stari Grad by mooring in the port or take the buoy.
SIGHTS: Škor (square), Trg sv. Stjepana (St. Stephen’s Square), St. Stephen’s church, the Church tower, the church of St. Ivan, the Stari Grad Plain (ancient Hora), the Church of St. Lucija, the church of St. Nikola, the St. Rok church – the patron saint of Stari Grad, Biskupija and Vorba park.
DAY 7 - FRIDAY
Starigrad – Maslinica – Split - 35NM
Sail from Starigrad along the southern side of the Šolta island to the place of Maslinica. Maslinica, by many the most beautiful settlement on the island of Šolta, is the charming small fishermen village placed on the western side of the island of Šolta with the archipelago of seven small islands spread in front of the entrance in the Maslinica bay. The restoration of the baroque castle, originally built by the Venetian family Marchi, is nowadays turned into a luxury hotel. Also, building a marina has turned Maslinica into the touristic center of the island of Šolta but still far away from mass tourism.
On the way back to Split, stop in Rogač, the place on the northern side of the island of Šolta, to refuel, in order to avoid long time waiting at the fuel station in Split.
If you didn't have a chance to go sightseeing in Split before getting on the sailboat, we surely recommend you do it now. Split, a more than 1.700 years old town, grown out of the Roman emperor Diocletian's palace, is very much worth seeing. Check our blog post about Split here to get an idea of what to see and what to do in Split.
SPLIT, AUTHOR: IVO BIOČINA, SOURCE: HTZ, CROATIAN TOURIST BOARD WWW.CROATIA.HR
DAY 8 - SATURDAY
check-out
It is time to say GOODBYE...... but only until next time, since we are sure you will like your week of sailing the Croatian islands so much that you will definitely come back!
PHOTOS' SOURCE: commons.wikimedia.org