Hi,
I'm trying to find out whether there is a ferry that runs from Hvar to Split on Sunday mornings during the month of May - as it is not officially "high season" for ferries in Croatia, I want to make sure we have a way off the island when we're there in May 2007 and need to take a flight from Split to London on Sunday, May 13th in the late afternoon. i've checked the Jadrolinjia website and all I can find is that there's a ferry that runs twice a week, Thursdays and Sundays, but the Sunday one is too late in the afternoon for us to catch our flight. Does anyone know of other ferry companies that run this route? I can't see that they would only have one ferry on Sunday but don't know where else to look....

Or maybe we could take a water taxi or speedboat into Split on the Sunday morning? Anyone know how much these cost?

I was there this past May and also experienced trouble finding info on off-season ferries. The one you are seeing on the jadrolinjia website is the car ferry. My guess is there are options for other travel like the hydrofoil. Sit tight and someone should answer this post with better information. BUT what you might want to do is check with the croatian tourist board for other water services; a travel company like atlas (http://www.atlas-croatia.com/) or contact a hotel either in Hvar or SPlit and ask them what they know about ways to get back and forth. I dont think the price for a hydrofoil is too much. GOod luck sorry I wasn't more help.

I found more info from other posters and basically there is a local ferry which runs several times a day. - here is a cut and paste from 2 others:took a catamaran from Split to Hvar Town. We learned that when talking to the clerks at Jadrolinja, you need to ask specifically about all the options. At least to the clerk we spoke with, "boat" meant the ferry, and the "speedboat" was something else entirely, and he would not have mentioned the existence of the "speedboat" had we not specifically asked. In fact, the speedboat is a large catamaran, and is a shorter trip of 1 hour, compared to the ferry. It also goes directly to Hvar Town, instead of Stari Grad, which is what we wanted, and leaves earlier in the day.
The speedboat was very inexpensive, and a pleasant, air conditioned ride

there are local ferries, normally two or three times a day between Split and Stari Grad. These are shown on www.jadrolinija.hr under local ferries for the Split district.

Jadrolinija's web site has the schedule for this winter. Click on "sailing schedule", then "Table - low season". The route to Hvar is listed under "District of Split". Throughout the winter, there are three sailings a day, generally at 0830, 1400 and 1930 from Split, and at 0530, 1100 and 1700 from Stari Grad; the service is slightly reduced at weekends. There are additional sailings to Hvar town on some days shown on the schedules for the Split-Ubli and Split-Vis routes. The schedule next winter will be very similar, unless Hvar island is depopulated by some cataclysm: the ferry is used by the people who live on the island.

Thanks for the information so far. Contacting the tourist board or Atlas is a really good idea, i'm sure they would know. And it does make sense that there must be some way off the island and to Split at several points during the day, as you said people do live there and would need this service. I can't, however, find these local ferries for the Split district on Jadrolinija's website - once I click on Table-Low Season all I can find are the car ferries that run twice a week. Where are the local ferries' schedules? I don't see District of Split anywhere?

In June there were 3 options for the trip between Split and Hvar Town. KILO catamaran made the trip daily in the morning, Split Tours catamaran made the trip a few times a week in the morning, and Jadrolinija made the afternoon trip. Split tours schedules are listed at www.splittours.hr under voyages.

Pelegrini Travel on Hvar had all the tickets and schedules if you can get ahold of them.

Good luck. Getting details, even while you are in Croatia can be difficult, but the trip is just wonderful.

I just found my Pelegrini travel/elite travel brochure and they have an e-mail address [email protected] This may be a good place to try and get the information.

www.krilo.hr is the other website for the catamaran that does the daily morning trip.

I suspect Jadrolinija has not yet put full winter schedules on its website. The ferry between Stari Grad and Split certainly runs every day of the year (I once used it on Christmas Day) with two or three sailings each way. There are also other Jadrolinija services and the KRILO catamaran. If you have a flight from Split on a Sunday, you should check carefully before booking: there will certainly be connections to the mainland but they may be early in the morning or too late for your flight.

Thanks again everyone. I re-checked the Jadrolinija website and it looks like they've added the full winter schedule, and they have 3 daily ferries from Stari Grad (Hvar) to Split through next May, leaving at 5:30, 11:00, and 17:00. This is the car ferry - I was unable to find the schedule for the Jadro catamaran because it only goes up until Dec. 31 on Jadro's website. From Oct. 2- Dec. 31 the cat runs on Sundays at 8:45am, which would be perfect if they continue that schedule for the rest of the winter season. Otherwise we will likely have to take the 5:30am ferry to Split because our flight is at 3:10pm and I don't think the 11:00 ferry would give us enough time to get to Split and then to the airport with enough time to make our flight (or maybe it would? What do you think?). The Krilo cat does not look like it runs on Sundays so that option is out.

So I think we either have to take the 5:30am ferry or perhaps take an early evening ferry on the Saturday night and stay in Split or Trogir that night (which wouldn't be too bad I suppose)...

Hi Amanda:

NOT that I am suggesting you do so, but we took the 11 car ferry from Split on Mon 9/11 for our 4:20 flight and we could have easily made a 3:10 flight. I have not gotten to that part of my trip report yet, but I can help you avoid a couple of pitfalls, lol, if that is what you decide to do. A lot of people might not be comfortable with the timing, but man, 5:30 is an awfully early ferry!

Happycheesehead - I know, I am not a fan of taking that early of a ferry either (if it's at 5:30 then we'll have to be up by 4, which one should never have to do on vacation). I will keep reading your trip report (which I was already doing) and see what you have to say about that experience....our other option would be to ferry to Split the day before (there's a 17:00 ferry on the Saturday) and spend a night in Split or Trogir, which might be alright too. Do you think 2 nights Hvar/1 night Trogir would be okay?

Hi Amanda:

What time will you be getting to Hvar on arrival day? If it is fairly early on Thurs you have that day, all day Friday and a very good portion of the day on Sat. The days will be long so you get lots of extra daylight for sightseeing. I kind of doubt it will be beach weather in May, so that cuts out some of the time needed for the island ,and Hvar might not be really hopping yet either (just a guess on my part) so I would bet two nights would be fine. From what I have heard, Trogir is perfect for an overnight and a long morning/into afternoon visit. I think it could be very logical to plan it out that way.

Happycheesehead - thanks for the advice, I think we're going to take it! We will be arriving in Hvar on Thursday on the ferry at around 4:30pm, so we will have Thursday evening, Friday all day, and Saturday until 5pm to enjoy Hvar, and as you said May might not be great for the beach anyways...thanks for all the advice!