Guide · Getting there

How to get to Hvar for your Blue Cave day

Hvar town is the launch point for the speedboats to Biševo, so where you stay matters. Here is every way to reach it from Split, the airport and the south, with honest journey times.

Check availabilityfrom $137 · cancel at no cost

Editorial team, blue-cave-hvar.comUpdated October 25, 20266-minute read19 sources

This guide's tour Split: Ferry Journey between Split and Hvar 4.2 (75 reviews) 55 min from$9per person Check availabilityLive price via GetYourGuide

Quick answer

01On foot: Catamaran from Split straight to Hvar town; one ferry listing takes 55 minutes.¹
02With a car: Car ferry from Split to Stari Grad, then a 20-minute drive.²
03From the south: Drvenik to Sućuraj in 30 minutes, then about 90 minutes by road.³
04From the airport: A catamaran to Stari Grad in one hour.⁴
05Ferry ticket: From $9 on GetYourGuide, non-refundable.

Why Hvar town is the place to sleep

If the Blue Cave is the main reason for your trip, it pays to base yourself where the boats leave. The speedboat this site recommends starts from the Kabina Boats office in the main port of Hvar harbour, next to Hotel Adriana. Other Blue Cave boats meet at offices on the Riva and around the harbour. Stay in or near Hvar town and you can walk to your boat in the morning.

The alternative is a long loop from Split, which takes 10 to 11 hours on the listings we compare, against 7.5 hours from Hvar. Hvar town also gives you a lively evening after a day at sea. You can climb to the Spanish Fortress, the Fortica, for views over the town and the Pakleni Islands.⁵ It is open 09:00 to 18:00 with a 12 euro admission, according to the Hvar Tourist Board.⁶

Hvar is a long island, though, and not every arrival lands in Hvar town. The main car ferry docks near Stari Grad, on the north coast, and boats from the south arrive at Sućuraj on the eastern tip.² ³ Knowing which port you arrive at, and how far it is from your bed, is the first decision. Below are the main routes, with the times the tourist board and the operators give.

Example journey

From Split Airport to your Blue Cave boat

Arrival day

Land at Split

Take the airport catamaran to Stari Grad.⁴
1 hour

Stari Grad

Arrive at Hvar's main ferry port.⁴
20 minutes

Drive to Hvar town

Over the island to the harbour.²
Next morning

Hvar harbour

Walk to the Kabina Boats office for the speedboat.
7.5 hours

Blue Cave day

Vis, Biševo and back to Hvar.

Split to Hvar town by catamaran

For travellers without a car, the catamaran is the simplest way in. The Hvar Tourist Board says Hvar town is well served with regular catamarans to and from Split, with onward boats to Korčula daily.¹ Jadrolinija's line 9602 runs from Split via Milna on Brač to Hvar town and on to Vis.⁷ The boats dock right in Hvar town, so you step off within walking distance of the harbour offices where the Blue Cave boats leave.

You can book a Split to Hvar crossing on GetYourGuide too. One listing sells a seat with the ferry company Kapetan Luka - Krilo, a 55-minute journey, from $9. Every traveller needs a passport or national identity card, and you are asked to arrive at least 30 minutes before departure. The ticket is non-refundable, but if the boat itself is cancelled you get a full refund.

Timetables change through the year and with the weather, so always check the operator's own schedule close to your date. A pre-booked ticket saves you queueing at the port in summer. If you are travelling with a lot of luggage, arrive early enough to stow it before the crowd boards.

In minutes

How long each leg takes

min

Times from the Hvar Tourist Board and from the GetYourGuide ferry and transfer listings.⁴ ³ ²

Routes

Ways into Hvar compared

Route	Arrives at	Time	Car
Split catamaran	Hvar town	55 min	No
Split car ferry	Stari Grad	+20 min drive	Yes
Drvenik ferry	Sućuraj	30 min	Yes
Airport catamaran	Stari Grad	1 hr	No
Private speedboat	Hvar town	50 min	No

Times as the Hvar Tourist Board and the GetYourGuide listings give them; the Drvenik crossing adds about 90 minutes of driving.² ³ ⁴

Book ahead

Tickets for the crossing and the cave

Foot passengers

Split to Hvar ferry

Kapetan Luka - Krilo

Duration: 55 min
Refund: Only if cancelled
Price: from $9

See this listing

Split: Airport to Hvar Town Speedboat Transfer

Private

Airport speedboat

Split Airport to Hvar town

Duration: 50 min
Group: Private
Price: from $693

See this listing

From Hvar: Vis Island and Blue Cave Speedboat Tour

Once you arrive

Vis and Blue Cave

Hvar harbour

Duration: 7.5 hrs
Group: Up to 12
Price: from $137

See this listing

Decision helper

Which way into Hvar?

Start from where you are

I am in Split without a car I have a rental car I am driving up from Dubrovnik I have just landed at Split We are a group arriving late

Catamaran to Hvar town

Regular boats link Split and Hvar town.¹

Car ferry to Stari Grad

Then 20 minutes by road to Hvar town.²

Drvenik to Sućuraj

A 30-minute crossing, then about 90 minutes of driving.³

Airport catamaran

One hour to Stari Grad.⁴

Private speedboat

50 minutes from the airport to Hvar town.

The main car ferry terminal is near Stari Grad, a 20-minute drive from Hvar Town, and there are regular ferries throughout the year from Split, as well as from Italy during the peak season.

Hvar Tourist BoardSource 2

How to get to Hvar by car

If you want to get to Hvar by car, you will use a car ferry. The main car ferry terminal is near Stari Grad, a 20-minute drive from Hvar town, with regular ferries from Split throughout the year and from Italy in the peak season.² Once you land, the road climbs over the spine of the island and drops down to Hvar town, past fields and old villages along the way.

Coming from Dubrovnik or the south, there is a shorter crossing. Sućuraj, on the eastern tip of Hvar, has a regular 30-minute ferry to Drvenik on the mainland.³ The catch is the drive afterwards: the onward drive from Sućuraj to Hvar town takes about 90 minutes.³ It is a beautiful road along the length of the island, but allow for it, and do not plan to catch an early Blue Cave boat on the morning you arrive.

A car is useful for exploring the interior of Hvar, its wine villages and the Stari Grad Plain, a UNESCO World Heritage Site laid out by Greek colonists in 384 BC.⁸ For the Blue Cave day itself you will not need it: the boats leave from the harbour, and you will not want to hunt for parking near the waterfront in high summer.

Map

From Hvar harbour to the Blue Cave on Biševo

The speedboat route from Hvar town past the Pakleni islands to the caves and coves of Vis, a closer look at Komiža and Biševo, and where Split, the ferries and Dubrovnik sit on the coast.

Map of the sea between Hvar town and Vis with the Pakleni islands, the Green Cave on Ravnik, Budikovac, Stiniva, Vis town, Komiža and the Blue Cave on Biševo — Hvar to Vis and Biševo

Map of the west end of Vis with Komiža and the cove of Pritišćina, and the islet of Biševo with the Blue Cave on its north-east shore — Komiža and Biševo

Map of the Dalmatian coast from Split and its airport past Hvar, Stari Grad and Vis to Dubrovnik and the Blue Cave on Koločep — Split, Hvar and Dubrovnik

1
Hvar Town
The Kabina Boats office on the harbour, where the Vis and Blue Cave speedboat starts.
In Google Maps ↗
2
Palmižana
ACI Marina Palmižana, about 2.5 nautical miles from Hvar town.⁹
In Google Maps ↗
3
Green Cave
On the islet of Ravnik, a protected monument of nature since 1967.¹⁰
In Google Maps ↗
4
Budikovac
The Blue Lagoon swim stop named on the Hvar listing.
In Google Maps ↗
5
Stiniva
A pebble bay ringed by limestone cliffs, reached by sea or steep paths.¹¹
In Google Maps ↗
6
Blue Cave
In Balun cove on Biševo, 4.5 nautical miles (8.3 km) off Komiža.¹²
In Google Maps ↗
7
Komiža
13 km from Vis town, a 15-minute bus ride.¹³
In Google Maps ↗
8
Vis town
Linked to Split by a ferry that runs all year.¹⁴
In Google Maps ↗
9
Pritišćina
The other swim stop the Hvar listing may use instead of Budikovac.
In Google Maps ↗
10
Split
Catamaran line 9602 calls at Milna, Hvar town and Vis.⁷
In Google Maps ↗
11
Split Airport
A private catamaran reaches Stari Grad in one hour.⁴
In Google Maps ↗
12
Stari Grad
Hvar's main car ferry terminal, 20 minutes by road from Hvar town.²
In Google Maps ↗
13
Dubrovnik
Koločep lies 25 minutes by ferry from Gruž port.¹⁵
In Google Maps ↗
14
Koločep
Its Blue Cave is a sea grotto reached by boat.¹⁶
In Google Maps ↗

Open the map in Google Maps

Checklist

Before you travel to Hvar

Bring

Passport or ID card for the ferry
A booked seat in high summer
Cash for the cave tickets later

Plan

Arrive 30 minutes before the boat
A spare day for the weather
Your route from port to bed

Video

Split to Hvar by ferry, explained

No YouTube code runs on this page until you press play.

From Split Airport

Flying into Split, you can skip the city altogether. Since 2019 a private catamaran has linked Split Airport and Stari Grad, a one-hour transfer.⁴ From Stari Grad it is a 20-minute drive to Hvar town.² That makes the airport to Hvar town journey reasonably quick if the boat times suit your flight.

For a door-to-door option, a private speedboat transfer runs from Split Airport to Hvar town in 50 minutes. It starts from $693 for a private group, so it only makes sense for groups or for a late arrival with no other connection. A matching transfer runs the other way, from Hvar town to Split Airport, for the journey home.

Otherwise the usual route is airport to Split by road, then a catamaran from the Split harbour to Hvar town. Leave a generous margin between your landing time and the boat, because summer traffic into Split can be slow. If your flight is late in the evening, staying a night in Split and crossing in the morning is often the calmer choice.

How many days you need in Hvar

People often ask how many days you need in Hvar, and the answer depends on what you want from the island. A Blue Cave day takes a whole day on its own, 7.5 hours on the boat this site recommends. Add a day for Hvar town and the fortress, and another for the Pakleni islands, which have daily water taxis from town.¹⁷ If you also want the interior villages, the wine and the Stari Grad Plain, give yourself longer.

Build in a spare day for the weather. The Blue Cave closes in high tides and high winds, and tours warn that severe weather can change or cancel the trip. If your speedboat is cancelled or the forecast looks rough, a flexible day lets you try again rather than leave without seeing the cave. That is the single best piece of planning advice for a Blue Cave trip.

Hvar also makes a good hub for island hopping. The Hvar Tourist Board lists boat links from Hvar to Brač, Korčula, Mljet, Vis, Lastovo, Split and Dubrovnik.¹⁸ So you can arrive from Split, spend a few nights on Hvar with your Blue Cave day in the middle, and carry on south by boat. Plan the order around the boat timetables rather than the map.

Arriving and getting around Hvar town

Hvar town is compact and walkable. The catamarans land in the harbour, where the Riva runs past cafes, boat offices and the main square. The Blue Cave boats leave from the same waterfront, so on the morning of your trip you only need to know which office to find: the tour on this site meets at the Kabina Boats office, next to Hotel Adriana.

Sights are close by. St Stephen's Cathedral opens 09:00 to 12:30 and 17:00 to 19:30, with a 2 euro admission.¹⁹ The fortress above town is a steep walk up, best done in the late afternoon when it is cooler.⁶ For a swim on a free day, water taxis run daily to the Pakleni islands across the channel.¹⁷ The ACI Marina at Palmižana lies about 2.5 nautical miles from town.⁹

Wherever you arrive, give yourself an easy first evening. Check where your boat office is, buy cash for the cave tickets, and ask your host about the wind for the next day. The Blue Cave rewards a calm, early start, and the closer you sleep to the harbour, the easier that is.

Into the blue