Boat Tours - Croatia in October (Rovinj, Pula, Split)

You might want to take a look at the website www.GetYourGuide.com because it lists many independent boat tours based in Rovinj and it will refer you to companies still operating tours during October. Since October is when many tourism-related businesses on the Croatian coast begin wrapping up their operations, you’ll want to be sure you’re booking with a boat tour that is still hosting tours when you arrive. Get Your Guide also lists ratings of the companies based on the personal reviews it receives from those who have gone on the listed tours.

For a boat tour in Split, the boats traveling from Split’s ferry port which is just outside of Diocletian’s Palace to the small island of Trogir would be perfect.

The ancient town of Trogir on the island is a great place to have lunch and explore for two of three hours.

You wrote that you’re traveling from Trieste, Italy to Piran, Slovenia and then to Rovinj, Croatia. Not sure what your mode of transportation is but—if it’s by car—take note of the surcharges levied on rental cars if you pick up the car in one country and drop the car off in a different country. It’s called the “one-way dropoff charge” and it can add up to €1,000 to the cost of the car rental. When we visited Venice, Slovenia and Croatia as part of a one-month trip, we first took an express bus from Venice to Ljubljana, Slovenia where we rented a car to see Slovenia. Then we returned the car in Ljubljana, took the train to Zagreb, Croatia where we rented a different car for touring Croatia. It saved about €800 on the one-way dropoff charge which would have tripled (3x) the rental fees we paid to have the cars for two weeks.

While there are ferries from Trieste to Piran and Rovinj during the summer, they may not operate during October. I do see ferries from Venice to Rovinj scheduled during October. You can check ferry schedules at www.DirectFerries.com

A good site to reserve rental cars ahead of your honeymoon is www.AutoEurope.com. Keep in mind each driver will need an International Drivers Permit to legally drive in Italy and Slovenia. You can get one at any AAA office in the U.S for about $30. You need to bring your state drivers license from the U.S. along with the International Drivers Permit.

On the GetYoutGuide recommendation. I thought that was a great idea, but I did a test. I looked at a boat that did a tour of The Bay of Kotor. The open boat tour included a stop at a popular swimming/cave location. I looked for availability in mid-December and sure enough they would take my reservation. An open boat to go swimming in December? Thats not going to happen. So, yes, GetYourGuide and Viator are good resources but drill down deep into the listing and find the company name, its tgere. Call or write direct and discuss.

Better yet, hire a local travel agent to plan your trip. They know whats open and what isnt. I would suspect up until at least mid-October more will be open than in past years. The season has been getting longer because of the crowds in Croatia.

Congratulations! Stop in Rastoke on your drive from Rovinj to Plitvice. Plan to spend at least an hour walking around. We didn't do any boat tours in Istria. You might just want to drive around and visit some of the smaller towns. If the weather is warm, there's a great beach you can walk to from Rovinj for swimming or having a drink.

With such limited time, I’d explore by land near Rovinj, and do the boat trip from Split, where the number of islands makes it a more interesting prospect.
Though I do think a boat trip north from Rovinj, into the Limski gorge, sounds quite interesting.

Adding Rastoke to our list! Thank you for the feedback.

For the car we are returning in the same city, we have a longer trip on both ends!

Adding Rastoke to our list!

Wise move.