Our itinerary so far is: 2 nites korcula wld a car be helpful on korcula? 1 nite split drive there or take care ferry? 1 nite mostar 4 nites dubrovnik. Shld we take the ferry to split or drive up the coast? The fast catamaran leaves at 6am which is early. The car ferry takes over 6 hours. Has anyone tried the car ferry? Comfortable seating?
The other option is to drive up the coast to Split. Michelin says it takes 3 hrs to drive from korcula to split. is that accurate? We plan to rent a car in split for the drive down. We cld just rent it at the dubrovnik airport and use it the whole time.
The catamaran cannot accomodate cars, so if you have one the whole time your options are car ferry or drive. The car ferry from Korcula town only runs on Thursday and Sunday and the daily car ferries depart from the opposite end of Korcula island, so driving to Split may be your better option. I'd allow closer to 4 hours, including one rest stop. Also, confirm that you can take your Croatian rental car into Bosnia, although I suspect it's not a problem since you must pass through a slice of Bosnia on the drive between Dubrovnik and Split. To add another thought: If you want to avoid renting a car, your itinerary can be done using public transit. Assuming you fly in and out of Dubrovnik, spend the first 1 or 2 nights in Dubrovnik, take the early bus to Mostar for an overnight, take the bus to Split for an overnight, take the afternoon catamaran to Korcula (or late morning catamaran to Hvar and afternoon catamaran on to Korcula), and then take the bus back to Dubrovnik for your last 2 or 3 nights. Big ferry from Korcula to Dubrovnik is also a possibility if timing is right (runs only 2 or 3 times a week).
3 of us went to Split, Hvar, Dubrovnik and Korcula. We did not need a car anywhere. You really don't need one in Korcula. We ferried - Split-hvar (fast) Hvar to Dubrovnik large comfortable Ferry - it was like a ship - very comfortable. Bus to Korcula Big ferry back to split. Loved Croatia -- However when in Dubrovnik (which was maybe my favorite destination ever) think about taking a day trip down to Monte Negro. If you have other questions just ask, it was one of my most memorable trips ever.
-David