Croatia Travel May 1

Mike, I'm currently deep in the details of planning a May trip to Croatia. I am still trying to make sense of the ferries (it seems very complicated to me) - if you don't already know, you should know that the ferry schedules shrink during the "off season" and service is limited. May is considered off season (high season starts in June). I would imagine that ferries do run on May 1, even though (yes) it is a holiday. On major holidays, I think many of the ferries run their Sunday schedules. More to the point - are you sure that there is a ferry from Hvar to Dubrovnik at all in this season? Looking over the Jadrolina schedule, it appears that there is no ferry from Hvar Town to Dubrovnik at all. There does appear to be a ferry that runs from Stari Grad (town) on Hvar island (about 20 minutes by bus from Hvar Town), but I think that ferry only runs from June to September (and only on Mondays and Fridays), and not at all in May. I am no expert, and it's not easy to figure all this out, but to me it does not look there is a ferry option for you to go from Hvar to Dubrovnik. There are ways to get off Hvar by ferry, but they all seem to involve backtracking to Split, or going via another island (not sure if this is possible), or driving to the eastern end of Hvar island and taking a short ferry to the mainland (Sucuraj to Drvenik, looks like it runs frequently). If you are just looking for a way to get from Hvar to Dubrovnik, look for a bus (I know, sounds odd on an island...). Or ask someone local who knows. Hope that helps a bit - good luck!

Thanks David.. Yeah, I originally thought I saw a ferry that went from Stari Grad to Korcula, and then one that went from Korcula to Dubrovnik, on that Tuesday, but I can't seem to recreate that trip. (which prompted my question about the holiday). I knew I could always back track to Split, but I think traveling to Sucuraj and then ferrying to Drevenik sounds more appealing. Do you know if there are buses from Hvar or Stari Grad to Drevenik that run often? (All I could find was a mention that buses run every couple days).

Nope, don't know too much about the bus system - other than we will probably resort to taking a bus from Korcula to Dubrovnik. I think we may be facing the same conundrum: we're going from Split to Korcula (by ferries), spending a couple days on Korcula, then heading for Dubrovnik - also in May (mid- to late-May for us). As best I can tell there are no ferries at all that run from Korcula to Dubrovnik in their "off season" (there may be in June but that doesn't help us). To get from Korcula to Dubrovnik, our only options appear to back-track all the way to Split (very inefficient), or take a bus off the island. There's one bus every day from Korcula to Dubrovnik - it goes to the east end of the island, takes a short ferry to the mainland, then drives on to Dubrovnik. Just a guess, but I suspect there's a similar similar way to get from Hvar to Dubrovnik - but you should check with someone who actually knows. If you're staying on the island (or in Dubrovnik) at a sobe or small guest house, you might want to ask the owners - the locals know all the ins and outs and I've seen many reports indicating they are often happy to help with such details. Hope that helps.

Mike - I just found a great new resource for info on all the ferries in Croatia. If you are trying to make sense of the options (which I have found to be complicated and difficult), this is the place to find all the details in clear, up-to-date, easy-to-understand formats. They also have a forum where you can get questions answered. It's fantastic - anyone trying to figure out the Croatian ferries should give it a look. I have no connection/interest in the site but stumbled across it a couple days ago and have been very favorably impressed. It's new, but I think it's going to become the go-to resource for details on these ferries. Check it out: http://www.croatiaferries.com/ Hope that helps.

Thanks David. This website is great. I also found a car rental place on hvar island that will rent me a car for the day, picking up in hvar city and dropping off in sucuraj. Only 500 kuna, so I am going to explore the island and take the ferry to drvenik from sucuraj and then a bus to Dubrovnik. I know you said you are going to korcula, but if you ever head to hvar island, the website is: Lukarent.com They emailed me back quickly, and seem accomodating.

Thanks Mike. As luck would have it, we are going to sneak in a half-day on Hvar, on the way from Split to Korcula. I though that would not be possible, but with the info I found on the Croatia Ferries website, figured out that we could take an early ferry from Split to Stari Grad (another port of Hvar Island), take a short bus to Hvar town, arriving there by around 11 am. We'll have lunch there and explore the town for a half day, then catch the 5 pm ferry from Hvar town to Korcula, which should work out perfectly. We won't need a car while we're there, probably just explore on foot since we'll be staying close to the town. Have a great trip!