Travelling in Croatia

You need to price both options and compare the results. You haven't provided enough info for anyone else to price it, even if they wanted to do the work.

I guess what I'm specifically wondering is:
Are there any great English sites with bus or ferry schedules and prices. I can't seem to find sites that translate. Has anyone done any legs of our journey before and have some tips of how to sort out what the best value is? I basically am looking for a place to start! It got a litle overwhelming trying to find stuff online this afternoon! Thanks!

Ferries: http://www.jadrolinija.hr/default.aspx?lang=2 Buses: Pick up a copy of Lonely Planet - it will have the bus companies listed. It will also likely have some prices, but they will be out of date. Buses in that area are cheap - Split to Dubrovnik direct is 105-166 kuna in my LP (copyright 2009). Don't forget the drop charge for the car.

I don't have very much to add, except that you might find the following website useful: www.croatiatraveller.com Additionally, we rented a car for one day for our day trip to Montenegro from Dubrovnik. Others on this forum have used a tour bus company (Atlas is one company that does a tour, and Elite may, too), so that may be a starting point for comparing costs/modes of travel. I recall that trying to do it on our own by using public transportation wouldn't work, as the bus schedules to/from were not conducive for a day trip. This, however, was in 2008, and things may have changed since then. Good luck!

A few years ago I rented a car (Hertz via AAA in the US) in Pula, island hopped to Dobrovnik and returned via the coast highway and dropped the car at the Split airport. It worked great and gave me a lot more flexibility than depending on buses. One caveat is that the roads, especially on the islands are narrow and take concentration. If you rent a car get the smallest one possible.

Thanks all for your great tips - I definitely feel like I have a better idea of where to start exploring our options!