Immediately when we got off the ferry from Split, we were blown away by Hvar. We walked onto Hvar’s port and were welcomed with sounds of bustling restaurants and bars, sights of yachts lined side-by-side, and the smell of the ocean (minus the fishy smell that was at Split). We walked up along the port to check into our hotel.

Day 1

Our walk ended up becoming a hike to find this hotel but it was worth the climb to see the other side of Hvar. We learned the hard way that these smaller hotels (a.k.a. apartments) are pretty strict on rules. We had a bit of a hectic check-in since we had an extra person, but luckily we didn’t end up hotel-less! After settling in, we headed out to a restaurant that the host recommended called Villa Dinka, which is next to Amfora Beach Resort. There was a great selection of seafood and an amazing view and deck.

After lunch, we walked through the Amfora Beach Resort, this luxury resort with a beautiful pool and private beach. My friends and I looked into splurging here for a night but decided against it after looking at the prices. However, it was pretty easy to just walk in and use the facilities (not that we did).

We headed to the very popular Hula Hula Bar and Restaurant, which was recommended to us by all of our friends who just visited Hvar. The stories you hear about this place are pretty accurate. It starts off as a relaxing restaurant / bar on the beach (literally on the beach). You can rent chairs for 10 kunas each (~$1.7), somewhat of a requirement given Croatia typically has rocky beaches (no sand), and umbrellas. You can order cocktails and food from the servers or go to the bar. Tip: Feel free to bring snacks and your own water since they don’t really care and best to hydrate to avoid sun stroke and/or a bad morning the next day.

Hula Hula is my favorite and most memorable spot in Hvar because it felt like a day club, but we had our space and own chairs, and were able to relax and swim in Croatia’s incredibly clear and blue waters.

There are multiple areas to sit, some a bit more deserted and further from the bar, but I would recommend sitting closer by the bar so you can still hear the music and it makes it a short walk to the bar if the wait is too long. However, you will catch a beautiful sunset anywhere you sit (shown below).

At this point, we became best friends with Antonia, the bartender who constantly kept us hydrated. Around 7pm / post the sunset, the energy level rose, the music had more bass, and the bar area was getting packed with newcomers and previous beach goers still in their bikinis. We left our beach chairs to hangout by the bar and found this empty table. We spent the next 3 hours dancing along fellow patrons on top of our tables and chairs, while drinking giant pitchers of some concoction from Antonia. We ended up meeting some other travelers and spent the rest of the night just chatting until 10PM / closing time. We retired for the night and it became a Nyquil-evening for me so I could recover from my cold and be rested for the 3 Caves tour the next day.

 

Day 2

Woke up, still drowsy from Nyquil, but excited for the famous 3-caves tour. There are several companies, but we went with Ilirio’s Hvar Tours based on TripAdvisor reviews. Tip: Prepare beforehand and eat breakfast, get water, and buy snacks for the trip. We only did 2 of the 3, and regretted it. The tour takes the entire day, with 3 cave stops (if you pay extra to see the 3^rd cave – the Blue Cave), 2 secret spots (depending on the guide), lunch (not included in the fee), stop at another island, and then a stop to relax at a secluded beach.

Our first stop was the Green Cave, a large cave where we had the opportunity to get off the boat and swim inside the cave and out into the open ocean. The water was just as warm as the outside air and clear as glass.

We boarded and drove for 30 minutes to go the second location. By the time you reach the second spot, we were already dry from the breeze and sun. The drive in between stops was amazing and breathtaking, here are some snapshots below.

When we finally reached our second stop, we got dropped off on the coast to pick up our tickets for the Blue Cave (extra cost, but worth it). After getting our tickets, we stood in line, while fighting off the stray cats, to board a smaller boat that took us inside the Blue Cave.

The Blue Cave is a beautiful, secluded cave that emits this majestic blue glow created by a small opening from the bottom of the cave. The water is incredibly clean since they do not allow anyone to jump in or touch the water. Also, if you drop anything in the water, then say good bye to it forever since they really don’t let anyone touch the water. Our skilled boat captain carefully maneuvered our tiny boat around this 20 feet by 20 feet space with two other boats inside. Due to the high level of traffic, we unfortunately couldn’t spend too much time inside but I still recommend paying extra to visit the Blue Cave.

We then drove to the first secret spot, a natural Jacuzzi spot where you can relax and also cliff jump. I am not the best swimmer so it was pretty tough for me to get into the Jacuzzi since the waves push you back, but it was well worth it. After we made it, we decided to climb up to the top of the cliff. This is when our investment in our water shoes came into play. Thank goodness we bought them because our shoe-less friends got some bad cuts from the sharp rocks. We took turns jumping off and well worth it after you get over the initial fear – sorry LT for not jumping on the count of 3 with you at first.

After this we headed to this beach area to get lunch. There is just a shack near the beach so we were expecting lunch to be a huge disappointment, but that was some of the best seafood we had on this trip. We got back to our boat early and took a moment to do a little photo op – this was our own version of yacht week. We then proceeded to the second secret spot. The secret spot was this underwater cave that requires you to do a bit of diving, but don’t worry, the boat captain helps and makes sure you don’t get injured. The cave itself was amazing and felt like you were inside a seashell and listening to the ocean.

The last cave stop was the Monk Seal Cave, named after the monk seals that used to live there. When we went deeper inside, it was pitch black and almost seemed like a sea monster would engulf our boat at any moment. The water was so dark that it made me nervous to even touch it.

The second to the last stop was Komiza, an island of Vis and a great place to take a break and explore the island (mostly the pier area). We were pretty exhausted from being directly in the sun for most of the day so we just relaxed by the beach area.

The last stop was Palmizana beach, a secluded and beautiful beach where you can hike up to get a great view (15-20 minutes or so based on our friends since my girlfriends and I were too tired to do anything). Everything about it was perfect, just laying on top of the rocks and swimming into the incredibly clear waters.

After enjoying the surroundings, we headed back to Hvar and caught the sunset.

My girlfriends and I got back and took a power nap to get ready for the evening. We heard a lot about Carpe Diem, the nightclub island (literally have to take a ferry to this island). This is different from Carpe Diem bar on Hvar and right on the port.

Before a certain hour, the ferry taxi is free (unfortunately I don’t know the exact hours, we took it around midnight but our friends who got there later paid 150 kunas).  There is a section of the island where you can hang out and swim. We ended the night and caught one of the ferry taxis back – we had to pay 100 kunas – and called it a night. Overall, I would recommend checking out Carpe Diem at least once, but it seems like it could be a hit or miss depending on season and if there are any yachts that docked.

The next morning we woke up to pack our bags and went back to the port to head to Dubrovnik. A post is coming up to wrap up our Croatia trip!