Island Hopping in Croatia

Where do I even start? We had the most incredible 10 days exploring the Croatian islands of Brac and Hvar. We spent days swimming in some of the clearest, most beautiful water we have ever seen, we rode quads over the islands, discovering gorgeous beaches along the way, ate delicious gelato and stunning fresh seafood. These 10 days are going to be hard to beat.

BRAC:

Brac is somewhat of an off-the-beaten-path destination in Croatia. The island of Hvar is more of a popular choice for holiday goers. But this is what we loved about Brac!

We arrived in Brac late in the evening and headed to our campsite. We were a slightly unsure about the campsite at first but it was a little bit cheaper than our other options. We soon discovered why. On the app we use to find campsite, it said it was located 200m away from a nightclub. Some of the reviews were “too loud” or “why on earth would Brac allow a nightclub like this?” To be honest our thoughts were.. “what old farts! It cant be that bad!!”. Anyway, we were exhausted and got ready for bed. It should have registered to us when the campground was handing out free earplugs. We rolled our eyes but took some anyway. We heard the faint “doof doof”of the nightclub at about 11pm. It was nothing that we couldnt sleep through and we fell asleep within minutes.

WELL.

WE WERE WRONG.

At 1am we sat bolt straight up right in bed. Totally daized and unsure of where we were. All we could hear was the SCRETCHING and terrible base of what apparently is called music (look who are the old farts now!!). We couldnt believe the noise that was coming from the nightclub that was a decent enough distance away! It sounded like the nightclub was right outside our window! We scrambled around, trying to find those earplugs that we were so quick to mock. We shoved them in our ears but we could still hear the “music” loud and clear. We hardly slept a wink that night…. 8am rolled around and we packed up our things and got out of there!!!!

Our new campsite was a dream. It was a small, family-run business with a restaurant attached where they served the most gorgeous, fresh home-cooked meals and their wine! The best part was, we couldn’t hear the nightclub!

We had an amazing 5 days staying here. We got to know the owners well and we made friends with a lovely German couple – Selina and Felix! We all hit it off and we had dinner with them at our campsite the following two nights! We intending on visiting them in their hometown in Germany in a few months!

We spent the best part of 5 days laying on the beach and swimming in the incredible water! We would spend hours in the water at a time – it was so warm! When we weren’t at the beach, we were wandering through the little town.

Brac is well known for its beach, Zlatni Rat. It is a long, white pebbled beach that comes to a point. We wandered down to Zlatni Rat one evening to watch the sunset but in all honesty, we are glad we didn’t spend one of our beach days here! We much preferred the little beach we had found!

Morgan decided he wanted to do a dive, so he set off early one morning for a dive in the Adriatic Ocean. The water clarity was unbelievable. Even being 25m down, he could look up and still see the surface. Unfortunately, the fish life was pretty dismal which makes you very appreciative of what we have back home. It was still an incredible dive as it was something different. One to tick off the bucket list!

HVAR

Hvar is a Mediterranean dream with its rustic cobblestone streets, secluded coves, and stunningly clear waters.

We decided to stay at the same campsite Mum and Dad stayed in 2016 and, it was great! The campsite was right on the water so, after a busy day moving from Brac to Hvar, we lay on the rocks and swam until the sun went down.

Our days were spent wandering the lanes of the old town, eating gelato, exploring the island in search of its best beaches and visiting incredible fortresses where we watched the as the sunset over the old town.

Hvar is home to a magnitude of beaches that’ll knock your socks off .. the hardest part is picking which ones to visit in such a short amount of time! We hired a quad and set off to explore as much of Hvar as possible.

With the sun steaming hot at 9 am, we wound our way through the old town and onto the open roads with stunning coastline around every turn.

The first stop (and probably our favorite) was Malo Zaraće. The beach was hard to find which is probably a good thing! After taking a few turns down a steep street, the view blew us away. The white pebble beach, deep turquoise waters, and the surrounding steep landscapes were spectacular.

We spent hours in the water duck diving and exploring the sea bed. We were in the water so long we had to get out due to exhaustion, not because we were cold! It is the clearest water we’ve ever seen. We fell in love with Malo Zaraće but decided we needed to move on in search of more incredible beaches.

The second beach we came across was Dubovica. It is an incredibly picturesque cove with white pebbles, olive trees and a beautiful old villa situated that looks back over Duovica. It is probably one of the more popular beaches on Hvar Island despite the challenge of actually getting to the beach which, requires a steep walk down on loose gravel!

As Dubovica beach comes into sight, the glistening water immediately calls you in. So that exactly what we did. We made the most of the rest of the afternoon by getting in and out of the water. It was the perfect spot to chill and relax after hours of swimming.

As the sun was getting low in the sky, we decided it was time to move on. We couldn’t resist the urge to stop at Malo Zaraće for one last swim before heading home. Once again, the bright blue waters glistening in the sun called us in.

On our final afternoon in Hvar, we hopped on our quad and took off to the best sunset spot – Napoleon fortress. This spot is a little gem. Perched high up on the hill, you overlook the orange roofs of Hvar town below, the sparkling ocean and in the distance, the well known Hvar fortress. We took some beers (obviously) and watched as the town was washed in golden light.