Early Escape Route

Sometimes it's all about speed and sparing time. With our Early check-in option at 1 pm you can do wonders as the majority of boats don't leave the marina before 5 pm on Saturday. Therefooore...you can have a head start to some of your favourite places. Or ours, if you listen to our advice. We would want you to transfer one million on our acco... Oh! Wrong advice, sorry! 3, 2, 1 pm...GO! The advice is...go straight to Hvar! Four hours of sailing on your first day, but four hours well spent. The town of Hvar is known as a pretty tough place to find a berth on any day, let alone Saturdays. In this case, you will practically be able to choose your own spot.  Rich in monuments such as Hvar Cathedral, Arsenal and Franciscan monastery and a real gem, the first civic theatre in Europe built in 1612, Hvar has a great cultural significance, and historical too. The Fortica Fortress is another example of the long history and architecture. Climb up on it and prey your eyes on the beautiful view of Pakleni islands, numerous bays and beaches. Exceptional gastro offer in Hvar can be tested in many restaurants: fresh fish, olive oil, and wine from the island vineyards will tingle your taste buds. Although Hvar is soaked in history, it is very much alive and synchronized with the modern world, as it is well-known for its parties and night life that attract young people from all over the world, among them lots of those coming on sailing boats and catamarans. For the ones longing for some peace and quiet, we suggest avoiding such nights on Hvar (usually on Sunday and Monday night).   ACI marina Palmižana is an option to spend the night in. For a more romantic setting, there are number of well-protected bays to provide shelter for the night. Be aware of the shallows and rocks under the surface. You're ahead now, relax and get through the night, tomorrow is a new battle. 

We were just kidding...no battle is on...today. 3, 2, sometime am, head towards the island of Korčula passing the island of Proizd on the way. The island of Proizd is famous for its lovely beaches, recognized by the Daily Telegraph as one of the top 5 beaches of the Adriatic and as one of 12 best places for a daily trip in the world by the New York Times...so yes, we most definitely recommend stopping there, diving into the blue water and catching a tan on its pristine beaches. Refreshed and with a wide smile on your face, continue to Vela Luka on the island of Korčula. Vela Luka is the biggest bay on the island and consists of a series of smaller bays for you to enjoy. It is the best-protected harbour and a safe place to spend the night with a gas station to fuel up. While here, go in one of the numerous "konobas" in Vela Luka and ask about Oliver Dragojević, a late legendary Croatian singer that was born in Vela Luka. You will be up for amazing stories about this great man and a song and dance follow up instantly and naturally while drinking wine and eating delicious food. 

Dropping down south once more to the island and Nature Park Lastovo. We recommend sailing to the Zaklopatica bay, favourite to sailors as it is almost closed shut by a small island of the same name. You will find restaurants with moorings and needed facilities, so it is ideal to spend the night. Just a heads up, Mediterranean shearwater nests upon the island and has a characteristic sound resembling child's cry so, if you have small children, send them on the island to either join the cacophony or to confuse the enemy and give you a night off.  From Zaklopatica, you can easily reach the central town of Lastovo. Situated inland instead of the coast as the pirates used to roam the island frequently, Lastovo emerged on a slope of the hill in an amphitheatre shape with an old "kaštel" on the peak of the hill protecting the town. The picturesque medieval town has that natural beauty in it that pulls you in instantly. The calmness that envelops you as soon as you set your foot on the island is when you get enchanted with a place where the time stops. Old stone houses carry a specific detail that the old habitants obviously held dear to their hearts, stylish chimneys, one better and more original than the other with ornaments such as animal horns or simpler ones. After exploring this beautiful town, you can plan what next as you can either go along the coast with your boat and explore the bays and the area of Nature Park (although it consists of 46 islands so not realistic to see all of them), or just head on the beaches in the vicinity. 

The time stands still on this island, but not for all so the next morning the best thing would be to immediately start sailing west to the eastern bank of the small island of Sušac. A beautiful site when sailing in, Sušac is a remote island inhabited by one shepherd (maybe not the case anymore) with a lighthouse far above on the cliff. Keeping in mind that your next stop, Vis town, is around 3 hours sailing away, plan your stay on Sušac. You can either stay in one of the eastern bays, take a break, refresh yourself and continue to Vis, or go all the way south to climb up to the lighthouse. Depends on you but check the Vis itinerary below and then decide.  Go direction NW until you reach the eastern side of the island of Vis where you will come to the small islands of Budikovac and Ravnik. The tour continues with the Green cave on Ravnik island, nature's works of art. Winds and waves have carved in the amazing sights inside and outside of hard Dalmatian rock making astonishing colour patterns. Keep your jaws and phones checked in order not to fall into the sea. Coming to the beautiful Budikovac you can sail into the lagoon where you will find an amazing pebble beach but bear in mind that it's quite shallow and there are some underwater rocks on one side of the Laguna. Now sail on to the town of Vis. Before getting there, you can make a stop at Stončica bay with a beautiful sandy beach and a lovely restaurant. Perfect time to get to know „picigin “, Dalmatian beach sport. Time to visit Issa, the first Greek colony in the Adriatic, after you were introduced with Pharos. Inhabited since prehistory, Vis as an island was on a perfect geographical position on the Adriatic Sea routes. It was Illyrian before the 4th century BC when Syracuse founded the colony of Issa. Afterward, it was a Roman town. Nowadays a typical Dalmatian town, beautiful and full of history Vis has a lot to offer. We recommend staying overnight and seizing the day, if there's any left of it, by going on Vis – Military tour (the island had an important role in World war II and afterward was isolated for more than 50 years by being a former Yugoslavia naval base till the latest war in Croatia). Other options such as Discovery Tour (tour of ancient Roman excavations, numerous sites that have taken away the breath of Romans and Greeks in ancient times, including modern museums and churches), walking on wine roads, mountain biking, free climbing, paragliding, fishing, diving, and swimming, of course, can play a part in entertaining you as well. Vis as an island and as a town is getting recognized more and more, just like the rest of Croatia, as a perfect place to shoot movies and series. The latest one is the mega-hit, a sequel of the musical Mamma Mia, full of mega-stars such as Amanda Seyfried, Mery Streep, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, and Andy Garcia, was shot in Vis, Komiža, and Barjoska beach. Actually, Vis served as a fictional Greek island Kalokairi. They didn’t make any mistake, right? Take a walk, maybe you run into some of the movie gods strolling around…they said they will be back.

No more remote islands on this tour, but from the remote we need to get to the closer ones such as island Šolta and bay of Maslinica as your next stop. Be aware that you will need at least 3.5 hours of sailing and it would be reasonable to make a reservation in Martinis Marchi marina in Maslinica, if you plan to stay the night in that port. We would recommend it as the newly built Marina Martinis Marchi provides a beautiful mooring place with a hotel inside the old castle of Marchi family and an amphitheatre with 500 seats built in ancient Greek style what truly depicts why the marina has been the winner of Best Small Marina in Croatia award for 2018. Breath taking nature, famous Blue Lagoon across the channel on Drvenik islands can be your choice for swimming and enjoying in Dalmatia's mixture for one more day.

Your sixth day of the tour is reserved for some history and culture. Breathe in a little bit of culture, a bit of Greeks, Romans, and Croats, of course, set sail to Trogir. One of the most beautiful and best-preserved towns in Dalmatia, Trogir is no less popular among the tourists than Dubrovnik, just a little bit smaller. :) The oldest part is situated on a small island between the mainland and the island of Čiovo. The famous fort Kamerlengo on the left side will greet you in, not like in Medieval times when it would probably cannon you out of the bay. Lots of marinas around to choose for your base for exploring the Tragurion, Tragurium, Trau, Trogir. Once inside, check this Greek colony founded by Issa in the 3rd century BC. Considered as one of the best-preserved Romanesque-gothic towns in Europe, Trogir attracts tourists with the postcard look of the old town depicting the narrow streets between the old stone houses, art galleries and, most of all, Trogir's cathedral. The sheer example of the Romanesque-gothic mixture of Trogir (the built started in 13th, and finished in the 17th century), the Sv. Lovre cathedral (St. Lawrence) is a must-see. Special attention should go to the Radovan's portal, the main gate of the cathedral finished in 1240 and divided into several parts depicting the most important events and figures of Catholicism. The cathedral is an integral part of the historic core of Trogir, protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

The last day of the Early Escape Route can finish in the same spirit. You can sail out of Trogir and find a bay on the southern side of Čiovo island, or in front of the Kašjuni beach beneath the Marjan hill, if you want to spend a good part of the day swimming and making good use of our water sports equipment. Keep in mind that you have a 1,5-hour sailing from Trogir to Split, have to arrive before the dark and fuel up before the check out in the morning. Another option is to go straight for Split and head to the Split Old Town, check the Diocletian's palace, Riva (Split promenade), numerous museums and, of course, the restaurants. Tomatoes-tomatos, right? Only with our options, there's no wrong answer.