Morning came pretty quickly! In fact we got up a little earlier so that we could grab a quick breakfast before meeting the boat that would be taking us to the Blue Caves. We strolled into the center of town and we were treated to the beautiful seaside town that is Hvar Town!
After grabbing breakfast, we walked over to the port/dock area where we waited to meet our boat. Gimpy had booked this Blue Cave tour well before our trip. We were to meet someone that would take us to the boat. When we finally met the representative, he mentioned that the boat had been upgraded. So instead of the Zodiac like boat we saw in the booking, we were actually getting this fancier yacht like speed boat. No complaints here!
We boarded the boat, met the crew and also our fellow tour mates for the day. The captain went through our itinerary and some safety guidelines. Afterwards, we were on our way, speeding out of Hvar and to our first stop of the day.
The Lagoon of Budikovac Island
After a 20 minute ride from Hvar, our first stop was the lagoon of Budikovac Island. This is a beautiful blue bay with a few boats already anchored. Our captain said that while the sea water is cool, this lagoon’s water is a bit warmer and is great for swimming. Gimpy and two other shipmates jumped in.
Normally I’m not strong in the water and tend to be a bit hesitant when it comes to places I can’t touch the bottom. But the water did look inviting and Gimpy did say she’d rescue me if I started to get in trouble. So with a little caution I nudged myself into the water until I was fully in. I’m not sure what “normal” sea water feels like, but this felt plenty cool to me. So while I did swim, I didn’t spend too much time in the water.
Green Cave
After we were all back on board and trying to dry off. Our captain steered our boat to the Green Cave. Upon arriving, we needed to move from our speed boat into smaller row boats in order to enter the Green Cave. I think that in order to preserve the cave itself, nothing large and motorized is allowed in and so these small boats charge a small fee to all the tour operator’s passengers in order to let them inside the cave to see.
We all decided to go in, and so we boarded the smaller boat and went in. To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t overly impressed with the Green cave. While its neat that there is this U shaped cave carved out from the waves and water. And there is this hole in the top where sunlight can come in and change the colour of that water. It honestly didn’t feel much like a cave. The openings were really wide and so it didn’t really feel like you were inside a cave. Some of our group had originally thought about swimming into the cave after we had done the row boat. But after seeing it, they decided against it. I think the general consensus was that while its a neat formation of rock, its not super impressive.
Blue Cave
From the Green Cave, it was a half hour ride to the Island of Biševo where the Blue Cave is. We docked our boat and made landfall. Here we had to buy tickets to get into the blue cave. Once we got our tickets, there were a few boat operators waiting to take us in.
We all got into a smaller white motor boat, and the operators took us from the dock, around to the other side of the island. There was this tiny little hole which we learned was the entrance to the Blue cave. As we neared the entrance, our driver had us all get into the bottom of the boat and duck down, it was THAT small of an opening.
Once we were all inside, the cave opened up into a larger cavern that was lit with this mysterious blue light. As we rounded a bend we found ourselves in the largest area of the cave and we could see why they called it the Blue cave. It was beautiful!
Underwater there is a natural opening that leads outside. And so when the sun shines into the water, it reflects and shines into this cave. Because the water is blue, the light is tinted blue resulting in the amazing illumination we now found ourselves in.
Our boat circled the pool inside the cave before heading towards the exit. Again we were told to duck down and before we knew it, we were outside and headed back to the dock. I can safely say that the Blue cave experience is far more worthwhile than the Green cave. Its certainly more unique and and leaves a great impression (at least for me anyways).
Once we were back on the Island of Bisevo, we had a chance to visit the bathrooms on the island at the top of a hill. From there, the views of the neighbouring islands and water is beautiful, and so we ended up taking a few extra photos on our way back.
Stinva Beach
Once everyone was back on our main boat, we headed to Stinva beach. Along the way, we pass this beautiful rock face with all these little caves being formed along it. One can only hope more “Blue Caves” are formed.
We arrived at Stinva beach where our boat dropped anchor a ways away from the beach. We were told that because of its remoteness, the only way to get to the beach was to swim from the boat. (I later learned through research, that there is a walking path but is more of a goat trail). Our captain estimated that the swim would take about 10-15 minutes to get there. Apparently halfway there, there is a rope that you can hang onto to guide yourself the rest of the way.
Now, as badly as I wanted to go, I knew that there were some things that were a little outside of my limits. This was likely one of them and one of the few times in my travels, that my unease in the water has limited me from doing something I wanted. However, Gimpy and two other of our shipmates did make the attempt. So the three of them got into the water and started their swim inland.
We tracked their progress until the disappeared out of view. A few minutes later they came back into sight and were on their way back. As they all got back on board, you could tell they were drained. In some ways I’m glad that I decided to not to go. But in others, I’m regretful that I didn’t give it a shot. But, as Gimpy mentioned afterwards, I might have died if I did and she’d be too tired to save me!
I did ask them about the beach, and they said its a lovely pebble beach with rock walls on all sides. They didn’t spend too much time there because there looked to be some party going on, and they didn’t want to interrupt.
Toto’s
Once everyone was back aboard, we headed to the Palinksi Islands to stop for lunch. We sailed into this beautiful harbour where we docked and our Captain introduced us to a restaurant called Toto’s. This is primarily an outdoor restaurant with a beautiful patio overlooking the harbour. I ended up ordering a fish ravioli that was awesome! I really do have to say that aside from the English breakfasts, I’ve really been enjoying the Croatian fare! All three of us were starving and we plowed through lunch pretty quickly and thoroughly.
With the rest of the time we had left on this Island, we spent it exploring and photographing the harbour!
Back to Hvar
From Toto’s our cruise was nearing an end. Our Captain took us back to Hvar, where we said good bye to our boat and our ship mates. It was mid afternoon, and we weren’t ready to head back to our AirBnB just yet. So we decided to walk along the water and see where it took us. Hvar has a lot of character, and the marina lifestyle is certainly apparent as well. Every bend we rounded, we encountered another swimming area or marina. The number of boats for such a small town is impressive. From small row boats to super yachts it was all here.
We were fortunate enough to catch the beginning of sunset as we started heading back home. We couldn’t help but take pictures of the beautiful scenes along the water, and even the light against the buildings. By the time returned to our AirBnB, the sun was below the horizon but not before lighting up the sky with this beautiful pink and orange.
Klapa Rispet
We spent some time resting after returning to our AirBnb. However we wanted to head back out into town again. On our way back after the cruise, we saw a stage being setup, and we were curious if something was going to be happening tonight. So after a bit of rest, we headed back, and from the sound of music coming from the town centre, we knew something was up.
When we arrived, we saw a huge crowd gathered in front of the stage. There was a male vocal ensemble that was singing some Croatian music. They seemed to be pretty well known, but we didn’t know who they were. Judging by the crowd reaction and how familiar everyone was with their songs and lyrics, they must have gotten some airplay. As we watched, we witnessed people both young and old dancing together, and singing along with the group. Their set lasted a long time and every song was a little bit different.
While we enjoyed the music, all three of us were frantically googling trying to figure out who they were, with no success. I later ended up asking our AirBnB host who told us this group was called Klapa Rispet. A famous ensemble for this region.
Big Bang Dinner
After about an hour, we were good with Klapa Rispet and headed back to the AirBnB. Our plan for dinner was actually to go to Big Bang beside our place again! We saw something on the menu that caught our attention, Cevapi. Out of curiosity I checked it out and was interested given that its a common dish in this region. Its this meatball/sausage minced meat, that usually comes with a mince pepper sauce and served in flatbread. So the three of us visited our neighbouring fast food shop, Big Bang and ordered three Cevapi’s. We brought it back to our place, opened up Vino’s bottle of wine and had a very satisfying meal at home.
We’d had a pretty long day and so after dinner, we washed up and hit the hay pretty soon after.