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Umag sunset (october 2003)

Hvar (43° 10.5'N; 16° 27'E)

Hvar is generally considered to be the ‘St Tropez of Croatia’, but don’t get your expectations up too high… It is a nice little town that (rather successfully) aims for a bit more high-end tourism, and definitely better than Stari Grad on the other side of the island. As a result of its reputation, the small harbour is very busy from mid-May until late October. Below you can see the three main routes towards the harbour. Hvar is a party town, a quiet night cannot be guaranteed. See also my Hvar photo-album.

Please check here for a hilarious description of a night anchoring in Hvar during high-season.

The harbour is reasonably well protected against most winds. Northwesterlies can be annoying, because water gets pushed into the Pakleni Kanal. The same for southerlies (Sirocco) brings some annoying swell.

It is forbidden to anchor between Galisnik island (in front of the harbour) and Krizni Rat peninsula.

Below you see a harbour map. There is not much space for mooring here, the quay (Riva) can facilitate 20 – 30 ships maximum (especially when the ‘big yachties’ show up). There is water and electricity available. Depth at the quay is between 5 meters (side of ferry-mooring) and 2.5 meters (northern side near the local ships).

Anchoring depth is between 8 – 10 meters.

Legend

A - Ferries *

B - Local ships

C - Cruising yachts (nowadays usually superyachts)

D - Anchoring area

E - International arrivals

F - Harbourmaster’s Office

In 2007, ships were anchoring south of area B in the western part of the harbour. I would not recommend it, since depth is over 20 meters there. In 2008, mooring buoys were situated there. However, there are too many for the limited space.

* During the evening, this area is usually reserved for cruise ships. Sometimes a yacht will be allowed to moor here, however you need to leave before 06:00 AM, the arrival time of the morning ferry.

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