Half-Day Boat Tour from Split

Our longest boat tours from Split are ten-hour days. They are worth it if you have the time, but not everyone has. You land at Split airport at noon, you sail out on a cruise the next afternoon, you have one free morning before the family wants lunch in the old town, or you are travelling with young children who are not going to last ten hours on the water. That is what this tour is for.

Four and a half hours is enough to get properly out of the city, swim in water that looks nothing like the harbour, walk a UNESCO old town, and be back with most of your day intact. You still get the boat, the skipper, the snorkel gear and the open Adriatic, just not the 07:00 (16 Jun to 15 Sep) or 07:45 alarm and the 82-nautical-mile round trip that the Blue Cave route demands.

Three stops, all in sheltered water between Split and Trogir. Nothing on this route crosses open sea, which is why it runs comfortably on days when the outer-island tours are uncomfortable, and why it suits people who are nervous about boats.

The tour runs twice a day and the two departures are genuinely different experiences, not just different times.

The morning tour leaves at 09:30 and is back at 14:00. The sea is at its calmest before the maestral builds, and the light over the white sand is at its best for photographs. Pick this one if you get seasick, if you are travelling with small children, or if you want the afternoon free for Diocletian's Palace.

The afternoon tour leaves at 14:30 and is back at 19:00. The water is at its warmest, Trogir is in golden-hour light, and you step off the boat straight into dinner time on the Riva. Pick this one if you are not a morning person, or if you landed that morning and want to sleep in first.

The same route runs two ways. The group tour is €70 per person on a boat capped at 12 guests: the half day for a small group on a shared boat. The private charter is €600-700 for the whole boat depending on the date, also up to 12 guests, and it costs no more than the seats from 10 guests.

The difference is not only the price. On a private half day the timings flex: stay in the lagoon until the kids are done swimming, cut Trogir short if it is 34 degrees, or ask the skipper for a quieter cove if the lagoon is busy that hour. Nothing waits on eleven strangers.

This is the tour we recommend when someone tells us they have limited time, small children, or a nervous stomach. Its timings also fit either side of a port call, so cruise passengers choose it too; check your ship's on-board time first.

The price covers the boat and fuel, a licensed skipper and an on-board sailor, snorkelling masks and fins, wind jackets, bottled water and travel insurance for the trip. There is no cave ticket on this route, so unlike the Blue Cave day there is no mandatory extra to budget for.

Lunch is not included: the morning tour gets you back in time to eat in Split, and the afternoon tour finishes at dinner time. Drinks at Beach Bar Borko and anything you buy in Trogir are on you. The remaining amount is paid on the day of the tour, in cash on board or by a payment link you receive that day.

Booking takes a 15% deposit online; the remaining amount is paid on the day of the tour, in cash on board or by a payment link you receive that day. More than 7 days before departure: free of charge, and everything you paid is refunded. 7 days or less before departure, or a no-show: we keep the 15% deposit and refund everything paid above it, with nothing further to pay. 7 days means 168 hours before the departure time.

If the weather makes the day unpleasant, When the weather rules out the planned route, the choice is yours: another route that same day, a new date free of charge, or a full refund of everything you paid. Because the whole route stays in the sheltered channel, this tour runs on plenty of days when the open-Adriatic trips do not.