Speedboat Tours from Hotel Cornaro, Split

Where exactly the boat meets you from Hotel Cornaro

Hotel Cornaro is at Sinjska 6, 21000 Split — a 4-minute walk from the central Split Riva and roughly 280 metres door-to-dock. Walk south down Sinjska, cross the small park, and the Riva is directly in front of you. Our meeting marker is at the eastern end of the Riva near the marina; you'll get a GPS pin via WhatsApp the day before.

We can also pick you up directly from the Hotel Cornaro reception — just tell us when you book. The hotel concierge knows our crew and will phone us when you come downstairs. From the reception to our boats is a 5-minute walk with us, or a complimentary short transfer if you have heavier bags or limited mobility.

Most-booked tours by Cornaro guests

Cornaro tends to attract design-savvy couples and short-stay business travellers. The two tours these guests book most often are the Blue Cave 5-Island Tour (the full-day flagship) and the Hvar & Pakleni Private Charter (slower, more refined, more time on Hvar). Families on a longer stay add the Blue Lagoon & Trogir half-day for kids.

• Blue Cave 5-Island Tour — full day, €119/person, the must-do route
• Hvar & Pakleni Private Charter — 8 hours, from €1,250 per boat, ideal for couples
• Blue Lagoon & Trogir — half day, €69/person, easy with small kids

Cornaro-specific timing tips

The Cornaro breakfast service runs 07:00–10:30 on the seventh-floor terrace. Full-day tours depart at 07:30, which means you'll want a 06:45 breakfast or a quick to-go option at the lobby. Mention us at check-in and the kitchen will usually prepare a pastry-and-coffee bag for early departures — many of our regular Cornaro guests do this.

Half-day tours depart at 13:00. That gives you a full leisurely breakfast on the Cornaro terrace, time for a morning walk through Diocletian's Palace (the south gate is 4 minutes from the hotel), lunch on the Riva, and the boat at 13:00.

Parking and storage during the tour

Cornaro guests park in the hotel's adjacent garage. If you're driving in for the tour, the hotel parking is the closest reliable option in central Split — there is no point hunting for street parking near the Riva on tour days.

Leave anything you don't need at the hotel's luggage room before boarding. The boat has small dry-bag storage, but it's not designed for full suitcases. Sunscreen, swimsuit, light layer for the morning, and a hat are the only things you genuinely need to bring.

Why a speedboat tour beats a coach trip from Cornaro

Coach tours run from Split to Krka and inland sites — perfectly fine, but they involve a 70-minute drive on each side and large groups of 40+. From Cornaro's location, you're at the boat in 4 minutes. The contrast is real: by the time the coach passengers are checking in at the parking lot, you're already cruising past Šolta.

The other advantage: every photograph you've seen of central Dalmatia — Stiniva, the Blue Cave, Hvar's piazza, Zlatni Rat — is reachable by speedboat from the Cornaro doorstep. None of them are easily reachable by coach.

Cost comparison is also worth noting. A coach trip to Krka costs €60 per person and lasts 8 hours, of which 3 hours are on the bus. Our half-day Blue Lagoon trip is €69, takes 5 hours and includes a private island swim plus UNESCO Trogir. Our full-day Blue Cave at €119 is twice the cost but it's also a completely different category of day. Most Cornaro guests we host conclude that the speedboat day is the experience they'll actually remember from their Split trip.

What to do in Split before and after your boat day

Most Cornaro guests have one boat day and one or two slow Split days. The hotel's seventh-floor terrace is one of the best sunset spots in the old town — start there with a glass of Pošip wine on your first evening. For mornings, the south gate of Diocletian's Palace is a 4-minute walk from Cornaro; arrive by 08:00 and you'll have the Peristyle square almost to yourself before the day-trippers arrive at 09:30.

Restaurants we genuinely send Cornaro guests to: Bokeria Kitchen & Wine Bar (5-minute walk, Mediterranean small plates), Konoba Matejuška (8-minute walk, fresh-grilled fish on the western harbour), and Apetit (3-minute walk, traditional Dalmatian cooking in a hidden stone courtyard). Book ahead in July and August; June and September are usually walk-in friendly.

If you have a second free morning after the boat day, the Marjan peninsula is a 15-minute walk west of Cornaro and gives you the best photo views back over the old town. Pack swimwear — there are three small beaches on the Marjan ridge (Ježinac, Bene, Kašjuni) and the water clarity is excellent before midday.

How to book

Reserve any of our tours online with a 15% deposit. WhatsApp us in advance if you'd like the Cornaro reception pickup arranged, or if you want a specific lunch booked on Hvar for after the cave stop. Cornaro guests get the same group/private rates as everyone else — we don't believe in hotel-tier pricing — but we do treat your stay timeline as a priority for routing and weather updates.