We all agreed that the best day of our Makarska holiday was the day we rented a speedboat! Several such options are available with advertisement boards lining the marina. We contacted ‘Rent A Boat’ (details below) by Whats App and after a few exchanges we had booked an 8 person speedboat complete with local skipper for the day!
Having stocked up with some essential supplies for the cool box we met our skipper at 09:00 at the marina and before long we were on our way, speeding along in the gorgeous sunshine, wind in our hair as the boat cut through the sapphire blue sea.
After about 20 minutes our skipper moored at our first stop, Sumartin on the island of Brac. Within a minute we were sitting in the sun at the adjacent bar with a beer in hand! We watched as the car ferry arrived, which we had overtaken a short while ago. The car ferry sails between Makarska and Sumartin several times a day.
Following a short stop at Sumartin we were on our way again, following the coast of Brac and heading towards Bol.
Due to its shape the Golden Horn at Bol is one of Croatia’s best known beaches… its official name is Zlatni Rat. Our skipper anchored the boat and we were able to swim to the beach. Being such a well known beach it was somewhat crowded so it was time to climb back on board and make our way towards Rabbit Island.
In contrast to Bol, the tiny Rabbit Island was almost deserted apart from the odd naturist… Nude beaches are common along this part of Croatia. We disembarked and had a wander around the island for about 20 minutes or so before arriving at our next island stop.
Hvar
The island of Hvar is famous for its lavender fields and vineyards and is a popular tourist island.
The above two photos are of the town Vrboska which was where we had our lunch. Our skipper had already reserved a table in a delightful restaurant where we sat outside, next to the boat and dined on delicious pizza, washed down with delicious local Croatian wine. After lunch, we had a wander around the quiet and picturesque town for a few minutes before boarding the boat again.
Our next stop was to Jelsa, another gorgeous little town where we had ice creams!
Finally we stopped at a quiet little cove with crystal clear water. Here we embarked on cliff diving (well, that was Elliott) and snorkelling. We stayed for nearly an hour before sadly it was time to head back to Makarska where we arrived at around 6:10 pm.
Summary
What a fantastic day! Best day of the holiday and one of the best days of 2018.
We hired the boat with ‘Rent A Boat‘ for a total cost of 270 Euros + fuel, which included a skipper for the day. We paid the 270 Euros in cash (mostly in Croatian kuna’s… Euros would have been preferred but we didn’t have enough with us…) and the fuel was paid for at the end of the trip by credit card. So the total cost was around £345 or just under £50 per head.
While the cost per person was roughly double the cost of a conventional boat trip the enjoyment throughout the day was probably ten-fold.
Also, while it wasn’t exactly a multi-million pound yacht we had a glimpse of what it was like to have our own skipper who was willing to sail us to lovely islands as we wished, stopping at charming little marinas for a drink or a lovely meal and photogenic coves for a dip in the sea!
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