Ferries in Croatia
If you’re visiting one of Croatia’s beautiful islands, you’ll need to take a ferry. In this document, I will provide all the essential information about ferries in Croatia, including which ferry company to choose, where to find timetables, and how to buy your tickets.
Croatia offers ferry services to more than 40 islands and 50 ports year-round. However, the number of daily and weekly departures on each route varies significantly depending on the time of year. Some routes, such as Split to Hvar, have just one or two daily departures in the winter but more than 10 per day during the summer season.
Ferry connections are crucial for keeping the islands populated. The government subsidizes many ferry routes to ensure that island inhabitants have easy and affordable access to the mainland year-round.
Ferry Companies in Croatia
With a larger number of ferry routes, several ferry companies are operating. Below, I have listed the most important ferry companies
Jadrolinija: This state-owned ferry company operates the largest number of routes, especially many of the subsidized ferry routes.
- Online Sale ✅
- Mobile App ✅
- Ferry Locator ❌
TP Line d.o.o: Private ferry company operating fast ferries only. The company runs ferry routes from Split and Dubrovnik to the most popular holiday Islands. TP Line has the newest fleet among the Croatian ferry companies.
- Online Sale ✅
- Mobile App ✅
- Ferry Locator ✅
Krilo Kapetan Luka is a private ferry company that operates fast ferries only. The company runs routes from Split, Zadar, and Dubrovnik to the most popular holiday Islands and has the largest fleet of fast ferries.
- Online Sale ✅
- Mobile App ❌
- Ferry Locator ❌
Krilo Shipping Company: Private ferry company operating fast ferries from Split to Brac and Solta Island.
- Online Sale ✅
- Mobile App ❌
- Ferry Locator ❌
Rapska Plovidba d.d: private ferry company that operates the car ferry route from Stinica to Mišnjak on Island Rab.
- Online Sale ❌
- Mobile App ❌
- Ferry Locator ❌
G&V Line Iadera: Privat ferry company operating state-subsidized routes to smaller Islands in the Zadar archipelago, only operates passenger ferries.
- Online Sale ✅
- Mobile App ❌
- Ferry Locator ❌
Adriatic Lines (By Kompass): A Private ferry company operating a fast ferry route between Istrian cities and Venice in Italy. The company also operates a fast ferry between Dubrovnik and Kotor and Dubrovnik and Budva in Montenegro.
- Online Sale ✅
- Mobile App ❌
- Ferry Locator ❌
Miatours (Miatrade d.o.o.): Privat ferry company operating state-subsidized routes to smaller Islands in the Zadar archipelago and a route from Zadar to Pula, the company only operates passenger ferries.
- Online Sale ❌
- Mobile App ❌
- Ferry Locator ❌
SNAV: A large Italian Private ferry company operating car ferries to/from Croatia during the summer season.
- Online Sale ✅
- Mobile App ✅
- Ferry Locator ❌
In addition to the above-mentioned ferry companies, several companies in Croatia operate very short boat routes. One example is the boat route between Cavtat and Dubrovnik; another is the boat route between Brodarica and the Island of Krapanj.
Liberalization of the Ferry Market in Croatia
The liberalization of the ferry market in Croatia has been discussed for almost a decade. At this point, it looks like it may happen this year or next.
Several key questions remain:
- Are any international companies interested in operating ferries in Croatia?
- Will ferries become more expensive for taxpayers?
- Will it be cheaper for passengers in the short and long term?
- Will liberalization improve service, for example, by introducing newer vessels?
- Will it lead to new ferry routes?
Most Popular Fast Ferry Routes in Croatia
Split to Hvar is by far the most popular fast ferry route during the summer season. daily, there are more than 10 departures, and the sailing time of the route is around 1 hour. You can find More information about this route here
Split to Bol is the most popular fast ferry route to Island Brac. During the summer season, there are five or six daily departures. The sailing time for this route is also around one hour. You can find all the information about this ferry route here.
Split to Dubrovnik: This ferry has been increasing in popularity in the last years, and in the summer season, there are now up to 6 daily departures. The ferry route has a travel time of about 5 hours, which is only about 1 hour more than the buses between Split and Dubrovnik. You can find all the details about the trip here.
Dubrovnik to Korcula. The Fast ferry from Dubrovnik to “Little Dubrovnik” operates year round; during the summer season, this route has up to 6 daily departures. Sailing time for this route is between 2 and 2.5 hours. You can find all the details about this route here
Korcula to Split: The fast ferry from Korcula Town to Split is available the whole year; in the summer season, there are up to 4 daily departures to choose between. The sailing time for this ferry route is about 3 hours. You can find all the details about the ferry trip here.
Other popular fast ferry summer routes are Hvar to Dubrovnik, Hvar to Korcula, Dubrovnik to Mljet, and Split to Mljet.
Most popular Car ferry connections in Croatia
Split – Supetar: The car ferry route connecting Split and Supetar on Island Brac is the most travelled in Croatia. Yearly, more than 2.1 million people and 0.5 million vehicles travel on this route. During the wintertime, there are up to 10 daily departures and in summerseason up to 15 daily departures.
Zadar Gaženica – Preko: This car ferry connection yearly transports 1.5 million passengers and 560 thousand vehicles. The car from Zadar to Preko is the main ferry connection to/from Island Ugljan and also the most important car ferry connection for people living on Island Pasman. The 25-minute long ferry trip runs between 15 and 18 times a day.
Valbiska – Merag: The ferry connection between Valiska on Island Krk and Merag on Island Cres has a yearly passenger volume of 1.28 million and 540.000 thousand vehicles. The ferry route is the most important car ferry connection for Islands Cres and Losinj. The 25-minute long ferry trip operates 12 to 13 times daily.
Stinica – Mišnjak: The main car ferry connection to Island Rab transports 1.01 million passengers and 430.000 vehicles a year. The 20- to 25-minute long ferry trip operates 13 to 23 times daily.
Other noticeable high-volume car ferry connections:
Connection | No. Passengers | No. Vehicles |
Prizna – Žigljen | 975.000 | 385.000 |
880.000 | 365.000 | |
750.000 | 220.000 | |
Porozina – Brestova | 540.000 | 225.000 |
Tkon – Biograd na Moru | 490.000 | 155.000 |
Split to Rogač | 420.000 | 120.000 |
International ferries from Croatia
Croatia has several International ferry connections with Italy as well as a connection to Montenegro.
During the summer season, there are car ferry connections from Split to Ancona, Zadar to Ancona, and Dubrovnik to Bari. The first departures are around April or May.
From Istrian towns like Pula, Porec, Rovinj, and Umag, there is a fast ferry connection to Venice operating during the summer season.
From Dubrovnik, there is a fast ferry to Kotor and Budva in Montenegro; the fast ferries to Budva operate from May till September and the ferry to Kotor from June to September: There is only departure on specific weekdays.
Main Ferry Ports in Croatia
The majority of ferry ports in Croatia are only connected to one or a few destinations, but there are some exceptions:
The Split ferry port is by far the largest and busiest ferry port in Croatia. The port is connected to more than 20 destinations and 8 different islands. In total, about 6 million people travel to or from the ferry port in Split each year.
The Zadar ferry ports (there is a car ferry port, Gaženica, and a passenger-only port), although having fewer passengers and departures than Split, serve more destinations—over 25—and are connected to more than 15 islands. (This is due to the many inhabited small islands in the Zadar archipelago.)
The Dubrovnik ferry port is the third largest in Croatia in terms of destinations, with more than 15 domestic destinations on 8 islands, as well as an international connection to Bari in Italy. About half of these destinations are only available during the summer season.
During the summer, small island ports like Korčula, Hvar, and Bol see a substantial increase in the number of destinations that can be reached without a ferry change. This is especially convenient if you plan to do Island Hopping in Croatia.
Cruise ship ports in Croatia
Dubrovnik Port, Split Port, and Zadar Gaženica all have cruise ship arrivals at dedicated areas of the port. In 2025, Split Port will start being a departure port for some Mediterranean cruises.
Tickets and timetables
Here are my best tips about buying tickets, getting the cheapest tickets, and finding timetables.
Timetables
There is no central website with the timetables for all ferries in the whole of Croatia, so to see the possible departure times for a specific date, you need to know which operator(s) are servicing the route you plan to travel on. Here are some simple rules you can follow.
For all domestic car ferry routes, there are only two possible operators, Jadrolinija or Rapska Plovidba, and the latter only operates one route between Stinica and Mišnjak.
If you are traveling to the Dalmatian Island, the possible operators are Jadrolinija, Krilo Shipping, Kapetan Luka, or TP line.
If you are travelling on one of the international routes to/from Croatia, the possible operators are Jadrolinija, SNAV, Adriatic-lines
All the above-mentioned operators have timetables available on their websites, and in most cases, they have a date search engine available so that it is easy to find possible departure times.
Buying Tickets
You can buy tickets online from most ferry companies. Just visit their website and follow the instructions.
At ports, there are no central ticket selling places; all ferry companies operating from a port have their own selling places. At smaller ports, this can be a kiosk or a travel agency located near the port.
Tickets (How to get the cheap ones😉)
The first thing you need to know about getting the cheapest ticket is this rule:
Important rule: State-subsidized routes are always the cheapest, so wherever you have the opportunity to take such a departure, your bank adviser would appreciate it.
On the majority of ferry routes in Croatia, a State-subsidized ticket is the only option, but here comes the “but”😉
On some of the very popular island destinations like Hvar, Bol, Korcula Town, and Mljet, the majority (Not all) of the departures are regular commercial lines, and these departures all come with a higher price tag than the State-subsidized lines.
To help you save some money, I have therefore made a table where you can see which operator’s websites you should visit to get a cheap State-subsidized ticket, dending on the route you are travelling, in most cases you can save minimum 50% on the ticket. Note: I only list one direction of the route, e.g. Split to Hvar, but the website I mention of course also applies if you travel in the opposite direction!
Travel Route | Cheapest tickets on…. |
Split – Hvar | |
Split – Bol | |
Split – Milna | |
Split – Korcula | |
Dubrovnik – Korcula | |
Dubrovnik – Mljet | |
Hvar – Korcula |
Feel free to leave a comment below if you have any questions about travelling by ferry in Croatia!