In today’s video, we take you on a self-catering island ”hopping” tour to islands Kaprije and Žirje in the Šibenik Archipelago.
The Šibenik Archipelago is less known than the Zadar Archipelago with Kornati Islands, the National Park, and Telašćica Nature Park, but it is a real gem. The archipelago boasts more than 200 islands and islets, making it a unique experience to visit.
Of the islands in the archipelago, only six are permanently inhabited, so plenty are available if you’ve been considering getting yourself an island or islet. 😊
Four of the inhabited islands, plus the island resort Obonjan, can be reached with a scheduled ferry from Šibenik, which operates year-round.
Our Island “Hopping” Itinerary
The reason for doing the island-hopping trip was that I wanted to see the UNESCO site St. Nicholas Fortress from the seaside. There is, of course, an official tour to the fortress (which we also did, you can read about that here), but I wanted to see if a budget trip with a Jadrolinija ferry would be a viable alternative, although you only get to see the fortress from the outside.
The next step was to decide which ferry route we should take. All three would take us past the fortress, but they also go to specific islands:
- 532: Šibenik, Zlarin, Obonjan, Kaprije, Žirje
- 505: Šibenik, Zlarin, Prvić Luka, Prvić Šepurine, Vodice
- 9502: Šibenik, Kaprije, Žirje
We opted for route 532, which on the day of our sailing trip went from Šibenik to Kaprije to Žirje. (The route depends on the weekday and time of departure.) Note: Route 9502 is a fast ferry with no option to be outside, which is why we did not take that one.
Time for Our Trip
Before our trip, we bought tickets online at Jadrolinija.hr. The ticket price to island Žirje and back was €10.20 per person (compared to €21 for an organized tour to St. Nicholas Fortress).
Our ferry departed at 11:30 AM. The ferry, Lošinjanka, was an older lady with an okay cabin and seating outside. Her sailing qualities were intact, although the engine roared a bit. 😊
After about 10 minutes of sailing, we entered the beautiful St. Anthony Channel, the only sea route into Šibenik, and after 30 minutes, we passed by St. Nicholas Fortress, which looked stunning from the ferry.
Island Zlarin
The first inhabited island we passed was Zlarin. (As mentioned above, some departures of ferry route 532 also stop here.)
Zlarin is the third largest island in the Šibenik Archipelago, with a size of about 8 km² and a year-round population of 300 people.
Known as the “Island of Corals,” Zlarin has harvested red coral since the 15th century, with records of coral hunters using the “inženj” (St. Andrew’s Cross) tool. There is a Coral Museum on the island.
As we passed, I could see many tour boats in the port of Zlarin, so this is also an option to consider if you want to visit some of the islands.
Island Kaprije
After 1 hour and 20 minutes of sailing, we reached the first stop on our ferry trip, Kaprije. The island is around 7 km² and has a year-round population of fewer than 200 people.
An interesting fact about the island is that it is named after capers, which grow abundantly there.
The village of Kaprije looked really inviting, but unfortunately, I forgot to take photos, so you’ll have to check the video to see what Kaprije looks like.
The ferry stopped for about 10 minutes before we continued our trip.
Island Žirje
After 1 hour and 55 minutes, we reached our final destination, island Žirje, which is about 22 km from Šibenik. With a size of 15 km², it is the second largest in the archipelago. The year-round population is around 100 people.
At Žirje, we had 45 minutes before the ferry was scheduled to return to Šibenik, so we went for a walk to explore the port area. Unfortunately, there was not much to see, as the port is not the main village on the island.
At 2:10 PM, our return ferry left Žirje port.
My Take on the Trip
The sailing and the views alone were worth the €10.20 we paid for the trip. We should have gotten off in Kaprije; the village there had much more to offer. We could have sat down and enjoyed a high-protein drink 😉 and maybe even lunch. In Žirje’s port, there was nothing to buy or enjoy.
Make sure to bring some food if you go to Žirje. Luckily, we brought sandwiches and drinks.
If you go to Žirje, you should bring a bicycle; otherwise, it will be hard to explore the island.
Was this trip better than our €21 organized trip to St. Nicholas Fortress? You’ll have to watch the video to see my answer to that question! 😉
2 thoughts on “Island Hopping Sibenik”
Hi Morten your videos are informative tyvm. I am planning to visit in 2026 looking for a budget friendly DIOCLETIAN PALACE APT. watched a video on one ….the women mentioned price 50 euros is that possible ? Planning to base out of SPLIT as I would love to tour the islands and so much more Also is there a website other than booking.com to book apts in Croatia ( budget friendly) as I plan to stay from 4/6 weeks ?
Hi Ellen,
You’re welcome — glad you like my videos! 50 euros for an apartment in the Palace seems suspicious to me. On which website did you find it? Was it on Booking.com?
For short term stays in the hotspots like Split, Hvar Bol, Dubrovnik etc, probably booking.com and airbnb has the most apartment.
When i travel around and stay for a week in one less crowded places I use this website (Is not for short term stay) https://www.direct-croatia.com/, appartment are usually cheaper here, any many of them you can not even find anywhere else.
Kindest regards,
Morten