Sailing the Elaphiti (Elafiti) Islands from Dubrovnik
One of our favourite activities in Croatia was a day spent sailing around the Elaphiti Islands from Dubrovnik. We splurged and took a private charter, but there are many ways to enjoy the islands!
Where are they?
The Elaphiti Islands are a small archipelago near Dubrovnik. Some of the islands are inhabited with small towns; some aren’t.
How to get there
There are numerous ways to get to the Elaphiti Islands. We chartered a private boat with a skipper for the day. However, there are also larger boats providing tours to the islands, or we saw a lot of boats of different sizes that people had hired to take themselves out to the islands. We would recommend chartering an appropriate boat – our boat ended up having to tow a broken-down dinghy back to shore!
Another option for those who want to explore (or even stay) on the islands would be to look at catching ferries from Dubrovnik. Jadrolinija (the national ferry company) sails routes to some of the islands including Šipan and Koločep.
Ferries and sailing trips leave from the port in Dubrovnik. The easiest way to get there from the Old Town is by catching one of the many buses that leaves from outside the Pile Gate (tickets can be purchased at the ticket office in the same spot).
Our experience
We booked our trip in advance with Dubrovnik Daily Sailing, and would highly recommend them to anyone looking to book a private sailing charter. We met our boat and skipper at 10am at the port and headed out for a day of sailing. Our skipper asked what sort of activities we’d like to do and created an itinerary for the day based around that. We said we were keen for as much swimming as possible, but we could have pulled up at extra islands if we’d wanted to.
Our day comprised sailing around the islands, with three swimming stops. The water was beautiful, warm and clear (we travelled in September), and the day was lovely and sunny. We loved swimming off the boat, and sitting and watching the world go past as we sailed along. We pulled up at the town of Sudurad on the island of Šipan where we had a fresh seafood lunch overlooking the harbour. It was beautiful and laid back, with crystal clear water. We arrived back in Dubrovnik around 5pm.
We would highly recommend a private charter. We were able to customise the day to be exactly what we wanted. It also meant we could pull up at a lot of smaller swimming spots where we were often the only ones there. Our skipper had excellent knowledge of the best places to stop at, based on the weather and how busy it was.
What to bring
We wore swimming gear, and took towels and a change of clothes on the boat. Our boat had shade, but you’ll still need to think about sun protection – sunscreen, hats and sunglasses are a must! We could take whatever food and drinks we wanted on our boat. We’d also recommend goggles for swimming – the sea is very salty and it will also let you discover the beautiful underwater world.
