Croatian Islands - Hvar, Brac, Vis, Palagruza

Island Hvar is 68km long, 290 square km size and with about 12000 inhabitants.
By ferry you have connection from Split to the Stari grad (Old town) - it takes about hour and a half, and from Drvenik to Sucuraj on the east end of island. By catamaran there is connection from Split to city of Hvar, it takes about one hour.
The longitudinal road which links the town of Hvar with Sucuraj at the eastern end of the island is 84 km long.
The biggest and the most beautiful place on island Hvar is also called Hvar. The town of Hvar has more than 4000 inhabitants.
Hvar has mild winters and hot summers. The average temperature in January is 8.5 ° C, and the annual temperature is 16.5 ° C. Hvar has an average 7.7 hours of sunshine, and 3.8 hours cloudy time a day - Comparison Nice / South of France has 7.2 and 4.2.
"The Hygienic Society" was founded in 1868, and the first health hotel was opened in 1889, while The Centre for Allergies of the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences was founded in 1965. Due to its climate, Hvar has a long tradition iin health tourism and tourism in general.The early signs of tourism on the Island reach far back into history, as far as ancient history and the Middle Ages, which is best seen by the remains of rustic villas (farm buildings and country houses) all over Hvar's Agar (valley). During the Middle Ages the Island was visited by many adventurers, naturalists, ethnologists and archaeologists that came to study plants, minerals and ancient monuments.
The island is covered by Holm oak {Orno-Quercetum ilicis), Aleppo pines (Pinus halapensis Mill.) and black pines (Pinus nigra dalmatica). The islet of Scedro is especially rich in various Mediterranean trees and plants. The deciduous oriental hornbeam (Carpinetum orientalis croaticum) appears on higher hills (around 400m). The island was practically bare for centuries due to the use of pine for torches while fishing. (4 cubic metres of pine tree per one light were used in every fishing expedition).

Wine, lavender, rosemary oil and honey have long been the main peasants' produce in Hvar. Wine from Hvar and other Dalmatian areas were successfully exported to France and then Hungary from 1870 until 1894, when phylloxera devastated the majority of Dalmatian vine yards. Then, in the first decades of the 20th century large numbers of islanders emigrated to North and South America. People from Hvar became the pioneers of wine growing in California and still participate a great deal in the production of wine there.
The waters around Hvar, especially in the area from Pakleni islands to Lukavac and eastwards from Scedro towards peninsula Peljesac, have been known from oldest times for their rich concentration of pilchard and other oily fish.
In front of city of Hvar there is a group of island which are called Pakleni islands, what actually means Hell islands. It is one of the most beautiful parts of island Hvar and whole Adriatic.There are famous nudistic beaches (Jerolim i Stipanska).
Palmizana is a spacious lagoon with shallow and sandy beach. It is surrounded by the thick, pine forest, fragrant heather and rosemary bushes and various, exotic plants.There are nautical marina,several restaurants and B&Bs.
In 1991 the Island of Hvar signed the Declaration of the Central Dalmatian Islands - an Eco-clean Zone.
Under the title " The 53 Places to Go in 2008", in its travel supplement , New York Times writes about where to go in 2008 and at 11th place recommends Hvar as "the St. Tropez of Croatia".
We have shown here just a little bit of interesting things on Hvar, we haven't mentioned other turistical places, old villages situated in the interior of the island, history of island, hotels and other forms of entertainment.

If you are interested in water sports (diving, sailing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, sea kayaking), or hiking, cycling, rock climbing adventure, click here
One of the best way to holidays in Croatia is sailing.You can start your sailing holidays from Split or Trogir and see all this beatiful islands.

Agave                                       Pakleni islands

Island Brac with its 396 square km is the biggest middle dalmatian island, and third biggest in whole Adriatic. Brac is the highest island in the Adriatic - top is Vidova gora which is 778m high. There are around 13000 inhabitants on the island, the biggest place is Supetar with 3500 inhabitants. Other bigger settlements on the island Brac are Postira, Pucisca, Povlja, Bol, Milna and Sutivan. All of there are fantastic turistical places.
Brac has a truly Mediterranean climate. The summers are long and dry, the winters mild and rainy. The wettest months are November and December, the driest July and August. The temperature only very occasionally drops below O- C; on the other hand, more than a hundred days have a temperature of more than 25-C, and more than fifty days above 30-C. The settlements, on the western and southern coast of the island have the hottest climate.
Milna is famous by its marvellous bay, in which the ships of the emperor Diokletian have found a secure harbour in the time of the building of his palace in Split. Today there is a marina with several berths.
Pucisca is rich of stones and exactly the excellent local stone has contributed o the development of the town. The work with the stone and the life from it are brought over from generation to generation. Nowadays a stonemason-school is working there. Many palaces throughout the world have been built with the local stone from the renaissance age until today.
Stones from Brac have been used for building a lot of famous buildings in the world, among them is White house in the USA and Diokletians palace in Split.

Bol is situated on the southern part of the island Brac, and is the oldest town on the coast of Brac. This little town was founded long ago and became an extraordinary tourist oasis because of the wide gravel and sandy beaches which expands over 10 km and the sources of drinking water. It is not possible to avoid the Zlatni rat (Golden rat), certainly the most beautiful beach on the Adriatic sea.
There is tenis center in Bol, with 20 tenis courts, there are also 5 hotels, few camps and 4 windsurfing centers.
Brac is island which is closest to Split. It is connected by ferry Supetar - Split, Sumartin - Makarska, and by catamaran Split - Bol.
Best for water sports: Brac - Jane Foster, www.guardian.co.uk
More about Brac you can find on www.otok-brac.info/eng
/brac_opis.htm

Photos:www.destinacije.com


1. Supetar   2. Monastery Bol  3. Postira   4. Beach Lovrecina Postira  5. Beach Zlatni rat Bol   
6. Milna

Vis ( Greek: Issa) is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, with an area of 90.26 km² and a population about 4.000. Of all the inhabited Croatian islands, it is the furthest from the coast.
On the island Vis are two towns and municipalities, Vis (2.000 inhabitants in the municipality) and Komiza (1,800), both located on the seacoast.
Vis was inhabited by the time of the Neolithic period.
During World War II, Vis was at one point the main hideout of Josip Broz Tito, the leader of the Yugoslav resistance movement. During the war Vis was mined. After the war, the Yugoslav People's Army used the island Vis as one of its main naval bases. After Croatia became independent, its navy did not reclaim most of the facilities, and the many abandoned buildings are being used for civilian purposes, including modern happenings.
Main industries on the island Vis are agriculture (mainly viticulture), tourism and fishing.
The maritime zone of Komiza is well-known for its wide selection of fish: the waters surrounding the island of Jabuka are famous as one of the richest condensation of tuna in the area, and all the islands of the Vis archipelago contain large crabs and qualitative fish.
In the sea around the island of Vis it is possible to, accompanied by experienced diving instructors, take a diving tour tour the sunken boats, to dive among the red and yellow gorgonians, to see famous Blue and other caves, and discover the secrets of ancient wrecks.
- more about diving and other sports activity on island Vis.

Best for local food and wine: Vis - Jane Foster, www.guardian.co.uk

photos and more about island Vis:
www.visinfo.org/island-vis
www.tz-komiza.hr

Palagruza is small archipelago located in the middle of the Adriatic Sea, between the Italian and the Croatian coast. It is the most remote Croatian island and the lighthouse. Palagruza is closer to Italy than to the Croatian mainland, being some 42 km from Monte Gargano.
Palagruza is 1400 m long and 300 m wide, and is covered by Mediterranean vegetation.
On the island of Palagruza, spend 2 weeks as Robinson Crusoe, take a break from the civilization, enjoy your solitude and find your inner self. The lighthouse is located 90 m above sea level in the central part of the island.
The lighthouse on Palagruza is one of 11 lighthouses on islands off the Dalmatian Coast with apartments for visitors.

More about island Palagruza and other lighthouses on Adriatic islands on nytimes
Best for extreme isolation: Palagruza - Jane Foster, www.guardian.co.uk

photos: www.palagruza.net

Of course there is more to come. This is just a small part of this beautiful country. Next lens is about Northern Dalmatian islands. If you don't like to spend your time on the islands, you can choose sailing along Adriatic coast and its islands.
Charter company you can find on www.smsportnet.com.
More on Croatia:
  Nudist camps and beaches in Croatia              Croatian Islands - Elafiti, Mljet, Korcula, Lastovo