Route · 14 days · round-tripYacht charter route · Dubrovnik

Slano via Korčula & Hvar.

Two weeks under sail from Slano: Mljet's lakes, Korčula's walls, Vis and Blue Cave, Hvar's Pakleni coves and quiet Lastovo. NM and mooring notes inside.

The route

Day-by-day route

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Day 1

Slano → Šipan

A gentle six-mile shakedown southwest from Marina Frapa into Šipanska Luka, the working heart of Šipan and the largest Elaphiti island.

Distance

4 NM

Sailing

~0.8h at 5 kn

At a glance

Route at a glance

Best season

May – mid-October (peak Jun – Sep)

Duration

14 days

Departure

Slano

Sailing area

Dubrovnik

Route summary

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Day-by-day journey

Named anchorages, mooring notes and things to do for every leg of the week — the map follows along as you scroll.

Day 1 / 14

Day 1

Slano → Šipan

Day one is a warm-up, and that suits most crews after the flight in. Six miles southwest of Marina Frapa, the bay at Šipanska Luka opens on the northwest side of the island, deep and quiet, with room to settle stern-to on the village quay for a small fee. Water and power sit on the central berths. Šipan grows olives and citrus rather than tourists, so the pace is slow by design. In the afternoon we usually walk the old road inland to Suđurađ, roughly forty-five minutes through the groves, where the fortified Skočibuha summer palace still stands from the 1500s. Swim off the rocks south of the harbour before dinner. Black risotto and a local red close the first night without any fuss.

Things to do

Walk the grove road to Suđurađ and Skočibuha palace

Order black risotto on the Šipanska Luka quay

Swim off the rocks south of the harbour

Taste island olive oil at a small farm

Dinghy across to Lopud for an hour

Mooring tip

Stern-to with your own anchor on the Šipanska Luka quay; small fee, water and power amidships. Well tucked from south through southwest, but a rare summer northerly over 18 knots is a cue to drop back into Marina Frapa.

Day 2

Šipan → Polače (Mljet)

Polače is the sort of anchorage you remember. The inlet bends in behind a screen of islets, and once you're inside there is almost no weather that reaches you; protection runs from north right round to southeast. Green Park buoys fill the middle of the bay, and the ranger comes by the kiosk to take the overnight fee, which covers the crew's Park entry too. A stone's throw from the water sit the walls of a fourth-century Roman villa, the corner tower still reading clearly against the pines. Give the afternoon to the lakes. It's twenty minutes on foot to Veliko Jezero, where a Park launch runs out to the Benedictine monastery on its small island, and the full loop around both lakes comes to about nine kilometres. Swim; the lake water is cooler than the sea.

Things to do

Pick up a green Park buoy off the kiosk

Walk the fourth-century Roman villa walls

Ferry to St Mary's monastery on Veliko Jezero

Hike the nine-kilometre loop around both lakes

Swim in the cool saltwater lakes

Mooring tip

Polače runs on paid Park buoys, around €40 a night in 2025 with crew Park entry included; settle up with the ranger when he comes round. Shelter here is among the best on the whole south coast, solid from north through southeast.

Day 3

Polače → Korčula Town

You clock Korčula from a good way off, a stone peninsula jutting into the Pelješac Channel with the old town packed onto its tip. ACI Marina Korčula sits just south of the old centre behind a two-hundred-metre breakwater, lazy lines and full services, and it holds in everything short of a hard southeasterly. The town quay across the way is prettier but takes the afternoon Maestral on the nose and rolls by mid-afternoon. Inside the walls you can cross the whole place in ten minutes, though the fishbone street plan repays a slow wander. Climb St Mark's bell tower for the channel view, look in on the Land Gate, argue about the Marco Polo house. On Monday and Thursday nights in season the Moreška sword dance plays out in the open air, and it is worth staying for.

Things to do

Watch the Moreška sword dance on Mon or Thu

Climb the St Mark's Cathedral bell tower

Wander the old town once the ferries leave

Dinner at Michelin-listed LD or Filippi

Duck through the Land Gate at dusk

Mooring tip

ACI Marina Korčula behind its breakwater is the all-weather choice, safe in anything but a strong southeasterly. The west-side town quay looks the part but catches the afternoon Maestral and turns rolly; if it's blowing, Lumbarda three miles southeast is calmer.

Day 4

Korčula → Šćedro

Šćedro is the quiet one. No village, no road, no shop, just pine and stone and a handful of seasonal konobas that lay buoys for their dinner guests. Lovišće cuts into the north coast and makes the natural overnight; grab a buoy, or drop the hook in four to ten metres on sand and mud if they're taken. Konoba Klanac has been at it longest, the Kordić family cooking slow octopus and pouring Plavac Mali off their own vines above the bay. Confirm the buoy when you tie a dinner table to it. Afternoon is for the water. Snorkel straight off the boat, or walk the path over to Mostir on the south side, where a ruined Dominican monastery sits at the shoreline. Visibility runs to twenty-five metres on a still day, the clearest on the route.

Things to do

Take a free buoy at Konoba Klanac, Lovišće

Eat slow-cooked octopus with local Plavac Mali

Snorkel the boat in 25-metre visibility

Walk to the Dominican ruins at Mostir

Sleep with no town noise at all

Mooring tip

Lovišće's buoys belong to the konobas, so book a table and confirm the mooring's included when you arrive. If the field is full, anchor in eight to twelve metres on sand and weed. A northerly over 15 knots means slipping round to Mostir on the south side.

Day 5

Šćedro → Vis Town

The run out to Vis is the first proper open-water leg, twenty miles across to the island that sat furthest from the mainland and stayed the better for it. Vis Town wraps the long curve of St George Bay, sheltered from south through northwest, with only a rare northerly finding a way in. Tie stern-to along the seafront for a modest fee, or pick up one of the roughly hundred and fifty buoys the harbourmaster now lays. This was Issa, the oldest Greek settlement on the eastern Adriatic, and the Hellenistic wall and Roman baths still edge the promenade. Walk up to Austro-Hungarian Fort George for the view back over the harbour. For dinner, the garden at Villa Kaliopa in Kut is the classic, candlelit under old palms; order the Vugava white and octopus from under the peka.

Things to do

Dinner in the Villa Kaliopa garden, Kut

Walk the Hellenistic walls on the promenade

Climb to Fort George above the harbour

See the Roman baths on the seafront

Try Vugava white with peka octopus

Mooring tip

Stern-to on the Vis Town seafront with your own anchor, or take one of the harbourmaster's buoys off Church Bay to save the hassle. St George Bay shelters you from south through northwest; only a rare northerly reaches in, which makes this the most dependable overnight on Vis.

Day 6

Vis → Komiža

You barely sail today. Komiža lies six miles off on the far western shore of Vis, an easy clockwise loop out of St George Bay, so leave late and take a swim on the way over. Komiža has kept its working fleet on the east side of the basin and shrugged off the resort trade, and it is the better for it. Moor stern-to in the inner basin, sand and weed, mostly good holding, for a harbour fee. Dinner is the reason people come back. At Jastožera, built in 1883 as a lobster store, a small tender can motor straight under the arch into the old holding pool. Ashore, Fabrika pours island wine and tapas. If you've the legs, the trail up Mount Hum climbs through dry-stone vineyards in ninety minutes to the best view in Dalmatia, with Tito's war cave a short detour off it.

Things to do

Dinner at Jastožera, the 1883 lobster store

Wine and tapas at Fabrika on the quay

Hike Mount Hum to Tito's wartime cave

Walk the working fleet on the east basin

Watch the open-sea sunset from the mole

Mooring tip

Stern-to with your own anchor in Komiža's inner basin, sand and weed, generally good holding, harbour fee payable ashore. The outer wall takes any southwest swell and is no place to spend the night; if it's forecast over 15 knots, run the six miles back to St George Bay.

Day 7

Komiža → Blue Cave (Biševo) – Stari Grad

Timing runs the morning. The Blue Cave on Biševo only lights up that impossible blue when the sun is low behind it, roughly nine to eleven, so we aim to be first in the queue. Tie alongside the concession quay outside, pay at the kiosk, and take an official tender through the low mouth; forty minutes does it. Then it's twenty-five miles east-northeast to Stari Grad, founded by Greeks as Pharos in 384 BC and the oldest town in the country. The old grid of streets is still legible, and behind the town the Stari Grad Plain carries UNESCO protection as one of Europe's longest-farmed landscapes. The bay reaches deep inland and shelters you in any wind. Tie stern-to on the town quay, or take lazy lines at the small ACI marina on the east side.

Things to do

Be first in the Blue Cave tender queue

Walk the UNESCO Stari Grad Plain vineyards

See Tvrdalj Castle and Hektorović's fishpond

Trace the Greek street grid downtown

Book peka at a plain-side konoba

Mooring tip

Stari Grad town quay is stern-to with your own anchor, modest fee, water and power midships; the ACI marina on the east side has lazy lines if you'd rather. The bay is fjord-shaped and holds you in any wind direction, one of the safest overnights on Hvar.

Day 8

Stari Grad → Hvar (Palmižana)

Palmižana is the target today, a sheltered notch in Sv. Klement and the biggest of the Pakleni islets, fourteen miles off round the western cape of Hvar. The ACI marina here is small and books out through July and August, so reserve online or plan to anchor. The main bay holds in five to ten metres on sand and weed, but the Maestral funnels in around two in the afternoon and the swell finds you, so for a settled night the south-side coves of Vinogradišće and Tarsce are the smart call, line ashore the usual rig. Ashore, wander the Meneghello family's botanical garden, planted in 1906, and eat at one of the konobas strung along the water. Snorkellers head for the western shore, where Roman amphorae still lie on the bottom. A water taxi runs across to Hvar Town after dark.

Things to do

Snorkel the Roman amphorae off the west shore

Walk the Meneghello botanical garden from 1906

Dinner at a Palmižana bay konoba

Anchor line-ashore in Vinogradišće if full

Water taxi over to Hvar Town at night

Mooring tip

Reserve the ACI berth online if you want July or August — walk-ups get turned away. Should it fill, duck across to Vinogradišće on the southern shore: sand and weed, a line run ashore, and far steadier in the afternoon westerly than the open main bay.

Day 9

Hvar → Proizd – Vela Luka

Today is built around Proizd, a scrap of uninhabited rock a few miles off the western tip of Korčula and a fixture on the local charter circuit. Its draw is the run of wave-cut basins on the west side, natural pools that fill and warm in the sun, over some of the clearest water on the coast. The islet is a lunchtime stop only; there is no shelter for the night anywhere on it. Anchor in six to eight metres on the sand patch on the east side, swim, walk the half-hour path that circles the rock, then move the short four miles into Vela Luka. The deep harbour at the west end of Korčula has the lot, fuel, water and power along the town quay, and the local žrnovski makaruni on the konoba tables.

Things to do

Swim the natural rock pools on Proizd

Circle Proizd on the half-hour footpath

Snorkel the west shore in clear water

Order žrnovski makaruni in Vela Luka

Top up fuel on the town quay

Mooring tip

Proizd is a daytime anchorage only, open to every direction with no overnight shelter, so plan to move off it by late afternoon. Vela Luka takes you stern-to on the long town quay, modest fee, water, power and a fuel pump at the west end, well shut off from north through east.

Day 10

Vela Luka → Lastovo (Zaklopatica)

Lastovo sits apart, a Nature Park and about as far from a city glow as Croatia gets. Everyone puts in at Zaklopatica, a deep notch on the north coast, with a scrap of island parked across the way to flatten any swell. Five family konobas ring the bay, each with its own line of buoys held for dinner guests, so the arithmetic is simple: book the table, keep the mooring. Triton runs six berths and is the steadier reservation; in July and August the bay is full by six, so don't dawdle up from Vela Luka. Lastovo lives on lobster, worked daily off the traps to the north, and on šporki makaruli, a slow beef ragù over pasta. There is little else to do, which is the point. On a clear night the Milky Way stands right overhead before midnight.

Things to do

Take a konoba buoy in trade for dinner

Eat Lastovo lobster or šporki makaruli

Book ahead at Konoba Triton for a berth

Walk up to the Lastovo Town chimneys

Stay on deck for the Milky Way

Mooring tip

Zaklopatica's buoys go with a dinner booking, so call a konoba ahead, Triton being the most reliable for a berth. The bay packs out by 18:00 in high season. Holding on the bottom is poor over seagrass; if a strong southeasterly is coming, run four miles south to Skrivena Luka.

Day 11

Lastovo → Pomena (Mljet)

Back to Mljet, this time to Pomena on the western tip, the park's other front door. Green buoys sit in the bay and the ranger takes the fee, crew Park entry folded in as before, or you can lie stern-to at the village pontoon. Malo Jezero, the smaller of the two lakes, is a quarter-hour walk inland, and a footpath links it to Veliko Jezero where the launch runs out to the island monastery. Give the afternoon to the circuit; the loop around both lakes is about nine kilometres, the swimming is good, and the cicadas are deafening in August. Pomena itself is a couple of konobas and a small shop, no more. Dinner runs to grilled fish and a glass of Pošip off the Korčula vines across the channel.

Things to do

Walk fifteen minutes to Malo Jezero

Ferry to St Mary's monastery on Veliko Jezero

Circle both lakes on the nine-kilometre trail

Swim the cool lake water at midday

Grilled fish and Pošip at a Pomena konoba

Mooring tip

Pomena's Park buoys run about €40 a night in 2025 with crew Park entry, paid to the ranger on arrival. The bay is well tucked in; only a northwesterly over 18 knots pushes any real swell through the entrance.

Day 12

Pomena → Saplunara Bay (Mljet)

Saplunara sits on Mljet's southeast corner, twenty miles east-southeast around the island's underside, and better yet it lies past the Park line where the fees quit. The reward is a genuine sand beach, uncommon on this coast, with a pale floor shelving through four to six metres. Drop the hook straight onto the sand, which holds beautifully, or pick up one of the buoys the two beach konobas lay in season. The bay covers you from north, northwest and west; only a southerly sends swell into the inner corner. Once you're set the swimming is the best of the fortnight, the shallow sand turning the water that clean turquoise. Walk the path north to Blace, a smaller, quieter sand cove twenty minutes on foot, or just stay put and grill orada ashore as the open-sea stars come out.

Things to do

Anchor on the sand and swim off the boat

Walk twenty minutes north to Blace cove

Climb to the white chapel above the bay

Order grilled orada at a beach konoba

Watch open-Adriatic stars after dark

Mooring tip

Anchor in four to six metres on first-rate sand, the obvious call here, or take a free konoba buoy with dinner ashore. Sheltered from north, northwest and west but open to the south; if a southerly over 18 knots is due, move six miles north into Okuklje, also outside the Park and fully shut in.

Day 13

Saplunara → Lopud

Day thirteen carries you back into the Elaphiti, eighteen miles east to car-free Lopud, the middle child of the three inhabited islands. The village curls round the northwest bay, and a half-hour walk across the island lands you at Šunj, a proper sand beach on the southeast shore and the island's headline. Mooring is easy: stern-to on the village quay with your own anchor, small fee, water and power amidships. The bay covers you from south through southwest, with only the rare summer northerly a worry. The rhythm here is the walk over to Šunj for an afternoon swim, a look at the fortified fifteenth-century Franciscan friary on the seafront, and a quayside dinner of black risotto and Mali Ston oysters. Climb the ruined hill fort above town for the last big view of the trip.

Things to do

Walk half an hour over to Šunj beach

Visit the fortified 15th-century Franciscan friary

Eat Mali Ston oysters at a quay table

Order black risotto in the village

Climb the hill fort above town

Mooring tip

Stern-to on the Lopud village quay with your own anchor, small fee, water and power on the central berths. Cover runs from south through southwest; a summer northerly over 18 knots is the cue to slip four miles to Šipanska Luka or back toward Slano.

Day 14

Lopud → Slano

The last hop is a short one, up to Marina Frapa at the head of Slano Bay, ten miles northeast of Lopud. The Saturday checkout runs to a routine: alongside at base by nine, waste tanks pumped down, a full tank of fuel, decks hosed and the inventory ticked through, and the skipper aboard for the walk-around, eight till nine. The course slips past Koločep, smallest and nearest of the Elaphiti, and the little bays on its eastern side make the standard last swim; anchor in six to eight metres on sand, dive in one more time, then push up into Slano Bay. The marina sits at the head of a long, deep, well-shut inlet, so the run in is calm whatever the morning brings. Once you're checked out, Dubrovnik airport is forty-five minutes south by road. A long lunch at the marina or in Slano village is the right way to end it.

Things to do

Last swim in a Koločep bay

Top up fuel before the 09:00 checkout

Square the inventory for handover

Long lunch at the marina restaurant

Wander Slano village before the drive out

Mooring tip

Come back into Marina Frapa per your contract; the base manager assigns the slot. The Saturday checkout window is 08:00–09:00, so if your paperwork calls for a night-before return, be alongside by 17:00 Friday. Fuel pontoon is on the west side of the entrance.