Veni vidi VICI

Well, we are done with yet another best season ever. By far! And we have hard numbers. And honest opinions by our satisfied guests.

Having the mathematical background, 100 tours were needed to have as accurate as possible assessment of the (at that moment) still ongoing season.

110 days of the season, 100 tours (10 days of cancellations due to the bad weather), 1100 guests (11 guests per tour).

At the end we have had 165 days of the season, 121 DeLuxe Blue cave trip done and 158 Pirate ship tours done.

Let us lay down everything our guests thought of us, our tour, service, and inclusions, we’ll play with our cards facing up!

STATISTICS:

The GOOD:

100% guests LOVED OUR LUNCH, in our private summer house, in a private bay

95%  guests thought our boat was good, satisfying the tour’s needs

98%  guests found our staff&crew to be outstanding

98% of the guests felt the Blue cave was definitely worth the trip

100% of the guests loved Hvar town

The BAD:

2% of the guests were not happy with some items missing on a given day (once we had no ice cream, once we had no towels ready in time, i accept the full blame – Angelo, SplitSeaTours CEO)

1% of the guests complained about the weather conditions (weather forecast was amazing, the weather got bad unexpectedly)

1% of the (same ones) guests did not get to see the Blue cave (mentioned above, the wind picked up, waves got big, shut the Blue cave down)

0,5 of the guests complained about not being able to see the Green cave (explained in the “Green cave” itinerary section of the tour)

The UGLY:
0,1% (1 lady) left a bad review although she did not participate, she decided not to do the tour after the bad batch of petrol was used (from the same gas station we used every single day) causing the boat not being able to start the engine, and was not willing to wait for the substitute boat to be ready and the tour being prolonged accordingly 🙁 Unfair, but that’s on her, not on us. Everybody else had fun that day. 🙂

ITINERARY SKIPPERS RECOMMEND FOR THE BLUE CAVE TRIP

Being the ones on the tour every day, and respecting their field work and day-by-day observations, this is how the our should look like:

1. Blue cave trip- can’t go to Rome and miss the Pope, right?
2. Vis island (Komiža town) – most amazing osland in this part of Croatia (most gorgeous place on the island)
3. Blue lagoon OR Stiniva – DON’T do both, it would be waste of time, there’s NO CHANCE you’d get to swim at both locations
4. Private bay on Vis – there are many many secluded bays with privacy, and in some of them you can have lunch organized just for your group
5. Hvar town – another must destination, 2 hours are ENOUGH to walk about, grab a cocktail. etc

Lunch – YAY or nay? a BIG YAY!

It is a long day out, away from your hotel’s kitchen and a new favourite restaurant in Split, so you either choose an option with lunch included or bring your own food, since Hvar is REALLY EXPENSIVE and it might not be wise to have a la carte lunch there. If you decide for tour with lunch:

1. Check the menus – don’t pay for the tour including  pizza or some fast food grub
2. Check the drinks – are they included in the menu, or you would be extra charged
3. Check the restaurant – some agencies would take you for a walk to the cheapest restaurant in order to save money, or to the most crowded touristy place there is

GO FOR LUNCH!

ITINERARY FOR THE BLUE CAVE TRIP RECOMMENDED BY MIDDLEMEN

Reading the article, i have seen some good things regarding the itinerary and locations included in the tour. We all totally agree too many locations might be just too much- spending more time navigating on a speed boat rather then spending it  swimming or enjoying the islands itself.

Five islands/detinations is the universaly (amongst tour operators in Split) accepted amount, but there are some including even more, in attempt to lure more guests. And, of course, they all recommend the same ones- Blue cave, Green cave, Stiniva beach, Paklinski (a correct name, NOT Pakleni) islands and Hvar town.

We also visit most of them. Not all, but most. To clarify – there’s a huge difference between what we (boat tours operators) think it would BE THE BEST and what middlemen think SOUNDS the best to the guests!

1) Blue cave trip – an apsolute must. It is small and it is managed by an government company, we do not have any influence for how long we get to stay inside (usually 15-ish minutes), but it’s a highlight of the tour.

2) Green cave – looks really nice, great for snorkeling but over crowded and that kills it for the guests (instead of enjoying themselves, they have to be careful not to be hit by some other agency’s boat)

3) Stiniva beach – gorgeous, but the chance you’d actually swim there is very slim. Even if your boat is amongst the first ones getting there, you still need to swim from the boat to the beach and back, approx 100 m.

4) Paklinski islands – they look stuning from the plane while you’re getting to the airport but the word “Touristy” is the best description. Doesn’t matter how many small islands create the archipelago itself, you’re still visiting one bay, and that’s it. With dozens of tourists and boats around you, while you could be enjoying so many other bautifull secluded bays without such a famous name.

5) Hvar town – pretty, small but pretty. Approx size of Split city center. It would take you up to 1,5 h to do some sightseeing and check it out. Don’t fall for “3 hours of free time in Hvar” line, since everyone who’s in this line of business knows – it’s too small, too many people there, no beaches (that’s why you have so many other swimming destinations included in the tour) and it would be ludacris to spend 3h in the town under the boiling sun.

We have decided, after spending last 5 years listening, watching and feeling our guests’ and skippers’ reactions, remarks and advices, to do the following:

• We will still take our guests to some amazing hot spots, like the Blue cave and Hvar town

–  Blue cave is really special, a natural phenomena, a must do sight (here’s a small article about it: CLICK HERE)

–  Hvar is the sunniest Mediterranean island, Hvar town is gorgeous Greek founded beautiful town

• We will avoid the tourist traps, like Stiniva cove and Palmizana bay 

–  Stiniva is great to take a photo of, but that’s a tiny beach with 30+ boats anchored in front of it, and a safety net preventing the normal entrance, making you swim 150m to the beach and back (fine if you’re Michael Phelps) just to be there with bunch of people

–  Palmižana is just one of 100s of bays in our country, the only differences are overpriced beach bars and famous name (some even try to sell it by the name of “Bikini beach” 🙂 🙂 ) Oh, BWT so many sailing and speed boats there, you’d be swimming between ropes and anchors

• We will include more private location, like our bay Milna on Vis island

–  Milna is a small bay on Vis island, where we have a summer vacation house – not anymore for us or for spending a vacation there, but for our DeLuxe Blue cave Trip from Split; no other tour agencies have access, making it a perfect resort just for you!

• We will include lunch, a grilled one

–  Feeling this is too long of a tour not to have food included, we have decided to just do that – throw in an amazing, real fire grilled lunch!

–  Your food is purchased every morning (NOTHING IS FROZEN, FROM YESTERDAY), marinated and grilled by our family members – a HOMEMADE MEAL, FAR AWAY FROM HOME for you guys.

• We will not do the Green cave, nor we would participate in a scam – Blue lagoon is better anyways

–  We have already mentioned on our FB profile (HERE’S THE ARTICLE)

–  Blue lagoon on Budikovac island is more accessible, free and we have coffee for you guys to enjoy