A field guide from Vinogradišće bay · Spring 2026
Hvar claims more sunshine than almost anywhere on the Adriatic, and the season here is long: the first swims come in May and the sea holds its warmth deep into October. When you should come depends on what you want the island to be.
The best time to visit Hvar is June or September: the sea is warm, the days are long, and the island belongs to the people who live there rather than to the crowds. July and August are the hottest and busiest months; May and October are quieter, cooler and, to some of us, the most beautiful.
May and June: the island wakes
May is green, mild and almost private; the rosemary and lavender start, the first brave swims happen, and dinner outside needs a light jacket. By June the sea passes 23 degrees, the days stretch past nine in the evening, and everything is open without yet being full. If we had to pick one month, June would be it.
July and August: high summer
The sea at 26 degrees, the harbours loud, Hvar town at full volume. This is the spectacle season, and it has its pleasures, especially if you sleep somewhere the noise cannot reach. The bays of the Pakleni Islands fill with boats by day and empty by night; Vinogradišće stays calmer than most because there is nothing in it but the four residences and the restaurant. These weeks close first; the earliest conversations get them.
September: the quiet warm
September might be the island's best-kept secret: the sea is still 24 degrees, the light turns gold, the crowds thin to almost nothing, and the kitchen has figs. Guests who come in September tend to come back in September. It keeps the warm sea and loses everything else.
October to April: the island to itself
The season at Zori runs May through October. Outside it, the island returns to the families who live here, ours included. If a winter walk through empty pine sounds like your kind of luxury, write to us anyway; the bay is at its most honest then, and the story of this place explains why we never wanted to change that.
Usually we have moments. Here we have time.
Iva & Renato Tomlinović