A field guide from Vinogradišće bay · Summer 2026
The things worth doing on Hvar island are not far apart. From a quiet bay on Palmižana, the swimming, the pine paths, the Pakleni Islands and the table all sit within a short walk or a ten-minute boat.
In short: the things to do in Hvar island sit close together if you base yourself on Palmižana, ten minutes by boat from Hvar town. Swim from the rocks in a sea that holds 23 degrees in June and 26 in August, walk the pine paths of Sveti Klement, sail the Pakleni Islands, and eat from the morning boats. There are no cars and no fixed schedule, only the rhythm the bay keeps from May through October.
Start in the water, before anyone else does
The first thing to do on Hvar island is also the quietest. Slip into the sea before the boats clear the channel, while the stone still holds the cool of the night and the water lies flat. By August the Adriatic sits at about 26 degrees, warm enough to stay in until your fingers forget the time.
Around Vinogradišće bay the swimming is from rock and jetty rather than long sand. The water is clear to the bottom, and the pine comes almost to the line where it meets the sea. You will not need to go far. Most of the day starts and ends within a few minutes of where you slept.
Walk the pine, then sail the Pakleni Islands
Sveti Klement is laced with footpaths under Aleppo pine, cool until mid-morning and made for walking without a plan. The island has no cars, so the only traffic is the cicadas. From ACI Marina Palmižana, a few minutes through the trees, the rest of the Pakleni Islands open out: a scatter of bays and channels reached by boat.
Hire a small boat or join a skippered day and you can string together half a dozen anchorages, each with its own water and its own light. Come back through the channel in the late afternoon, when the west goes long and gold and the marina settles for the evening.
The island gives you distance from the day, not from the sea.
Eat from the morning boats, then cross to Hvar town
Lunch is one of the better things to do here, and you do almost nothing for it. At the Zori restaurant there is no printed menu on purpose. The chef, Siniša Jevrosimov, writes the card each morning from whatever the boats bring in, so the table tells you what the sea did overnight.
When you want a little more around you, Hvar town is ten minutes across the channel by boat. Wander the marble square, climb to the fortress for the long view back over the Pakleni Islands, then take a boat home whenever the evening decides it is done. The crossing runs both ways through the day.
Where to base yourself for all of it
The family Tomlinović has kept this bay since 1947, across three generations, and the four residences sit just above the water: Infinity, Cloud, Eternity and Horizon, one party to a villa. From any of the residences the swimming, the paths, the marina and the table are all a short walk apart, which is the quiet point of Zori.
Split is the nearest airport, about ninety minutes away by road and catamaran to Hvar town, then the short boat across to Palmižana. Once you arrive there is little left to arrange, which is rather the idea.
When is a good time of year to visit Hvar island?
The season runs May through October. June gives you a sea of about 23 degrees and long, mild days. August is the warmest, near 26 degrees, and the busiest across the wider island. September stays around 24 degrees with quieter water and softer light, which many people quietly prefer.
Do you need a car on Hvar island?
Not on this part of it. Sveti Klement and Palmižana have no cars at all, so everything moves on foot or by boat. You reach the bay by sea from Hvar town in about ten minutes, and once you are there the day is walked rather than driven.
What are the Pakleni Islands?
They are a low chain of wooded islets off Hvar town, with Sveti Klement and Vinogradišće bay among them. They are known for clear water, sheltered anchorages and pine running to the shore. From a boat you can hop between the bays through the day.
How do you get from Hvar town to Palmižana?
By a short boat across the channel, about ten minutes. Taxi-boats run through the day in season, and private transfers cross at any hour, including late returns after dinner. There is no road and no ferry queue, only the water between the two.
What is there to do in the evening?
Less than you might expect, by design. Dinner sits on the water at Zori, drawn from the day's catch. If you want a little more, the ten-minute crossing to Hvar town gives you the square and the bars, with a boat back whenever you choose to end the night.
Iva & Renato Tomlinović