Brač has five ferry harbours and eleven services in the 2026 register. Two are car ferries and they leave from different mainland ports: line 631 Split to Supetar, line 638 Makarska to Sumartin. Vidova gora, at 780 metres, is the highest point on any Croatian island.
Five harbours on one island
Five harbours is more than any other island in this cluster. Supetar faces Split across the channel and takes the main car ferry. Sumartin is at the eastern end and faces Makarska. Milna and Sutivan are on the west. Bol is on the south coast and is where the catamarans from Split call on their way to Hvar. Which harbour you land at decides which half of the island you are on before you have unpacked.
| Harbour | Services calling | Car ferry line | Mainland gateway | Of which commercial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supetar | 2 | 631 | Split | 1 |
| Sumartin | 1 | 638 | Makarska | 0 |
| Milna | 5 | none | Dubrovnik, Split | 3 |
| Sutivan | 1 | none | Split | 0 |
| Bol | 3 | none | Split | 2 |
Read across Supetar’s row and the island’s shape becomes clear: it is the harbour with the state car ferry, the commercial catamaran and the shortest link to the biggest gateway. Everything else is a specialist arrival.
780 m
Vidova gora, Brač, the highest point on any Croatian island — against 648 m on Cres and 626 m on Hvar
Brač is also the third largest island at 395.4 km², behind Cres at 405.7 and Krk at 405.2. Size and height together are why it takes longer to cross than its map suggests, and why the harbour you pick is a real decision rather than a detail.
Six of the eleven are commercial
Of the 11 services touching Brač, 5 are state lines and 6 are commercial catamarans with no public service obligation. The state core is small and specific: car ferry 631 to Supetar, car ferry 638 to Sumartin, catamaran 9601 by way of Šolta and catamaran 9603 by way of Hvar. Everything else on the island’s timetable is summer capacity.
Sumartin is not Supetar
Drivers coming down the Adriatic coast road from Zadar or Šibenik pass Makarska before they reach anything else that floats, and line 638 crosses from there to Sumartin. It is a genuine state car ferry and a reasonable crossing — for the eastern end of the island.
The cost is on the far side. Sumartin has no catamaran at all: no line in the register runs a fast service from there, so there is no quick way back to Split and no way to leave on foot except by returning to Makarska. If your accommodation is at Bol or Supetar, the crossing that saved a stretch of coast road has put you at the wrong end of the third largest island in Croatia.
Both car ferries are state lines, so neither will vanish out of season. The question is only which end you want to be at. For most visitors that is Supetar or Bol, which means Split, which means line 631 — and the same channel that carries Šolta‘s two services.
The catamaran harbours
Milna, Sutivan and Bol take fast craft and no vehicles. Line 9601 runs Milna and Sutivan by way of Rogač on Šolta into Split; line 9603 runs Bol together with Jelsa and Stari Grad on Hvar into Split. For anyone travelling without a car those two state catamarans are the useful half of Brač’s network, because each of them also links the island to a neighbour.
That is how Brač joins a chain rather than sitting at the end of one. From Bol, line 9603 continues to Hvar. From Milna, line 9601 reaches Šolta. Neither requires going back through Split first and both are state lines, which is rare enough on this coast to build an itinerary around.
Vidova gora and the shape of the island
The 780-metre ridge is not a detail for hikers. It runs along the island’s spine, and it is why Supetar on the north coast and Bol on the south are two different holidays rather than two ends of the same one. Cres, the largest island, tops out at 648 metres; Hvar at 626. Brač is the highest of the three and the most divided by its own terrain.
Which is the practical reason the harbour table above matters more here than on a smaller island. Landing at Supetar and staying at Bol, or landing at Sumartin and staying anywhere, means crossing that ridge with luggage at the end of a travel day.
What do you need to work out next?
The harbour decides the rest. These come next.
Where to stay
Bol, Supetar or the west coast?
Five harbours, and only Supetar has both a car ferry and a catamaran.
Getting around
Can I carry on to Hvar from Bol?
Line 9603 runs Bol to Jelsa and Stari Grad, foot passengers only.
When to go
What actually calls at Bol?
Three services, none of which carries a vehicle, and two are commercial lines.
Planning
Would friends and a skipper work better?
Brač covers 395.4 km², third largest after Cres and Krk.
Ferry data: Agencija za obalni linijski pomorski promet (ZOLPP), 2026 state coastal line register and per-line timetables. Island counts: Registar otoka, Republic of Croatia.