Split’s state fast catamaran leaves at 14:00 out of season and 15:00 in season, and docks back in Split at 07:25. There is no morning fast departure south. A Split address is an evening address, not a morning one. Room rates sit with the booking engine.
The date is not the problem. The hour is
Everyone planning a Split week checks which islands are reachable and almost nobody checks when. That is the wrong way round, because the reachable set barely changes between June and September while the clock does not change at all: the state fast service south out of Split runs once a day, in the afternoon, every day of the year.
Line 9604 is that service — a TP Line catamaran working Ubli, Vela Luka, Hvar town and Split. It leaves Split at 14:00 under the off-season timetable and at 15:00 between 29 May and 27 September. Coming the other way it reaches Split at 07:25, or 07:30 in season, and at 10:10 and 10:15 on Sundays and public holidays. That is the whole of it: one departure, one arrival, seven days a week.
| Line | Vessel | Departures from Split | Arrival back into Split | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9604 | Catamaran, foot passengers only | One a day, at 14:00 off-season and 15:00 in season | 07:25 off-season, 07:30 in season. 10:10 and 10:15 on Sundays and public holidays. | Vela Luka and Ubli, calling at Hvar town on the way. |
| 602 | Car ferry | First 11:00 off-season, 09:00 from 3 July to 20 September. Last 18:30 and 21:00. | Not stated in the per-line timetable we hold | Vis, direct. |
| 604, 631, 635, 636 | Car ferries | Not in the bundle we hold | Not in the bundle we hold | Hvar town and Ubli, Supetar, Stari Grad, Rogač. Their per-line PDFs are not in the bundle we hold, so no time for them appears on this page. |
| 9601, 9602, 9603, 9608 | Catamarans, foot passengers only | Not in the bundle we hold | Not in the bundle we hold | Šolta and Brač, Vis, Jelsa and Bol, Korčula. Same reason: no verified PDF, no published time. |
Two rows carry times and eight lines do not, and that ratio is the honest state of public knowledge about Split departures. We would rather publish four blanks than four guesses, because a guessed departure time is the one error on a travel page that puts somebody on a quay at the wrong hour.
state fast departures south from Split
The morning belongs to arrivals
The state catamaran is coming the other way at that hour: it reaches Split at 07:25 out of season and 07:30 in season, having left Ubli at 04:15. If you want to be on an island by lunchtime you need a car ferry, and the only Split car ferry whose 2026 timetable we hold is line 602 to Vis, first out at 11:00 and 09:00 at the height of summer.
The consequence for a Split booking is specific. Your arrival day is worth very little if you land in the afternoon, and your departure day is worth a great deal if you are travelling on a boat that gets in at half past seven. People routinely book the room around the flight and then discover the boat is the constraint.
What this means for the first and last nights
If the trip continues south by scheduled service, the last Split night is doing real work: it puts you in the town the state catamaran leaves from, on a day when it leaves at 14:00 or 15:00. If the trip arrives from the south, the first Split night is doing almost none, because you will be standing in Split at 07:25 with the whole day in front of you.
There is a second-order point about Sundays and public holidays that is easy to miss. The 9604 rotation starts later on those days — out of Ubli at 07:00 rather than 04:15 — so it reaches Split at 10:10 out of season and 10:15 in season. Three hours of a travel day move, and Croatia does not shift its public holidays to the nearest Monday, so a midweek one carries the Sunday timetable.
Planning a Hvar day return from Split on the state network
It cannot be done, and the timetable says so plainly rather than subtly. Line 9604 runs a single rotation: northbound in the small hours, southbound in the afternoon. From a Split bed the only state fast sailing to Hvar town leaves at 14:00 or 15:00, and the return leg has already passed through Hvar at about a quarter past six that morning.
Day trips to Hvar from Split are real, and every one of them runs on a commercial line with no public service obligation, or on a car ferry. In July that is invisible. In April or late October it is the difference between a day trip and an overnight, and the difference costs a room.
What this page does not do is describe the building. We hold no rate, no rating, no floor plan and no photograph of it, and there is no honest way to write one from a timetable. Prices, availability and what the rooms are actually like are the booking engine’s work and it does that well. The hour the boat leaves is the part it has never told anyone.
What to decide before you book
- Arriving or departing by boat? The state catamaran gets into Split at 07:25 and leaves at 14:00 or 15:00. The two ends of the trip are not symmetrical.
- Is a Sunday in the itinerary? The 9604 rotation starts three hours later, reaching Split at 10:10 rather than 07:25.
- Foot or vehicle? Five of the 23 services touching Split carry a car, and the catamarans have no vehicle tariff at all.
- How early is the flight? Split airport handled 62,250 passengers in November 2025 and about 578,000 in June 2025; the morning boat and the morning flight compete.
Also on Hotels.com
What do you need to work out next?
The clock is set. These four follow from it.
Where to stay
Which part of Split suits an early boat?
The state catamaran docks in Split at 07:25.
Getting around
Which Hvar boat should I take?
Sixteen services link Split with Hvar island; thirteen reach the town.
When to go
Which month makes the afternoon sailing pleasant?
Split records 29.5 days at or above 25°C in July.
Planning
What actually works as a day trip?
Line 9604 runs one rotation a day, in one direction each way.
Ferry data: Agencija za obalni linijski pomorski promet (ZOLPP), 2026 state coastal line register and per-line timetables. Climate data: DHMZ (meteo.hr), climate normals 1971–2000. Passenger figures: Državni zavod za statistiku (DZS), monthly airport traffic releases.