Hvar has four ferry harbours and seventeen scheduled services in the 2026 register. Sixteen run from Split; the seventeenth, line 632, sails from Drvenik to Sućuraj. Its sea holds 20.6 °C into October, the warmest October reading of the three measured stations.
Two facts do most of the work on this island. The first is that “Hvar” names four different places a boat can put you, and they are not close together. The second is that Hvar town is one of only three points on the Croatian coast where the meteorological service publishes a sea-temperature normal — and it is the warmest of them once summer is over.
| Ferry harbours | Hvar town, Stari Grad, Jelsa, Sućuraj |
| Services in the 2026 register | 17 — 7 state lines, 10 commercial |
| Of those, carrying vehicles | 3 (lines 604, 632 and 635) |
| Mainland gateways | Split, and Drvenik for line 632 |
| Highest point | Sv. Nikola 626 m |
| Sea temperature in October | 20.6 °C (1971–2000 normal) |
The four harbours
Hvar town is the harbour in the photographs and the one thirteen of the sixteen Split services reach. Stari Grad is a separate town on the north side and takes the car ferry most drivers end up on, line 635. Jelsa is further east and takes line 9603 and the Krilo Shipping service by way of Bol on Brač. Sućuraj is at the far eastern tip and is not on the Split network at all.
The distinction matters most to anyone hiring a car. Of the three vehicle services, one docks at Hvar town, one at Stari Grad and one at Sućuraj — and every catamaran on the island is a foot-passenger vessel. The corridor page sets out which line lands where.
Sućuraj is on Hvar, and it is not the Hvar you booked
Line 632 runs Sućuraj to Drvenik, a mainland port well down the coast from Split. It is the cheap-looking option on a map because the water gap is short, and drivers coming south along the coast road are funnelled towards it.
The cost is that Sućuraj sits on the island’s eastern tip and no other line in the register calls there. No catamaran, no fast link back to Split, no second sailing to switch to. You land, and the rest of Hvar is a drive along the spine of the island — after which the boat you actually wanted is on the other side of the water.
If your address is in Hvar town or Stari Grad, ignore line 632 exists. If you are touring the coast by car and Hvar is a stop rather than a destination, it is the only sensible crossing on the register.
The sea stays warm here longer than anywhere measured
Sea-temperature normals are published for three stations only: Split, Hvar and Dubrovnik. Nothing is published for Zadar, Rovinj, Rijeka or Mali Lošinj, so nobody can honestly tell you how warm the water is at Rab in October. Where the comparison can be made, Hvar wins the back half of the year and loses the front half.
| Month | Hvar sea °C | Split sea °C | Dubrovnik sea °C |
|---|---|---|---|
| May | 17.2 | 17.3 | 17.2 |
| June | 20.8 | 21.1 | 21.1 |
| August | 23.5 | 23.6 | 23.3 |
| September | 22.4 | 21.7 | 21.8 |
| October | 20.6 | 19.3 | 19.5 |
| November | 18.0 | 16.4 | 16.6 |
August is a dead heat. September and October are not: Hvar reads 22.4 °C and 20.6 °C against Split’s 21.7 °C and 19.3 °C. November still shows 18.0 °C at Hvar. That is the case for a late trip here rather than a late trip somewhere further north, and it is a case built on a published normal rather than on somebody’s holiday memory.
September · Hvar town
Seasonal tariff to 27 September, then the off-season fares return.
The scrubber is set to September because that is the month the two datasets agree on. The water is at 22.4 °C, the seasonal tariff is still in force until the 27th, and the commercial catamarans have not yet withdrawn. October keeps the sea and loses the boats.
Air, sun and the shoulder months
The same station publishes more than the sea. July averages 11.8 hours of sunshine a day and 30.2 days at or above 25 °C. September still returns 8.6 hours a day and 20.7 warm days; October falls to 6.4 hours and 3.6 warm days. Rainfall runs the other way: 26.4 mm in July against 79.3 mm in October and 94.0 mm in November.
Read alongside the sea row, that gives September a specific character rather than a vague reputation. The water is at its second warmest of the year, two thirds of the month clears 25 °C, the rain has not arrived and the seasonal ferry tariff still applies until the 27th. October keeps the sea and loses everything else, which matters more on an island than on the mainland: a wet day here is a wet day within walking distance of the harbour.
Getting off the island again
Departure is the half of the plan people leave until last, and on Hvar it is the half with the constraint. Ten of the seventeen services are commercial, so an early-October flight out of Split should be planned against the state lines — 9602, 9603, 9604, 9608 and the car ferries 604 and 635 — rather than against whatever appeared in a search in June.
What do you need to work out next?
You know which harbour and which month. These come next.
Where to stay
Which Hvar town bed sits by the harbour?
Of the 13 services reaching Hvar town, only line 604 carries a car.
Getting around
Which of the sixteen boats should I book?
Thirteen reach Hvar town; only one of the two car services docks there.
When to go
Is October still swimming weather here?
The 1971–2000 normal for the sea in October is 20.6 °C.
Planning
What if I skip the timetable entirely?
Sixteen services link Split with Hvar island, and only 13 reach Hvar town.
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.