Mljet’s Polače pier is served from Dubrovnik only between 3 July and 30 August. Sobra is the year-round port. Outside that window line 9807 runs Sobra to Šipanska Luka to Dubrovnik only, and the sole vehicle route is line 832 from Prapratno on Pelješac.
The date that decides which pier you land at
Mljet has two state piers and they are not interchangeable. Polače sits beside the national park at the western end. Sobra is the working port in the middle of the island. Almost every itinerary written in English assumes Polače, because that is where the summer catamaran goes — and for most of the year the summer catamaran does not go there.
| When | Ports line 9807 serves | Reaches Mljet at | Dubrovnik fare, one way |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 July – 30 August | Ubli, Korčula, Polače, Sobra, Šipanska Luka, Dubrovnik | Polače and Sobra | €10.75 to Polače, €8.70 to Sobra |
| The rest of the year | Sobra, Šipanska Luka, Dubrovnik | Sobra only | €5.40 to Sobra; no Polače fare exists |
The blank in the bottom right is the whole point. There is no off-season fare from Dubrovnik to Polače because there is no off-season sailing to price. Ubli on Lastovo and Korčula are in the same position: the full run of line 9807 exists for eight weeks a year and the rest of the time the line is a Sobra shuttle.
Three ways onto the island
Two of them are foot-passenger services and one is a car ferry that does not come from Dubrovnik at all.
State line, foot passengers only. Sobra all year; Polače between 3 July and 30 August.
State line by way of Korčula and Lastovo. Sobra only.
State line across to Sobra from the Pelješac peninsula. The only route in the register that takes a vehicle to Mljet.
Kapetan Luka from Split and Krilo Shipping from Dubrovnik call at Pomena. No public service obligation, so no guarantee outside summer.
A car on Mljet therefore means driving the Pelješac peninsula to Prapratno, not boarding at Dubrovnik’s port. If that sounds like a detour, it is — and it is the reason most visitors here arrive on foot and use the island’s own transport.
Booking Polače for June
Accommodation listings around Polače and the national park quote the catamaran from Dubrovnik as though it ran to a normal timetable. It does not. Between 3 July and 30 August line 9807 calls at Polače; outside that window the register shows Ubli, Korčula and Polače unserved, and the boat terminates at Sobra.
The cost is a transfer across the island at the end of a travel day, arranged after you have landed, or a night in the wrong place. Book Sobra-side, or book the eight weeks.
For the same reason Mljet pairs badly with a loose itinerary and well with a fixed one. If you are chaining it with Korčula, check that the leg you are relying on is inside the July–August window before anything else is booked.
29.7 °C
Mljet – Malo jezero on 6 August 2026, the warmest of the sixteen stations measured that day (coast-wide mean 27.5 °C)
The salt lakes are shallow and enclosed, which is why they read almost three degrees above the coastal mean on a single August day. That is a snapshot, not a normal — no 1971–2000 sea series is published for Mljet — but it is the measured reason people swim in the lakes rather than the sea.
What the crossings cost
Line 9807 prices Dubrovnik to Sobra at €5.40 off-season and €8.70 in season. Dubrovnik to Polače is €10.75, and only in season, because outside it there is no sailing to price. Šipanska Luka, the intermediate call, is €4.00 and €5.95. Those are one-way foot fares; the catamaran carries no vehicles, so no car tariff exists on it to quote.
The vehicle route prices separately on line 832 from Prapratno, and its per-line tariff is not in the verified 2026 bundle, so this page does not state it. What can be said is structural, and it is the thing that decides the trip: a car reaches Mljet only across the Pelješac channel, while every foot service reaches it from Dubrovnik.
Line 9808, the second catamaran
The other state catamaran on this coast runs Lastovo, Korčula, Sobra and Dubrovnik. It reaches Sobra rather than Polače, which is precisely why Sobra is the port an itinerary should be built on: two state lines call there, against one seasonal call at Polače and a pair of commercial catamarans at Pomena.
Two state catamarans on one pier is a stronger position than most southern islands hold, and it is invisible in every guide that describes Mljet as “the national park island” and quotes only the summer boat. The park is at the Polače end. The transport is at the Sobra end. Reconciling those two facts is most of the planning.
What do you need to work out next?
The port question is settled. These follow it.
Where to stay
Base in Dubrovnik and day-trip, or stay over?
Line 9807 is one rotation a day for most of the year.
Getting around
Is driving here easier than the catamaran?
Line 602 takes a motorcycle for €12.10 off-season and €15.50 in season.
When to go
Is early September still the full route?
The full Ubli–Korčula–Polače run ends on 30 August.
Planning
Mljet and Korčula in one trip?
Line 9807 links them only between 3 July and 30 August.
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.