Blue Lagoon half day private boat tour

The Blue Lagoon at Krknjaši is under an hour west of Split by fast boat — the one turquoise bay in this region you can reach, swim in and come back from in half a day. That is this tour: the lagoon, a stop in Trogir, and a licensed skipper on a boat that is yours alone for five hours.

Four of our tours go to this lagoon, and this is the shortest and the cheapest of them — the only one that does not ask for the whole day, and the easiest boat day we run for families with small children.

Two different places in central Dalmatia are sold as the Blue Lagoon, and they are a long way apart.

This tour goes to Krknjaši, the bay on the eastern side of Drvenik Veli, west of Split and just off Trogir. The other is Budikovac, the islet beside Vis — a full day out in open water, on our 5 islands tour. Krknjaši is the one people mean when they search for the Blue Lagoon near Split, and it is close enough that half a day is genuinely enough time in it.

The tour lasts five hours in total, as a morning departure (09:00 to 14:00) or an afternoon one (14:00 to 19:00). We do not publish a stop-by-stop schedule — on a private boat you decide how much of the five hours goes to the water and how much to Trogir, and your skipper adjusts on the day.

Departure from Split

You meet your skipper at the agreed pick-up point, get a short safety briefing and head west along the coast, past the Split waterfront and Čiovo. The crossing takes under an hour and stays inside the channels the whole way — no open sea on this route at any point.

Blue Lagoon, Krknjaši bay

The lagoon is the water held between Drvenik Veli and two small islets, Krknjaš Veli and Krknjaš Mali.

The bottom is pale sand with patches of Posidonia seagrass, and the water over it is waist to chest deep across much of the bay. That is the whole explanation for the colour: light drops to the sand, bounces, and comes back up turquoise. It also explains the swimming — you can stand up almost anywhere, the water warms early in the season, and there is no drop-off to watch with children in it. The snorkelling along the edge of the seagrass is the best you will find this close to Split, and there is a konoba on the shore for a coffee.

The Posidonia meadows are protected under Natura 2000. There is no buoy field and no obligation to moor, so it comes down to the skipper: ours anchor on the sand and keep off the grass, which takes decades to grow back.

Drvenik Veli itself is 12.07 km², with around 170 permanent residents in a single village and a Jadrolinija ferry from Trogir. Almost nobody stays overnight, which is why the island stays quiet even when the bay does not.

Trogir

Trogir sits on a small island between the mainland and Čiovo, joined to both by bridges, and it has been lived in without a break since Greek colonists from Issa founded Tragurion here in the 3rd century BC. Their street grid is still legible in the plan of the old town, and that is what UNESCO inscribed in 1997 — a Romanesque and Gothic town standing on a Hellenistic layout.

Two things to see if you only have one walk in you. The Cathedral of St Lawrence was begun in 1213 and finished in 1589; Master Radovan's portal, dated 1240 by the inscription under its lunette, is carved into the west front. Kamerlengo is the fortress the Venetians put up between 1420 and 1437 to hold a town they had just taken, and you can climb its walls. The riva below it is lined with restaurants.

If you'd rather visit independently, see our guide on how to get to Trogir from Split.

Return to Split

The run back takes around half an hour along the same sheltered channel.

Both departures cost the same and cover the same two stops, but they are not the same tour.

Krknjaši is a small bay, and the group boats out of Split and Trogir start arriving in the late morning. From roughly eleven o'clock through the middle of the afternoon it is busy, and in July and August it can be full. The morning departure puts you in the lagoon before that build-up; the afternoon departure arrives at the peak of it.

Take the morning one if you can. The afternoon is still a good half day — Trogir is at its best in the early evening — but if the empty turquoise bay is why you are booking, the afternoon will not give it to you. If no morning slot is free, move the date rather than the time.

Four tours on this site go to Krknjaši. They are four different days, and the lagoon is the only thing they share.

This half-day tour is the shortest and the cheapest of the four. Two stops, five hours, back in Split with the rest of the day free. Take it if time is short, if you are travelling with young children, or if you are adding a swim to a day that already has other plans in it.

Blue Lagoon, Hvar and Pakleni islands is the full-day version for anyone who wants a famous island town as well: ten hours, three stops, Hvar in the middle of the day.

Kaštilac (Game of Thrones), Trogir, Blue Lagoon and Šolta adds the fortified islet at Kaštel Gomilica, a filming location in the fifth season of Game of Thrones, and finishes on Šolta. The sightseeing-heavy route.

Trogir, Blue Lagoon, Rogač and Nečujam keeps the same first half as this tour, then crosses to Šolta for two more bays, including Nečujam, the largest on the island. The full day for people who came to swim rather than sightsee.

Rule of thumb: if the lagoon itself is the point, take this one. If you want a full island day around it, pick one of the three full-day tours by what you want in the afternoon.

• May and early June – comfortable air, sea around 20–22 °C, and the bay close to empty on weekdays. The best photographs of the year.
• July and August – warmest sea, busiest lagoon. This is when the morning departure stops being a preference and becomes the whole point.
• September – the sea is at its warmest of the year and the crowds have gone. For many guests the best month.
• October – still good on settled days, and a half day is easier to reschedule than a full one.

The route stays inside the Trogir and Drvenik channels, so it often runs on days when the tours to Vis and Biševo cannot.

When not to book it: if this is your only boat day in Dalmatia, five hours is not enough. You will see one bay and one town, and spend the evening wishing you had taken the full day.

Swimwear, a towel, sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat, a light jacket for the crossing, and cash or card for the konoba and for Trogir. Water, snorkelling gear and safety equipment are already on board. Want to add a sea scooter and SUP to your day? These can be arranged as an extra.

If half a day at the lagoon sounds right, you can also read more about it in our post on half a day at the Krknjaši lagoon.