Croatia: Part 6 - Day 5: Sumartin island

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 5

5/8 Day 5: 9.30am ferry to Sumartin island. 4.30pm ferry back to Makarska.

Cost
(1) Ferry ticket to and fro Sumartin island - EUR6,40 per way = EUR12,80

Food
(1) Breakfast Hotel Biokovo EUR9,90 = Omelette EUR7,50, cappucino EUR2,40

(2) Croissant on ferry EUR2,50

(3) Lunch Kartolina Beach Bar Sumartin EUR41,43 = Shared calamari EUR21,90, shared bread EUR4,60, grilled tuna EUR23,40, radler 500ml EUR4,90, Hidra orange 500ml EUR4,30

(4) Ice-cream  Kartolina Beach Bar Sumartin - 1 scoop EUR2,50

(5) Dinner Papar Grill EUR17,20 = 3 types of cevapcici EUR13, radler 500ml EUR4,20

The Story

05082025: Today's plan is to take a ferry to Sumartin island. There are a number of islands in Makarska with many recommendations to take a private boat tour. There are a number of boat operators that offer EUR50 including lunch and beer on the boat to an island. I missed out information on that. I researched many private boat tours that do not cost EUR50. Well, it is possible to walk along the harbour and look for the EUR50 options. 

First, breakfast. We passed by many cafes that offer coffee only and a bakery that sells bread. We wanted to avoid to eat along the harbour as we know it will be expensive but we found ourselves with no choice. So, it is Hotel Biokovo for breakfast. It took us less than 10 minutes by foot to arrive at the hotel. They have a breakfast buffet but we did not want to overeat so my breakfast is a thin omelette which I am not satisfied and coffee. Surprisingly, we were not charged for the bread. 

Our ferry is located very near the hotel. It is called Jadrolinja ferry. We bought the return ferry tickets the evening before to avoid tickets being sold out or ticket office not opened in time. The ticket counter is right opposite the ferry. The tickets for car are sold out and there are abundant of tickets for walking customers. We chose 9.30am for the departure from Makarska and 4.30pm for the departure from Sumartin. It would be almost a full day on the island. Leave in time after breakfast and back in time before dinner. 

The toilet is clean in the ferry. There is also a small kiosk where one can get coffee and snacks. We shared a small croissant.

One hour later, we have arrived on Sumartin island. Hot and hot. We did not have a car and there are no possibilities to hire a car. No public transport either. There are taxis but probably expensive. So, we decided to walk to the nearest swimming spot and have lunch nearby. We turned left from the ferry. 

There are no pedestrian paths either. So, we walked on a narrow sidewalk and 15 minutes later, we found our first swimming spot.

Second swimming spot is near our lunch spot - Kartolina Beach Bar. In total, 30 minutes walk from the harbour. 

After the hot walk, the first drink - my favourite radler. We decided to not walk further and enjoy the view and breeze from our lunch spot, although I did move a few times from my chair to another chair because the sun shifted position and I did not like the heat.. haha.

Lunch at the restaurant was served from 1pm and despite us being the first to place our orders, we became the last to receive our food about 50 minutes later. Even our appetiser came the same time as our main meal and our small table could not accommodate all the giant plates. That was really bad planning of the kitchen staff but we were on holiday, so we laughed it off. 

I liked my tuna fillet. It helped that we shared calamari and bread so I was full after lunch. 

After lunch, it was time for another dip in the warm blue waters.

... followed by ice cream at the beach bar.

Me and Sumartin harbour in the background.

We took a slow walk back to the harbour and were happy when the ferry opened its doors to the waiting passengers. We walked in eagerly to get shade from the heat.

We see Makarska from afar!

Almost reaching Makarska harbour.

We reached back, bought ferry tickets to go to Sumartin island again for tomorrow and headed back to our accommodation to get some rest. Found a good grill restaurant near our accommodation. The fan and airconditioning were not working as efficiently as we hoped. We had bread which was too much for me as my grilled meat and fries were filling. I did not have a large appetite for dinner. Could be because of the heat or I was tired.