Croatia · Adriatic · Gruž & the Old Port
Two harbours, four kinds of day out. Gruž sends the big island boats, the Old Port sends everything small and fast — and the pier you turn up at decides most of what your day looks like.
Quick answer
Seventeen well-reviewed boats leave Dubrovnik on a normal summer day, and they split into four groups. Full-day Elaphiti island cruises from $29 take you to Koločep, Lopud and Šipan with lunch and swim stops. Half-day Blue Cave runs from $63 get into the cave at Koločep and swim there. Sunset cruises from $59 are ninety minutes under the walls. And glassboat panoramas from $17 are the cheapest hour on the water in the city.
The important practical fact is that they do not all leave from the same place. The island boats go from Gruž, three kilometres from the Old Town; the glassboats, the Lokrum ferry and most private speedboats go from the Old Port under the walls. Buses 1A and 1B connect the two for €1.73 from a kiosk, €2.50 from the driver — and a taxi at eight in the morning in July is not a fast alternative.
If you only want to reach the islands and you are happy to make your own day of it, Jadrolinija's public line 807 does the same crossing for a few euro. It is the cheapest way to Lopud by a wide margin, and it is also the option that never sees the Blue Cave. The arithmetic is below.
Compare
The five kinds of day boat that leave Dubrovnik, with the cheapest well-reviewed example of each and what it actually delivers. Prices and durations are the operators' own, taken from the listings on this page and re-checked in September 2026; the last column is the thing that decides it.
| Type of day | Time out | Swim stops | From | What decides it | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elaphiti islands, full day | 8 hours | 2 – 3 | $29 | Three islands, lunch, no cave | Details |
| Blue Cave, half day | 4 hours | 3 – 4 | $63 | You swim inside the cave | Details |
| Cave + islands combined | 8 hours | 3 – 4 | $57 | Both, at the cost of a long day | Details |
| Sunset cruise | 1.5 hours | None | $59 | The walls in evening light, a drink | Details |
| Glassboat panorama | 50 min | None | $17 | Cheapest hour afloat, kids welcome | Details |
The boats
Every boat below is currently bookable and carries its operator's own rating and review count. Prices are per person unless the card says the boat is private, in which case the figure buys the hull. Re-checked in September 2026.
4.7★ (5581 reviews) · 7.5 - 8 hours · from $29
4.9★ (4286 reviews) · 2 hours · from $37
4.9★ (3105 reviews) · 4 hours · from $63
4.8★ (2404 reviews) · 8 hours · from $29
4.9★ (1248 reviews) · 4 hours · from $64
4.7★ (1151 reviews) · 2 - 6 hours · from $67
4.8★ (840 reviews) · 8 hours · from $57
4.8★ (833 reviews) · 1.5 hours · from $59
4.7★ (818 reviews) · 8 hours · from $29
4.9★ (666 reviews) · 4 hours · from $63
4.9★ (534 reviews) · 8 - 9 hours · from $76
4.5★ (344 reviews) · 4 hours · from $44
4.5★ (306 reviews) · 4 hours · from $35
4.5★ (224 reviews) · 5.5 - 7 hours · from $31
4.9★ (194 reviews) · 1 - 1.5 hours · from $23
4.9★ (198 reviews) · 4 hours · from $57
4.9★ (111 reviews) · 50 minutes · from $17
The piers
Dubrovnik has two working passenger harbours and they send out different boats. Turning up at the wrong one is the single most common way to miss a sailing here.
Gruž is the commercial port, three kilometres northwest of the Old Town along the Lapad peninsula. Jadrolinija's island ferries dock here, the cruise ships berth here, and almost every group day boat — the Elaphiti cruises, the Blue Cave speedboats, the Karaka sunset ship — loads from the promenade opposite the fresh market. Buses 1A and 1B run Pile–Gruž–Mokošica all day; a single is €1.73 bought at a Libertas kiosk or €2.50 from the driver, and the ride takes about ten minutes outside the morning cruise-ship rush.
The Old Port (Stara Luka), under the eastern wall by the Ploče gate, is where the small stuff leaves from: glassboats, the Lokrum ferry from the Luža ticket office, kayak groups launching from Pile beach nearby, and most private speedboats when the skipper offers a choice. Nothing here needs a bus; everything here is smaller, and everything here is more weather-sensitive.
A third address appears on some listings — Lapadska obala, on the Lapad side of Gruž bay. It is a ten-minute walk around the water from the market, not a different town, but at 08:00 with a boat leaving it matters.
| Pier | What leaves from it | Walk from the Old Town | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gruž (market side) | Elaphiti cruises, Blue Cave boats, the Karaka | 3 km — bus 1A/1B, ~10 min | Meeting points are strung along 300 m of quay; the ticket says which gate |
| Old Port (Stara Luka) | Glassboats, Lokrum ferry, private speedboats | Inside the walls, by Ploče gate | Lokrum tickets are sold at the Luža office, not on the boat |
| Lapadska obala | Some smaller island and cave boats | 3.5 km — bus 1A/1B then 10 min on foot | Across the bay from the market; not the same stop |
| Cavtat | Half-day Elaphiti boats with a Cavtat start | 18 km by road or the Cavtat water taxi | Only relevant if you are staying south of the airport |
The arithmetic
Jadrolinija's line 807 sails Dubrovnik–Koločep–Lopud–Šipan as a scheduled public service, and it is the honest comparison for anyone whose only goal is to stand on an island.
A one-way adult fare on line 807 is around €3.40 outside the season and €5.40 in season, with children three to twelve at roughly half that; the ferry runs four sailings most weekdays and fewer on Sundays and holidays, and it takes about 25 minutes to Koločep, 45 to Lopud and an hour to Šipan at Suđurađ. A ticket is tied to a specific departure, so the return sailing is a decision you make when you buy, not when you feel like leaving.
Two people can therefore reach Lopud and come back for roughly €22 in season, against $58 for the same two seats on the cheapest guided Elaphiti cruise. What the €22 does not buy: the Blue Cave, which no scheduled ferry visits; the swim stops, which are the reason the guided boats take eight hours to cover an hour of sailing; lunch; and a skipper who moves the route when the wind turns. The ferry is a bus with a hull. If you want the islands, take it. If you want the day, book the boat.
The same logic applies to Lokrum. The island's own return boat from the Luža ticket office is €30 per adult, and that single price covers both the crossing and entry to the nature reserve — the monastery grounds, the botanic garden and Fort Royal included. A cave tour that lists Lokrum as an optional extra is only cheaper if it actually lands you there.
Prices
Three price bands, drawn from the seventeen listings on this page rather than from an average of the market.
Glassboat panoramas at $17 for fifty minutes and $23 at sunset, the party boat at $35, kayaking under the walls at $37, and — the outlier that matters — full-day Elaphiti cruises at $29, because three large boats compete for the same route out of Gruž.
Everything that gets into the Blue Cave sits here: $63 with Šunj beach, $64 in a small group, $63 for the seven-cave snorkelling version, $57 for the cave-and-islands full day. The Karaka sunset ship at $59 is priced with them and delivers something else entirely.
The private cave boat starts at $67 for the hull with the route agreed with the skipper. For two people it costs more than two seats on a group boat; for four it is level; for six it is cheaper, quieter, and the only version where the swim stops last as long as you want.
Season
Sea temperatures are the long-term monthly averages published by Climates to Travel; the sailing notes are what the season does to the timetable in this bay.
Rain rarely cancels a boat here; wind does. The bura comes down off the mountains from the northeast, arrives with a clear sky and flat light, and is the reason a perfect-looking morning can end with a text from the operator. The jugo blows in from the southeast with cloud and a long swell, and it is the one that closes the Blue Cave: the entrance is low and narrow, and a metre of swell at Koločep is enough for skippers to turn back at the mouth. The afternoon maestral is milder and predictable, which is why morning departures are the ones that sail. Where a boat runs twice a day, take the early slot.
| Month | Sea | Boats running | What it means on the water |
|---|---|---|---|
| April | 15 °C (59 °F) | Cave boats start | Cheap and empty, but swim stops are a dare rather than a swim |
| May | 18 °C (64 °F) | Full timetable | The best month for the cave: it is open, warm enough and not queued |
| June | 22 °C (72 °F) | Everything | Long days, water genuinely warm, prices still below August |
| July | 24.5 °C (76 °F) | Everything, sold out | Book days ahead; the maestral picks up most afternoons |
| August | 25 °C (77 °F) | Everything, sold out | Warmest sea of the year and the fullest boats of the year |
| September | 23.5 °C (74 °F) | Everything | The month locals pick: warm water, shorter queues at the cave |
| October | 20.5 °C (69 °F) | Thinning out | Still swimmable, but jugo days start cancelling small boats |
| November – March | 14 – 17.5 °C (57 – 64 °F) | Almost none | Lokrum's boat stops, island ferries keep running for residents |
Extras
Dubrovnik has fewer pier-side surcharges than most Mediterranean ports, but three of them catch people out.
| Item | Amount | Who collects it | When it applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lokrum reserve + return boat | €30 adult | Lokrum Reserve, Luža ticket office | Any visit to Lokrum, including 'optional Lokrum' add-ons |
| Lunch on island cruises | €15 – €25 | The restaurant on Lopud or Šipan | Listings that say 'optional lunch' — the boat price excludes it |
| Bus to Gruž | €1.73 kiosk / €2.50 driver | Libertas, lines 1A and 1B | Every Gruž departure if you are staying in or near the Old Town |
| Drinks beyond the free round | Boat prices | The operator | Most 'free drinks' listings mean one or two, not an open bar |
On the water
Gruž and the Old Port are three kilometres apart and send out different boats. The Elaphiti islands sit northwest of the bay; the Blue Cave is on Koločep, the nearest of them.
Questions
For the Blue Cave and the swim stops, yes — neither is reachable any other way, and the cheapest cave boat is $63. For simply setting foot on Lopud or Šipan, the honest answer is no: Jadrolinija's line 807 makes the same crossing for a few euro, and the difference buys you a schedule of your own. The boats earn their price when the route, the stops and the timing are the product.
Most group boats leave from Gruž, three kilometres from the Old Town, on the promenade opposite the fresh market. Glassboats, the Lokrum ferry and many private speedboats leave from the Old Port inside the walls. A few listings use Lapadska obala across Gruž bay. The confirmation email states which one; buses 1A and 1B link them for €1.73 from a kiosk.
It is a sea cave on Koločep, the closest of the Elaphiti islands — not the more famous Blue Cave on Biševo, which is a five-hour drive and sail away near Hvar. Boats enter and passengers swim inside, which is the whole point of the trip: $64 in a small group, $63 with six more caves and snorkelling gear. When the jugo is blowing, the swell at the entrance closes it and skippers substitute another cove.
From $29 for a full day with drinks and an optional lunch — the most-booked boat in the city at 5,581 reviews — up to $76 for a slower wooden-boat version. Lunch, where it is optional, adds roughly €15 to €25 on the island. Three large operators compete on this exact route out of Gruž, which is why a full day here costs less than a half-day cave trip.
Some list it as an option, but Lokrum has its own official return boat from the Luža ticket office in the Old Port at €30 per adult, and that price includes entry to the nature reserve, the monastery grounds, the botanic garden and Fort Royal. If a cave tour only sails past Lokrum rather than landing, you have not been to Lokrum. In winter the island's boat stops and the reserve closes.
The operator cancels and refunds, or moves you to another day; almost every listing here also cancels free up to 24 hours ahead. The wind that does it is the jugo from the southeast, which raises the swell at the Blue Cave entrance, and the bura from the northeast, which arrives with a clear sky. Morning departures sail far more reliably than afternoon ones, and a big motor cruiser keeps going in conditions that stop the speedboats.
September, then May. September still has a 23.5 °C sea and full timetables with visibly shorter queues at the cave; May has an 18 °C sea, the lowest prices of the running season and no crowds at all. July and August have the warmest water of the year, 24.5 to 25 °C, and boats that sell out days ahead.
The glassboats are built for them — $17 for fifty minutes with a viewing floor is the easiest thing on this page with a small child. Full-day island cruises work from about school age, with two swim stops to break up eight hours. The party boat is adults only in practice and the Karaka sunset cruise is adults only by rule. Kayaking sets its own minimum age with the operator.
In July and August, several days for the small-group cave boats — they carry ten to twelve people and go first. The big Elaphiti cruisers hold more and often have seats the day before. In May, June and September you can usually book the night before. Free cancellation up to 24 hours makes booking early close to costless.
Nearby
Or browse every boat tour and day cruise by port.
Two hours south: the Bay of Kotor, Our Lady of the Rocks and the Blue Cave at Herceg Novi
Bay & fjord cruising ▸ SplitCroatiaThe other Adriatic hub, and the port for Hvar, Vis and the Biševo Blue Cave
Island hopping ▸ HvarCroatiaThe Pakleni islands from a town harbour, half an hour by taxi boat
Island hopping ▸