Blue Cave Croatia: Tour Review & Guide

Visiting Blue Cave Biševo should absolutely be on your Croatia bucket list. On a sunny day, the cave walls and ceiling sparkle with blue hues that change intensity and shade. The color shifts from light blue to deep blue to turquoise, instantly captivating you.

The Blue Cave, also known as Modra Špilja or Blue Grotto, is a famous natural wonder in Croatia, accessible only by small boats that can pass through the narrow entrance.

We wanted to visit for years, so our Croatia itinerary included it on the list. However, the Blue Cave tour is not for everyone. It requires a bit of planning, a bit of luck, and some sacrifice.

In this guide to Croatia’s Blue Cave (Modra Špilja), we’ll help you decide if this attraction is a good match for you and give you all the tips on how to visit and have the best time. We’ll also help you choose the best Blue Cave tour.

Where is the Blue Cave in Croatia?

The Blue Cave Croatia is located in Balun Bay on the small island of Biševo, about 8 kilometers from Vis Island.

Google Maps pin: Blue Cave Biševo (Modra Špilja)

Travel map with main points on Biševo Island (that you can save on your phone): Blue Cave Travel Map

The best way to visit the Blue Cave is on a day trip from Split, Hvar, Brač, or Vis. However, tours departing from Omiš, Makarska, and Trogir are also available.

Things to know before booking a Blue Cave Tour

While the Blue Cave in Croatia is absolutely stunning, visiting it can be a bit tricky. So, to avoid any disappointment, here are all the things you should know before booking the Blue Cave tour.

Visiting the Blue Cave is weather-dependent.

Firstly, there is a very tiny hole in the cliff through which a small boat can enter the cave. You even need to duck to enter. When you approach the cliff and look towards the tiny hole, you won’t believe it’s the entrance (check this video) 😁.

So, if the sea is rough (even the slightest waves from the south winds), it won’t be possible to visit. Your tour company can’t always know this in advance, as the cave can close even later in the day. This isn’t within their control.

Secondly, the Blue Cave is stunningly blue thanks to the sunlight that enters the cave. So on a cloudy day, the Blue Cave might not be so blue after all.

There is an entrance fee to the Blue Cave & it’s a bit pricey

The entrance fee to the Blue Cave in Croatia depends on the time of year. The price per person is 24 EUR for adults during peak season (20.6. – 10.9.) and 12 EUR for kids (6-10 years old). Children up to 6 years old have free entrance to the Blue Cave.

During the off-season (April 1 – June 19 and September 11 – October 31), the entrance fee is reduced to 18 EUR per person for adults and 9 EUR for children.

Good to know: The Blue Cave ticket also includes free entry to the multimedia exhibition at the Blue Cave Visitor Center. However, we only recommend visiting if you have to wait for your turn.

There is a queue system to enter the cave.

No, it’s not as scary as it seems. It’s actually a pretty simple and organized system. 

As soon as you arrive on Biševo Island, your local guide will go to the ticket counter to purchase the tickets. Once the tickets are purchased, they get a ticket with a waiting number.

The waiting time to enter the cave can be from 10 minutes up to 2 hours or more (in high season). BUT, this is the reason why many tour operators head straight to the Blue Cave – to get the waiting ticket, and then they’ll take you to some other spots while waiting. So no, with the right tour operator (like ours), you’re not standing in line for 2 hours. Luckily. 😁

Your stops in between waiting might be different, depending on the waiting time. However, we had about an hour, so we went to Komiža town in Vis (basically right across from Biševo Island). We had about 30 minutes to explore the village and grab breakfast.

If you have to wait on the island of Biševo, there is a small cafe and a restaurant (both a bit overpriced, though), as well as free toilets. This is not ideal, so we highly recommend a tour that won’t leave you waiting there for hours. 😅

The visit to Blue Cave is quick.

While the visit process might be a bit complicated (your tour company handles it, not you—our recommendation), the visit to the cave itself is relatively brief.

Once you board a small boat that the Blue Cave Biševo operates, it takes a few minutes to reach the entrance, and then you have about 10 minutes inside the cave. The cave isn’t that big (about 10-12 m wide and 24 m long), and you’re not allowed to swim inside, so this is enough time to see the cave properly. Although we really loved how magical it was inside, we didn’t want to leave at all. 😅

It’s busy and tricky to visit, so the whole itinerary spins around it

As Blue Cave is the main highlight of your tour, as mentioned earlier, the entire itinerary will revolve around it. That means it can be slightly different for everyone and not completely as it says on the tour itinerary.

Blue Cave tour Croatia includes other cool stops.

Even though the Blue Cave is the highlight of the tour, we loved it because it also included other amazing places in Croatia. The stops may vary slightly depending on where you start the tour (the most popular starting points are Split, Hvar, Brač, or Vis).

For example, tours from Brač and Split include the stunning town of Hvar on Hvar Island, the gorgeous Blue Lagoon on Budikovac Island, and a few panoramic stops, such as Stiniva Beach on Vis Island.

If you join a tour to Blue Cave from Hvar, you’ll for sure also stop for a swim at Paklinski Islands and Stiniva Beach. Travel time to the cave is shorter, so you get to do more from Hvar.

And tours from Vis include several of the best swimming spots around the island.

The drive to the Blue Cave can be long & bumpy.

Again, depending on where you start your excursion from, the driving time to the Blue Cave can be long. It took us 1.5 hours to drive by speedboat from Brač. And it takes a bit longer from Split, while Hvar is closer (only 45-50 minutes by speedboat).

Generally, Hvar and Vis are the closest starting points for a Blue Cave island hopping tour in Croatia. So, if you want to spend the least amount of time on the speedboat, you should start your trip there.

However, the driving time is long only at the start of the day, as you have to pass the longest distance then. The way back is broken up by several stops.

And as always, speedboat rides can be bumpy, depending on the sea conditions.

TRAVEL TIP: Sit at the back of the boat for a less bumpy ride. The front of the boat “jumps” the most! We learned this the hard way in Thailand. 😁

Our Blue Cave Biševo Tour Experience & Itinerary

We can highly recommend the Blue Cave boat tour we did (this is the one) as we really liked our local guide and skipper, plus the whole tour was organized very well.

We took the Blue Cave boat tour from Brač Island, although the same tour also starts from Split. Our boat was a regular one, but you can also choose a luxury version.

Pick-up

The Blue Cave tour we booked starts in both Split and Brač and takes you directly to the Blue Cave on Biševo Island, near Vis Island. The first ride is somewhat long, but it passed quickly, thanks to great music and pleasant conversations with the guides.

Arrival on Biševo Island

After arriving at Biševo Island, where the Blue Cave is located, our guide bought the tickets, and we had a bit more than an hour to wait for our turn to enter the Blue Cave.

Biševo Island has a small waiting and boarding area (not shaded) with displayed waiting numbers (like in a bank). 

This is where our fantastic guides decided to take us to nearby Vis Island (FYI, it’s where Mamma Mia 2 was filmed) to shortly explore. This is great because there is really no point in waiting there and doing nothing. So, make sure to choose a company that does this, too. We can highly recommend ours – check their tour here.

Visit to Komiža, Vis

We secretly hoped to stop in Komiža, so we were thrilled when we had about 30 minutes to explore here. And then our boat driver took us on a short cruise around to tell us more about Komiža.

A visit to Komiža depends on the waiting time to enter the Blue Cave and the wishes of people on board (since we were on a shared group tour). If the waiting time is longer, they might already take you to a swimming spot on Vis Island.

The Blue Cave experience

After exploring Komiža, we returned to Biševo Island, and after about a 10-minute wait, it was our turn to enter the small wooden boat that would take us to the Blue Cave.

The boat driver was an absolute legend and a very skilled driver. When he showed us the entrance to the cave, we couldn’t believe we were actually entering there as it looked so tiny (precisely 1.5 m high and 2.4 m wide entrance hole). While you do have to duck when entering, I promise you, it sounds a bit scarier than it is. 😊

At the cave’s entrance, the motors are switched off. From there, the boats are propelled by pushing against the walls using wooden rods.

Luckily, it was a very sunny day during our visit, which is ideal for exploring the cave. As soon as we entered, we were mesmerized by the magical sapphire light that seemed to glow from beneath the water. 

The cave gets its name from the vibrant blue light that radiates from the water, giving the illusion of a glowing cave, and it’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Sometimes you might even see jellyfish or fish in the water, which is pretty cool with that blue glow.

The Blue Cave can get a bit busy since it’s so small, but there’s a cap on the maximum number of boats inside at the same time (hence the waiting ticket system). It wasn’t that bad when we visited (mid-September).

The boat gently glided along the cave pool, so even though the visit was very short (5-10 minutes max in the cave), we had plenty of time to take pictures and admire its beauty. Although we wouldn’t mind a longer visit there. 😁

Stop by Stiniva Bay

Stiniva Bay is known as one of the most beautiful beaches in Croatia and Europe. However, on most Blue Cave tours from Split and Brač, you only have a short stop here for a photo. Although the beach doesn’t look as good from this angle.

The beach area here is small, so most boats don’t stop here for a swim stop as there’s not enough space, so don’t get your hopes up! Either way, this beach is best visited from Vis Island or on a private island-hopping tour.

Good to know: if your boat tour stops here, the only way to reach the beach is by swimming.

Blue Lagoon swimming

Blue Lagoon on Budikovac Island, just off the coast of Vis Island, is an amazing swimming stop on the Blue Cave Tour. The sea boasts an incredible turquoise color and is remarkably clear, offering excellent visibility.

Here, you can swim, snorkel, jump off the boat, and swim to the shore of the island of Veli Budikovac. There is a small bar there and loungers as well.

And the most random thing at Blue Lagoon Budikovac – a donkey on the beach. Yes, you read that right, a donkey. So, of course, we headed there for some pets.

For most people in our group, a 1-hour swimming stop here was long enough, but we’re always the last ones out of the water and want more. 😅

Cruising Pakleni Islands

Unfortunately, most tours don’t stop at the Pakleni Islands during the Blue Cave tour, UNLESS you’re visiting the Blue Cave from Hvar Island (this tour is the best).

Since our Blue Cave tour started in Split and Brač, we only cruised through the Pakleni Islands, taking in the views.

Hvar Town

And the cherry on top, a visit to beautiful Hvar Town on Hvar Island. Hvar town is gorgeous, and we had about 1.5 hours to explore here. That’s enough time to see the highlights of Hvar (check our travel guide dedicated to Hvar Town), or just enjoy a stroll through this charming town and eat a delicious dinner.

Since we had already visited Hvar a few times before, we simply enjoyed strolling around casually this time. 

Fun fact: Our first visit to Hvar was on a sailing cruise through Croatia. Read our sailing Croatia review guide.

Is Blue Cave in Croatia worth visiting?

This depends.

If you ask us, yes, Croatia’s Blue Grotto (Blue Cave) is worth visiting as it’s a unique sight that isn’t that common in the world. So, if you find yourself in Croatia, taking a boat trip to witness this shimmering spectacle is definitely worth it—it’s like stepping into nature’s very own art gallery.

I’m not sure when we will experience something like this again, so we don’t regret visiting at all.

However, we have also listed everything you need to know before visiting the Blue Cave, so you can set your expectations and avoid any possible disappointment. We hope you now understand why we said at the beginning that visiting the Blue Cave requires a bit of planning, a bit of luck, and some sacrifice.

Luckily, most Blue Cave tours also include other great stops along the Dalmatian coast, so it’s not like you’re visiting just the cave.

Either way, we hope this blog has helped you decide whether visiting the Blue Cave is worth it for you.