Vis

“From war tunnels to wine tasting, Vis is for the adventurous, the ones who like to finish a proper exploration with a glass of local wine.”

Vis is the island Croatia kept for itself. It was a Yugoslav military base closed to foreigners until 1989, so it missed the resort decades, and what survived is why the captains at the 2024 Split yacht show voted it their number one island: two stone harbours, vineyard walls first laid by Greek colonists in the 4th century BC, war tunnels you walk with a flashlight, and the clearest water in Dalmatia.

It is the furthest island out from Split, roughly 30 nautical miles, and it has two towns at opposite ends. Vis Town on the north-east coast is the elegant one, Venetian houses around a deep bay with the ferry and the fortresses. Komiža on the west coast is the fishing village, stone houses on the water and the harbour to dock in for the Blue Cave and for shelter from the Bora.

Between them rises the interior: Mount Hum at 587 metres with Tito’s Cave on its flank, vineyards of Vugava and Plavac Mali, and the tunnels and bunkers that are now the island’s best excursion. The south coast is a chain of coves, Stiniva above all, and 5 kilometres off Komiža sits Biševo with the Blue Cave.

For a charter week out of Split, Vis is the middle of the route: a two-hour crossing from Hvar or the Pakleni Islands, a night in Komiža, the Blue Cave and the south coast the next morning, then on to Korčula or Lastovo. It is the stop that turns a pretty week into a memorable one.

Must-dos on Vis

• The tunnels and bunkers with a flashlight, ending with a wine tasting in an old command post.
• A swim inside Stiniva, the cove between the cliffs, from the yacht at anchor outside.
• A night on the quay in Komiža with dinner at a konoba built over the sea.
• The Blue Cave on Biševo at first light, when the sea and the queue allow.
• Sunset over Komiža from the road up Mount Hum, with wild thyme and sage underfoot.

From our visits to Vis

I came to Vis in October 2025 on the FLORAMYE fam trip, four days out of Split with Captain Nino, who grew up on the island.

We cruised the coast with Nino pointing out a landmark on every clifftop and telling stories from a childhood on a closed military island. We went into the sea bunkers where the warships used to hide, walked the long dark tunnels with flashlights, and tasted wine in an underground command post. Then we drove up to the top of the island and watched the sun set over Komiža, stopping to pick wild thyme and sage on the way. War tunnels to wine tasting: pretty raw and adventurous.

The next day the Blue Cave was off, the weather was simply too bad, and it did not matter. Nino knew the coves on the south coast that were just as beautiful and far less crowded. In Stiniva I finally jumped in, surrounded by the cliffs. It was October and the wind was fresh, but the water was warm and so clear it could have been the Caribbean.

Klara Jakobsen, Yacht Reviewer at DMA Yachting, October 2025

Vis Town: the harbour, Fort George and the restaurants

Vis Town wraps around a deep, sheltered bay on the north-east coast, and it is where the ferry from Split comes in. The waterfront is Venetian and Austrian: stone palaces, a long promenade, the English-built Fort George on the headland and Roman baths behind the harbour. Yachts berth on the town quay or the moorings in the bay, and it is the calmer overnight when a westerly is blowing into Komiža.

Dinner here is the island’s best table. Pojoda in the garden for the classic Vis dishes, Konoba Lola for the modern version, Villa Kaliopa under the palms. Ask for the local wines: Vugava, the white nobody grows anywhere else, and Plavac Mali, the red.

The interior: the tunnels, Tito’s Cave and the bunker wine cellar

Under the vineyards runs the reason captains keep voting for Vis. The Yugoslav army dug the island full of tunnels, gun positions and a submarine pen, and Tito ran the partisan war from a cave on Mount Hum in 1944. Today a guided tour in an old army jeep takes you through the bunkers, the tunnels and the sea pen where warships hid, and one of the command posts is now a candlelit wine cellar where the tasting happens underground.

It is a half-day ashore and it is the one land excursion in Dalmatia we tell every group to do. Your crew books it from either harbour. Go late in the afternoon and the tour ends on the road below Hum with the sun going down over Komiža, which is the best view on the island and free.

Komiža and Biševo: the fishing harbour and the Blue Cave

Komiža is the fishing town, a crescent of stone houses around a small harbour on the west coast, with the old boats pulled up on the shingle and a 16th-century fortress on the quay. Dock here when the weather allows: the setting beats Vis Town, it is sheltered from the Bora, and it puts you 5 kilometres from Biševo for a first-light run to the Blue Cave. Konoba Jastožera is the lobster house built out over the water; Bako grills the day’s fish on the seafront.

The Blue Cave

The Blue Cave is real and the light is as blue as the photos, but your yacht does not go in. Guests transfer to the approved small boats at Biševo, the sea decides whether the cave opens at all, and in high season there is a queue. Plan it as the first thing in the morning from Komiža and keep the day flexible. If it is closed, the south coast is the plan B, and it is not a consolation prize. Our guide to whether the Blue Cave is worth it has the full call.

The south coast: Stiniva, Srebrna, Budikovac and Stončica

The south coast of Vis is a chain of coves with nothing behind them but cliffs, and it is the swim day. Stiniva is the famous one: a beach of white pebbles at the bottom of a canyon, reached through a gap in the rock a few metres wide. Yachts anchor outside and you swim or tender in, and it is why the cove keeps winning best-beach lists. Go before ten or after four and you have it to yourselves.

Along the same shore are Srebrna, the silver-pebble beach, Rukavac with its taverns, and the lagoon inside Budikovac islet, where the water is shallow and Caribbean-green. On the north-east tip, Stončica is the sandy bay with a beach tavern and the lighthouse. Your captain picks by the wind: the south coast when the Bora blows, Stončica when it comes from the south.

Fitting Vis into the week

Vis sits in the middle of a Split week. The classic loop is Split to Milna or Hvar on the first day, a two-hour crossing to Komiža on the second, the Blue Cave and the south coast on the third, then Korčula or Lastovo, with Brač or Šolta on the way home. Give the island a night and a full day: the tunnels need an afternoon, the coves need a morning, and rushing both is the one mistake groups make here.

Passage times as we sail them:

• Split to Vis Town: about 30 nautical miles, three hours on a motor yacht, five under sail.
• Hvar Town or the Pakleni Islands to Komiža: about two hours.
• Komiža to the Blue Cave on Biševo: about 30 minutes.
• Vis to Korčula or Lastovo: two to three hours.

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