Late August Jonny? I suggest you post a similar query on the relevant Trip Advisor forum, as you might get an on the ground opinion from a local. As far as I know, the main lunacy in Hvar Town is in the first half of August. It 'might' have slackened off a bit but I would expect it to be still very busy. As far as the rest of the island...

Cannot really comment on the far east end of the island. There are beaches I understand at Saplunara but it's a hell of a way and nothing much there. I suggest a good base if you wish to be away from Hvar Town (it IS fun, and beautiful though, and there really is nowhere like it or the Pakleni islands) is Jelsa, which is pretty much the second tourist base... more than Stari Grad. Haven't been there, but did visit the village next door, Vrboska, or more specifically the small naturist campsite there, Camp Nudist with accompanying beach. I think there are more beaches around and off on the islets. Even in August, it may be more tranquil than Hvar Town, though I wouldn't go anywhere in the Adriatic at that time and not expect to meet lots of people. Cliffs? Not sure, think there are accessible beaches around the south coast, but not necessarily nude, still probably wouldn't matter. Hiking around a couple of abandoned villages and lavender fields is nice to do with Hvar Adventure from Hvar. You can rent bikes but you'll need to google the terrain and where you can go...not sure. Tourist sites might tell you. Driving I would guess is no more difficult than elsewhere, seemed to be a good quiet road from Hvar to Stari Grad when we went on the bus, and in a shared car to Vrboska. Considering possibly hiring a car to visit Jelsa and then Vrboska again for a day in June as buses from Hvar in the morning, but nothing back in late afternoon.

Don't write off Hvar Town though. The closer you get to September, the better it gets and there really is nowhere like it, the town is stunning, and of course the Paklenis are heaven on earth. If you are planning to be a fortnight in Hvar, perhaps a good plan might be to stay in Jelsa the first week, and then move to Hvar as it gets quieter.

And we will be there in June following Vis!

Hi Brigitte thanks for the reply - thought you'd be along sooner or later !  Good to see you've decided on Vis - should be lovely in June. Are you staying in the main town ?  If you need any more info, give me a shout 🙂

We're stuck with school holiday times for another year, so late August it is!

I'll check out Trip Advisor, like you say locals often post on there. We're more than happy to seek out tiny bays and flat rock, as its a given that beaches will be packed. Still haven't ruled out Vis though , also considering Mljet or Dugi Otok but that would involve flights to Dubrovnik.

PS I post on TripAdvisor as Johnny Hamster if you want to keep tabs on my posts.

Yes, will be staying in the main town. Unavoidably have to spend the first night in Split due to evening arrival, but that's not a hardship. Planning to spend five nights in Vis, and then can pick up direct catamaran to Hvar which runs on a Tuesday, so not doubling back to Split. Will check back on your earlier report on beaches, and will ask probably for more info in due course!

Jonny, can you rewrite Saplunara (which is Mljet) into Sucaraj...brainstorm. :-[

Here is another Croatia lover! Been to Croatia twice, 2009 and 2011, and hope to be back soon.

Last time in 2011 we visited both Hvar and Vis in the first two weeks of August. And there was a lot of tourists as expected both places, but in different ways.

We stayed in Hvar town (private accomodation) for 5 nights. The tourists seemed to come from all over Europe, and all accomodation was full. We were lucky to get maybe the last room in town (hadn't booked in advance...). Although it is busy in Hvar town, it is good as a base. We took taxi boat to the small islands Jerolim and Stipanska (15 mins), both clothing optional, except the area around the restaurants. We also rented a car for one day and drove to Jelsa and Vrboska. We wanted to go the to naturist island Zecevo, but the sea was too rough so the taxi boat couldn`t go there this day. Instead we spent the day on the peninsula outside Kamp Nudist, (see my media gallery for photo from the place). It was really a nice place to stay for one day.

Vis was more quite, specially at night. We stayed in Vis town and rented a scooter. With the scooter we drove across the island to the other town Komiza, the island is not big. It was also great to have the scooter to get to different FKK spots. The best place we found during our stay was maybe outside Rukovac.

See that you also mentioned Dugi Otok. We went there in 2009. We took a catamaran from Zadar to the village Sali south on the island. There it was really peace and quite. One beatuiful restaurant and one shop and some local school kids selling shell and stones form the sea. Beatuful nature around, but no natursist beach close to Sali. We rented bikes and went to Telašcica bay, a nice nature reserve close to Kornati national park. Found some nice spots to strip off there, but the bike ride was exhausting in the heat, so next time we will rent a car or scooter instead. I know that there is a naturist beach north on the island, but we stayed only in the south. We stayed on Dugi otok for 3 nights, this was as a part of our big Croatia trip in 2009 where we stayed at 9 different places from Dubrovnik to Ljubljana (Slovenia).

Next time I think I would mix Vis and Hvar, to get both some nightlife and peace and nature. Just like Brigitte is doing.

Thanks for the info, Vargen.

Perhaps Dugi Otok and Mljet may be a  bit quiet for a whole two weeks. We have a teenage daughter who likes shopping and would probably love the glamour of Hvar town.
A Vis / Hvar split sounds promising . Things quietened down a bit in Vis after their mid-August public holiday, although the town was busy some nights and dead on others. I think this was dependent on visiting flotillas of yachts - the only English people we encountered were on sailing holidays.

Hope to get somewhere booked this weekend.

I think Dugi Otok would be a bit far to get in two weeks from Dubrovnik anyway Jonny. If you were getting up as far as Zadar and beyond, then there is the Kvarner islands, I can vouch for Rab and Losinj sounds and looks pretty good on the web naturistwise and otherwise.

Mljet is idyllic, and I would like to stop longer than the two day trips we have done, but not a whole holiday. Vargen's description of Hvar is spot on (even mirroring our trips...spooky) and also with Vis as a contrast...I've only spent a few hours on Vis and yet it is one of my most vivid impressions of anywhere in Croatia. The water was unbelievable. I cannot wait to go back properly. The connections work well with a direct boat to Hvar after 5 days, which I think will give a good mix as you both say of stuff to do, interesting places to see, nice tranquil towns and beaches and then a bit of nightlife for the second week, I am not a raver but I like somewhere to go in the evening, even if it's just a casual bottle of beer place with some old dance classics.

Your daughter will really love Hvar. Especially at that time of year with celebrity spotting. And you will too, the town is gorgeous. But I reckon if you do keep it as the second destination, it won't be as busy as the first half of the month as you approach September, and if you do, hopefully with the Tuesday connection, which is less than an hour.

Brigitte

If you're in Vis town, take a look at Fort George. Although it's being renovated at the moment, I'd expect it to be part reopened for the summer season.

Last summer it was just a shell of empty rooms and looked like it had been used as a giant squat,  but had a wonderful informal walled garden with piano music, bar, outdoor sofas and basic food. An incredibly chilled out place with amazing sunsets.

http://www.fortgeorgecroatia.com/

Thanks for the heads up on that Jonny. look a lovely atmospheric spot. Although there might not be music on before July, judging by last year's schedule, definitely worth a visit.