Split or Trogir: Where Should Your Boat Tour Start?

If you are staying in or near Split, the natural search is "boat tours from Split" — and there are good ones leaving from the city. We run ours from Trogir, 27 km along the coast to the west, and that is a choice with reasons behind it rather than a detail. This is the honest comparison, including the cases where Split is the better place to start.

Distance to the water you came for

The Blue Lagoon off Drvenik Veli, the Šolta coast around Maslinica and the Čiovo bays all lie west of Split. From Trogir the Blue Lagoon is roughly half an hour by speedboat; from Split you first run the length of the channel before you are anywhere near it. On a half-day tour that difference comes straight out of your time in the water.

The harbour at either end of the day

Split's harbour is the busiest on the coast: ferries, catamarans and a fleet of excursion boats all working the same waterfront. Trogir's riva is small and quiet by comparison, which makes for a calmer start — and a quicker one, because boarding does not involve finding the right boat among fifty.

Getting from Split to Trogir

It is easier than it sounds. By car or taxi it takes about 30 minutes; the local buses, lines 37 and 38, take closer to an hour with stops and cost a few euros. If you would rather arrive by sea, a private boat transfer to Trogir takes about thirty minutes and starts at €150 (price on 10.09.2026.: €150) for the whole boat.

If you are flying in or out

Split Airport is not in Split at all — it is in Kaštela, a few minutes from Trogir. If you land that morning or leave the next one, Trogir is by far the closer departure point, and an afternoon on the water fits between a flight and a check-in in a way that a trip from Split city rarely does.

Where we pick up

Our small-group tour starts on the Trogir riva and picks up along the way at Okrug Gornji, Seget Donji and Čiovo. Private tours can start wherever suits you, including around Split.

When Split is the better start

There are trips where Split makes more sense, and it is worth saying so:

• Hvar or Brač as a simple day out on your own: the public catamarans and ferries leave from Split harbour and cost far less than any private boat.
• You are staying in Split's old town without a car and only want a short trip on the water that day.
• The particular tour you have set your heart on only runs from Split.

For the Blue Lagoon, Šolta, Drvenik and the Čiovo coast — the swimming water most people picture — Trogir is the shorter, calmer start. That is why our boats are there.