Bucket List: Ride in a Seaplane in Croatia • Jetset Jansen

So, taking a ride in a seaplane wasn’t even really on my radar…mostly because I assumed I was too poor to be fancy. But, when you don’t book your ferry ticket ahead of time and then realize they are all sold out on the morning of your expected departure…you have to start looking into some other options real quick.

My fiancé, Imre and I were in Split, Croatia and were trying to get to the island of Hvar. The 2-hour ferry we wanted to take in the morning was sold out…much like nearly every other ferry that day. Our only other option was to take a bigger and slower ferry at night.

While I was at the window trying to figure out if there were different routes or boats that could get us there any earlier, Imre had noticed the seaplanes going by and casually suggested we take one of those instead.

My first thought was, ‘Yea…ok…not possible.’ While we were standing in line for the night ferry, I saw him looking longingly over at the seaplanes. “You want to take a seaplane, don’t you?” I asked. He nodded enthusiastically.

I conceded quite easily as I wasn’t too keen on the late ferry and wandering around at night trying to find our hostel. I just figured I’d have to eat grapes for a couple days to compensate for the upgrade, which brings me to:

MYTH #1: You won’t be able to afford it.

Wrong. As we got up to the desk, I braced myself for the worst and then heard the woman say €45. I thought she was joking. €45 to ride in a seaplane to an island! I expected 3-4x that AT LEAST because it’s basically like chartering a private plane.

So here’s a picture of the view we had while I pretended to be fancy AF while the plane guys handled my backpacker’s pack that was covered in dirt and grime.

MYTH #2: You need a reservation.

Also wrong. This will of course vary on several circumstances but at a time when the ferries were full–the seaplanes were open. We waited maybe an hour for our plane to arrive and did so on comfortable lounge chairs with surprisingly cheap drinks.

And finally, our seaplane arrived!

The plane held maybe around 14 passengers.

We rode along the water for a little while before we could take off and clearly I was just a little excited.

The take off was entirely smooth and I actually couldn’t even pin point the exact moment we left the water. Likewise, the landing was the smoothest I had ever experienced–you can hardly even tell that you hit the water!

After a quick 20 minute (or so) ride, we landed at the island of Hvar with HUGE smiles on our faces. And after taking this unexpected ride, I can’t believe that it had not been on my bucket list before! Ride in a seaplane? Check!