SAIL AWAY

Your guide to cruising across the Croatian coastline

Dalmatia is an aquatic paradise like few others - an archipelago speckled with little-known Venetian-era villages, secret coves and the sort of cerulean blue waters that remain in your dreams long after you have left.

And to truly uncover its treasures it is best explored by boat, with a range of offerings - from budget to boutique, public to private - operating from Split and Dubrovnik. Here, writer Julian Tompkin sets out into the waters of the Adriatic, pitted with Dalmatia's 79 islands and over 500 islets.

STOP 1: HVAR