By the Dalmatia Express crew — skippers running the Split–island routes daily, 24/7. Updated July 2026.

I get this question every day — on the dock, over WhatsApp, at two in the morning from someone whose flight just landed late. So, straight answer first: in 2026, a private water taxi from Split costs between €250 and €1,700 per boat, one-way, depending on the island and the class of boat you choose. The one long-haul exception is Hvar to Dubrovnik, which runs €1,500–2,600. And here is the sentence that matters more than any other on this page: the price is per boat, not per person. Two of you or twelve of you, the number on the quote is the number for the whole boat — skipper, fuel and port fees included.

Below you’ll find our full 2026 route table, what’s actually inside the price, what pushes a quote up or down within a range, the per-person arithmetic, what other Split operators charge (real numbers we checked, not hand-waving), how a private boat compares with the Jadrolinija and Krilo catamarans, and how paying actually works. And where the ferry is genuinely the better buy, I’ll tell you so.

Water taxi prices from Split in 2026: every route

Per boat, one-way, all-in. The low end of each range is our compact speedboat outside the peak weeks; the high end is our largest closed-cabin boat in peak season.

What’s included in every price

• The whole boat — private. No strangers, no seat-selling.
• Licensed skipper and crew — people who cross these channels every day of the year.
• Fuel — the biggest single cost of running a speedboat, and it’s in the price, never a surcharge.
• Port and berthing fees at both ends.
• Your luggage — normal holiday bags ride free. Bikes, dive gear, a pram, a wedding dress that needs its own seat: tell us in advance and we’ll plan the space.
• On airport routes: gate pickup. Our driver meets you as you walk out of arrivals, drives you a few minutes to the dock, and the boat leaves when you’re aboard. Flight delayed? We track it and wait, free.

If you’re wondering why a 55-minute boat ride can cost more than your flight to Croatia: a transfer speedboat burns more fuel in an hour than most cars do in a month, a licensed skipper’s day and commercial passenger insurance are not cheap, and every touch of a quay in Hvar in August is paid to the harbour authority. That’s the honest cost base — and it’s exactly what suspiciously cheap quotes leave out, then quietly add back later as “fuel surcharges” and “port fees”.

What moves the price inside those ranges

A range like “€370–900 to Hvar” is honest, but only useful if you know what slides you up or down it. Five things, in order of impact:

1. Boat class

The big one. Our Lolivul 9 is the compact option — quick, agile, perfect for couples and small groups on shorter hops, and it anchors the bottom of each range. The Great White 35 and Great White 39 sit in the middle: closed cabins, shock-absorbent seats, real luggage space. The Great White 49 is the top of the range — a fully enclosed cabin boat for up to 12 passengers that handles sea states which keep open boats tied to the dock. On a 30-minute Šolta hop in July calm, the small boat is all you need. On the 80-minute Korčula crossing with wind against you, the big cabin boat is worth every euro.

2. Season

July and August are peak — demand and our costs are highest, so quotes sit in the upper half. May, June, September and October are where the bottom-of-range prices actually live. Same boats, same crew, softer numbers, emptier islands.

3. Night runs

We run 24/7, and night navigation asks more of the crew and the schedule. Departures roughly between 22:00 and 06:00 carry a premium — around 20–30% is normal across Split operators, and some apply it from as early as 19:00. With us it’s folded into the fixed quote upfront, never added at the dock.

4. Extra stops

A swim stop in a quiet bay, a second pickup, dropping half the group in Milna and the rest in Bol — all doable, all priced clearly when you ask. A short stop adds a modest fixed amount, not a second fare.

5. One-way vs return

Everything in the table is one-way. A return booked with the same boat is usually cheaper than two separate one-ways — especially same-day returns, where the boat waits for you. Ask for the round-trip quote; it’s often the pleasant surprise of the conversation.

Skipper’s tip: if anyone in your group goes green on boats, book the morning. The Adriatic is usually glass until early afternoon, when the maestral wind builds and puts chop on the channel. Morning departures are smoother, more often quoted at the low end of the range — and a closed cabin with shock-absorbent seats flattens whatever is left.

What that means per person

Because the price is per boat, the per-person cost collapses as the group grows. Worked examples with typical mid-season quotes:

Read the family column twice if you’re five people landing at Split Airport at 21:40 with a mountain of luggage: €110 per person, gate to Hvar harbour, in about an hour, with nobody queuing for anything. That’s the trip this service was built for — we’ve broken the whole journey down in our Split Airport to Hvar guide.

Want one exact number instead of a range? Send us your route, date and group size — you’ll get a fixed all-in quote in writing, usually within the hour in season.

What other Split operators charge (an honest look)

We’d rather you compare than guess, so here’s the market as we checked it in early July 2026. Published prices change, so treat these as snapshots:

• SeaYou (Split): advertises private water taxi transfers from €450 per boat, with the final price based on nautical miles.
• Taxi Boat Split: publishes fixed prices — when we checked: €425–475 to Šolta depending on the harbour, €450–550 to Brač, €550 to Hvar Town or Stari Grad, €875 to Vis.
• GetMyBoat and similar marketplaces: Split–Hvar listings around €580 per boat for up to 12 passengers, with small open boats advertised from roughly €250. It’s a marketplace — the vessel, licence and experience behind each listing vary, so check what you’re actually stepping onto.
• Hvar–Dubrovnik market: other operators typically list €1,200 for an 8-person open boat up to €1,800–2,200 for a 12-person cabin boat.

So why does one company quote €425 for a route another quotes €650? Almost always one of three reasons. Open RIB vs closed cabin: an open inflatable is cheaper to run and perfectly fine on a calm 30-minute hop, but it’s a wet, loud, bumpy proposition on a longer crossing — and the first thing cancelled when the wind picks up. Capacity: a boat licensed for 12 with proper luggage space costs more than a six-seater, yet often wins per person. Who you’re booking with: a reseller adds a margin on top of the boat owner’s price; booking direct usually gets you the same boat for less, and a straighter answer about weather.

None of the cheaper options are scams — they’re different products. Just do two things before comparing numbers: convert every quote to a total per boat (a “€95 per person” pitch is €570 for six), and ask directly whether fuel and port fees are included. If the advertised price evaporates the moment you name a real August date, it was bait, not a price.

Water taxi vs catamaran in 2026: the real numbers

Full transparency: for a solo traveller or a couple with time and flexibility, the public catamarans are excellent value, and we’ll tell you so at the dock. Published 2026 high-season one-way fares per person at the time of writing — confirm for your date at Jadrolinija or Krilo, as they change:

On raw price per seat, the catamaran wins nearly every time — it’s a scheduled public line carrying hundreds of passengers. What it cannot sell you is time and control. Catamarans leave when the timetable says, a handful of departures a day, and the popular summer sailings sell out. They dock only at the main harbours. And there is no catamaran waiting when your delayed flight lands at 23:50. A water taxi leaves when you want, from where you want, to the exact jetty you want.

The rule of thumb we give people on the riva: travelling as one to three people with flexible plans, take the catamaran. Travelling as four or more, with luggage, a tight connection, a late arrival or a specific drop-off point — the private boat starts making plain financial sense, not just comfort sense.

Skipper’s tip: mix and match. Plenty of our guests take the water taxi out — arrival day, luggage, precise timing — and the €10–25 catamaran back on departure day, when a fixed schedule doesn’t hurt. One-way private, one-way public is the best-value combination on this coast, and no, suggesting it doesn’t offend us.

How to get an exact quote (and how paying actually works)

Ranges are for articles; your booking gets one fixed number. To get it, send us five things through the contact page, WhatsApp or email:

1. Route and direction — one-way or return
2. Date and preferred departure time
3. Number of passengers, children included
4. Luggage — roughly how many bags, plus anything oversized
5. For airport pickups: your flight number, so we can track it

You’ll get back a fixed price for a specific boat, everything included, in writing. What you see is what you pay — no fuel supplement, no port-fee surprise at the dock.

Payment reality: the standard among serious Split operators, ours included, is a deposit to confirm the booking, with the balance settled on the day — card, PayPal, bank transfer or cash. Marketplaces and tour platforms usually charge the full amount upfront instead. Whoever you book with, get the total and the payment terms in writing before you pay anything.

Cancellation reality: if the skipper cancels for weather, you should never lose money. With us that means a free rebooking or a full refund of everything paid — your choice — and any operator worth booking offers the same. Because our fleet is closed-cabin, we sail safely on days when open boats stay in the harbour, so weather cancellations are genuinely rare for us.

Frequently asked questions

Is the price per person or per boat?

Per boat, always — with us and with every legitimate private water taxi in Split. One fixed price covers the boat, skipper, fuel and fees, up to the vessel’s licensed capacity. If a quote elsewhere turns out to be per person, you’re looking at a shared shuttle or a tour, not a private taxi.

Why is a water taxi so much more expensive than the ferry?

Because you’re not buying one seat among several hundred on a scheduled public line — you’re buying an entire boat: 100-plus litres of fuel on a longer crossing, a professional skipper’s day, berthing fees, insurance, and complete control of the schedule with a door-to-door drop. Divide by a full group and the gap shrinks fast: eight people to Hvar is about €63 each against €25 on the peak-season catamaran.

Do I have to pay a deposit?

Usually, yes. Direct operators confirm with a deposit and take the balance on the day; online platforms typically charge everything at booking. A deposit is normal in high season — a total price that exists only verbally is not. Insist on written confirmation.

What happens if the weather cancels my transfer?

If we make the safety call to cancel, you choose: move the transfer free of charge, or take a full refund including the deposit. Closed-cabin boats like ours run in conditions that cancel open RIBs, so if your date is immovable — a flight, a wedding — the cabin boat is the safer booking in every sense.

Can we split the cost with another group?

Within your own booking, absolutely — that’s the whole per-boat logic. Two couples splitting a €500 Hvar transfer pay €125 per couple. What we don’t do is sell your spare seats to strangers; a private taxi stays private.

What’s the cheapest water taxi route from Split?

Split to Šolta, from €250 for the 30-minute hop. Cheapest per person is a different question: fill a 12-seat boat to Hvar or Brač and you’re down near catamaran money per head, with none of the queuing.

Is there a night surcharge?

Across the Split market, yes — typically 20–30% for departures roughly between 22:00 and 06:00, some operators from 19:00. We run genuinely 24/7 and build any night premium into the single fixed quote upfront, so a 2 a.m. airport pickup never produces a surprise at the dock.

The bottom line

For 2026, plan on €250–450 to Šolta, €270–900 to Brač, €370–900 to Hvar (€400–900 from the airport), €460–1,000 to Vis, €800–1,700 to Korčula, and €1,500–2,600 for Hvar–Dubrovnik — per boat, everything included. Cheap? No. Fairly priced for a private, door-to-door boat with a professional skipper, on your schedule? We think so — and the numbers above let you judge for yourself.

Tell us your route, date and group size, and we’ll send a fixed, all-in quote today. If the catamaran is honestly the better option for your trip, we’ll tell you that too. Vidimo se na rivi — see you on the waterfront.