Explore the Brijuni Islands by boat with tours departing from Pula's harbor, ranging from 2-hour evening dolphin trips to a 5-hour excursion with time on the island itself. All tours include free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure.
Free Cancellation 3-hour sunset dolphin-watching boat cruise from Pula with dinner, drinks, and binoculars.
Free Cancellation 5-hour boat trip from Pula harbour to St. Jerolim island with 3 hours of swimming time and open bar.
Free Cancellation 3-hour evening boat ride from Pula's old port around the Brijuni islands, with dolphin watching at sunset.
Free Cancellation 2-hour sunset boat ride from Pula Port past the Brijuni coast, with dolphin spotting and city lights on return.
Read what travelers share about their experience visiting Brijuni National Park — from practical tips to personal highlights.
Most tours from Pula skip the park's official gate at Fažana and go by sea: an evening boat that loops the 14 islands hunting the resident bottlenose dolphins, or a five-hour trip that drops you on St Jerolim for three hours of swimming. The dolphins show up on roughly 95% of sunset departures, and the crossing past the Peneda lighthouse puts you inside the park's protected waters without paying the €50 island entrance fee.
Brijuni's waters hold a resident population of bottlenose dolphins, and operators report sightings on about 95% of sunset trips. Binoculars are handed out on the premium tours, along with a printed route map so you can track the boat's path around the islands. Sightings aren't guaranteed, but the odds are about as good as dolphin watching gets in the Adriatic.
Departures are timed so the return leg catches the sun dropping behind the Brijuni archipelago. The Martinabela, a 100-passenger boat with two restrooms, runs a roughly 3-hour loop around all 14 islands. Bring a jacket — even in August the sea breeze turns cool after sunset.
The five-hour excursion gives you three hours of free time on St Jerolim, a car-free island inside the park with a shallow swimming area and an educational underwater trail. Single-use plastic bottles are banned here — there are bottle drop-off points instead of bins. Snorkel gear is worth packing.
Every trip leaves from Pula's harbour and follows the 4.5-kilometre stretch of Pula Bay before heading out. You'll pass the naval port, the city waterfront and the Peneda lighthouse at the southern tip of the national park. It's the best angle you'll get on Pula short of a plane.
The premium dolphin tour includes dinner plus unlimited white wine, mineral water and soft drinks — the operators specify original Coca-Cola and Fanta, a small Croatian flex. The five-hour excursion runs an open bar too, with meals included. Minimum drinking age is 18.
The bigger boats run multilingual guides covering German, English, Italian, Czech, Polish, French, Hungarian, Dutch, Spanish and Croatian. The five-hour excursion puts an art historian on the mic for the commentary. The short 2-hour trip runs with just a skipper, so don't expect a narrated tour.
Four tours run from Pula's harbour, and they differ more than their titles suggest — two barely leave the bay, one lands you on an island for three hours, and they range from $41 to $72. Here's what to sort out before you pay.
Boat-only dolphin and sunset trips run 2–3 hours and never dock on an island. The full excursion takes about 5 hours, with a 2-hour sail out and 3 hours of free time swimming and wandering on St Jerolim. If you want the safari park, Roman ruins and Tito's Cadillac, you need the park's own excursion from Fažana instead — €50 for adults in summer, boat and tourist train included.
The Martinabela carries 100 passengers, so it rarely fills completely, but summer sunset slots are the most popular and can go days ahead. For the park's own guided island excursion from Fažana, language slots — not boat capacity — sell out first in July and August. Book either online at shop.np-brijuni.hr ahead of time.
The 5-hour excursion includes entrance fees, meals, an open bar and an art historian guide — the $72 price covers everything. The dolphin tours include binoculars and route maps (premium version) or just soft drinks (Martinabela). The 2-hour trip covers fuel and skipper only, so bring your own water.
Only the 5-hour tour actually puts you inside the national park, and only on St Jerolim. None of the Pula tours visit Veliki Brijun, where the safari park, the 1,600-year-old olive tree and the Roman villa in Verige Bay sit — for those you must take the park's official boat from Fažana, 15 minutes from Pula by car.
All four tours allow a full refund if you cancel at least 24 hours before departure. Inside 24 hours you lose the money, so decide the evening before if the weather looks doubtful. Skippers can also cancel or reroute for weather — flights and routes are listed as approximate and subject to conditions.
All four tours are listed as suitable for all fitness levels, and infants ride on an adult's lap or in a stroller. The Martinabela has two restrooms on board. Service animals are allowed on the Martinabela and the 2-hour trip; children must be accompanied by an adult on the guided tours.
The premium dolphin tour asks you at the boarding point 30 minutes before departure. The 5-hour excursion leaves from Pula harbour at GPS 44.8744, 13.8481 — pin it before you go, since "Pula harbour" covers a lot of quay and walking the wrong pier eats your buffer.
Evening departures work because the dolphins feed near the islands at dusk and the boats follow them at a respectful distance. Go in May, June or September and you get the same sightings with cooler air on the return leg. Trips run through the summer season; check winter availability, when the park itself drops to two sailings a day.
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| Sunset Dolphin Cruise (Martinabela) | Premium Dolphin Watching with Dinner | Boat Excursion with Island Visit | Short Sunset Boat Tour | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duration | About 3 hours | About 3 hours | About 5 hours | About 2 hours |
| Best for | Best value dolphin watching — 4.8 rating from 43 reviews | Travelers who want dinner, wine and binoculars on a sunset trip | Families and swimmers who want actual time ashore inside the park | Anyone short on time or on a budget — a taster, not a full outing |
| Includes | Loop around all 14 islands, free soft drinks, two restrooms on board | Dinner, unlimited white wine and soft drinks, binoculars, route map, professional guide in up to 10 languages | 3 hours free time on St Jerolim, entrance fees, meals, open bar, art historian guide | Skipper and fuel only; views of Pula Bay and the Peneda lighthouse, no island stop |
| Price from | $45.87 | $65.36 | $72.25 | $41.28 |
| Rating | 4.8/5 | 4.5/5 (239 reviews) | 4.2/5 (191 reviews) | 4.5/5 (2 reviews) |
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The national park is open every day except January and February, when individual visits stop entirely — only pre-arranged groups get in. Your Pula boat tour is a separate operation and runs on its own seasonal schedule, typically evening departures for the dolphin trips.
Park boats from Fažana to Veliki Brijun:
The island information point closes at 19:15 in high summer, which matters if you're on the €15 evening ticket (boarding 18:00/19:00/20:00) — the museums will be shut by then. Standard guided excursions run about 4 hours end to end, including the 15-minute crossing each way. Self-guided visitors with a rented bike or electric car commonly stay 5–8 hours.
Your tour leaves from Pula harbour (GPS 44.8744, 13.8481) — arrive 30 minutes early on the premium dolphin trip. If you're doing the park's own excursion instead, you need to get to Fažana, 8 km northwest.
Only the park's own boats cross to the islands from Fažana — cars are never transported. The crossing is 2 km and takes 15 minutes.
May–June and September–October combine warm sea for swimming with thinner crowds, and from 1 October the adult island ticket drops from €50 to €35. Late September still gets eleven boats a day.
July–August suits evening visitors — the €15 island entry from 6 pm, the open-air Ulysses Theatre on Mali Brijun and the Podium chamber-music festival — but brings peak heat and the year's biggest crowds. For the Pula dolphin tours, summer evenings are the core season, and dusk is when the dolphins feed near the islands.
Avoid January and February for the park itself: no individual ticket can be bought at all, whatever winter sailing lists suggest. November–March means two sailings a day and a 16:00 last return. A family of four should budget roughly €140 for the summer island day trip — the €50 adult fare is the steepest standard admission of any Croatian national park.
All four Pula boat tours are listed as suitable for all fitness levels. Infants can ride in a pram or on an adult's lap, and children must be accompanied by an adult on the guided trips. The Martinabela carries up to 100 passengers and has two restrooms; service animals are allowed on it and on the 2-hour tour.
On Veliki Brijun, the terrain is largely flat — the highest point in the whole archipelago is just 55 m — and the tourist train covers the long circuit to the safari park and Roman villa. The standard excursion is one of the easier national-park visits in Croatia for seniors: benches and cafés sit near the harbour, and over-65s pay a reduced fare (€30–€40).
Caveats: much of the sightseeing relies on gravel paths, and boarding the tourist train may require assistance. Remote sites like the dinosaur footprints at Cape Ploče are harder to reach. Visitors with reduced mobility should email [email protected] in advance, and book reduced tickets at [email protected] — they're not sold online.
The tour boats keep things simple: the Martinabela has two restrooms and free soft drinks; the premium dolphin trip adds dinner, unlimited white wine and binoculars; the 5-hour excursion runs an open bar and includes meals.
On Veliki Brijun you'll find cafés and benches near the harbour, hotels, and the park's roughly 300 rental bicycles — which the park admits are sometimes not enough at peak times, so go to the rental desk first if you arrive on an early boat. Electric cars can be rented for the self-guided ticket.
Swimming happens at designated beaches: Saluga on Veliki Brijun, or the shallow areas on car-free St Jerolim, where a 3-hour stop is built into the 5-hour excursion. St Jerolim is an island without single-use plastic — bins are being removed, so take your trash home. Dogs cost €15 and are barred from the safari park, tourist train and museums.
Dress code: swimwear is allowed only on designated beaches. You cannot board the boat, walk the island or enter any restaurant, café, hotel or reception in a swimsuit — pack a cover-up or you may be turned away.
Photography: personal photos are fine everywhere except the protected zone managed by Croatia's Ministry of Defence inside the park. Commercial shoots need permission from the Public Institution at least 15 days in advance, and any drone flight additionally requires a State Geodetic Administration permit. No recreational drones.
Dogs: €15 ticket, never allowed in the safari park, on the tourist train or in museums, and must not roam freely. Aggressive dogs need a muzzle during boat transfers.
Timing: the park uses strict timed entry — the crew will not board you earlier or later than the hour on your ticket, and a missed departure means no refund and no rebooking. Boat tour cancellation is more forgiving: full refund up to 24 hours before departure. Croatia uses the euro.
Only one does. The 5-hour boat excursion gives you 3 hours of free time on St Jerolim, an island inside the park with swimming and an underwater trail. The 2–3 hour dolphin and sunset tours stay on the water the whole time, looping past the islands and the Peneda lighthouse without docking anywhere.
The operator of the Martinabela reports sightings on about 95% of departures, since the bottlenose dolphins are resident in the park's waters and feed near the islands at dusk. Nothing is guaranteed with wild animals, but the odds here are unusually good. Evening departures are timed specifically around their feeding patterns.
On the premium 3-hour tour, yes — dinner plus unlimited white wine, mineral water and soft drinks, and binoculars for every passenger, all for about $65. The Martinabela sunset cruise includes only soft drinks at about $46, and the short 2-hour trip includes just the skipper and fuel, so eat beforehand.
No Pula boat tour visits Veliki Brijun. To see Lanka the elephant (a 1972 gift from Indira Gandhi), the zebras and the Roman villa in Verige Bay, you need the park's own excursion from Fažana, 8 km from Pula: €50 per adult in summer, €35 from October to May, including the boat, tourist train and guide.
Pula harbour, at GPS coordinates 44.8744, 13.8481 — pin it in Google Maps before you go, since the harbour has multiple quays. The premium dolphin tour asks passengers to arrive 30 minutes before departure. The trips follow the 4.5-kilometre stretch of Pula Bay before heading out toward the islands.
Yes. All four tours are listed as suitable for all fitness levels, infants ride free on an adult's lap or in a stroller, and children must be accompanied by an adult on the guided trips. The 5-hour excursion with the St Jerolim swimming stop suits families best. Note the minimum drinking age is 18 on the tours with an open bar.
All four tours allow a full refund if you cancel at least 24 hours before departure. Routes and timings are approximate and subject to weather conditions, so the skipper may alter or cut a trip short. If a storm is forecast, decide the evening before — inside 24 hours you lose the money.
Between about $41 and $72 per person. The 2-hour sunset boat tour starts at $41.28, the 3-hour Martinabela dolphin cruise at $45.87, the premium dolphin tour with dinner at $65.36, and the 5-hour excursion with the island stop at $72.25 — the most expensive includes entrance fees, meals and an open bar. The park's own island excursion from Fažana costs €35–€50 separately.
The premium dolphin tour and the 5-hour excursion run multilingual guides covering German, English, Italian, Czech, Polish, French, Hungarian, Dutch, Spanish and Croatian — ten languages. The Martinabela covers German, English and Italian. The short 2-hour tour has no listed language guides, just the skipper.
Yes — that's the point of the 3-hour free time on the island, and St Jerolim has shallow swimming areas and an educational underwater trail, so bring a snorkel. The island bans single-use plastic bottles and has drop-off points instead of bins. You'll need to carry anything you bring back to the boat.
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A 3-hour evening boat trip out of Pula, timed for sunset, built around watching dolphins in the waters around the Brijuni islands. A professional guide runs the trip, and each passenger gets binoculars and a printed route map so you can follow the boat's path along the coast. Dinner is included, along with unlimited white wine, mineral water, and soft drinks (genuine Coca-Cola and Fanta, the listing insists). Guides work in five languages: Croatian, English, German, Czech, and Italian. Arrive at the ship 30 minutes before departure — the operator is strict about this. Departure times can shift with weather and weight restrictions. Book online only. Cancel at least 24 hours ahead for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Czech, German, English, Croatian, Italian, Polish, French, Hungarian, Dutch, Spanish
The boat leaves from Pula harbour (44.8744, 13.8481 — pin it in Google Maps before you go) and runs about 5 hours total. The first leg takes roughly 2 hours, after which you get 3 hours of free time on St. Jerolim, an island inside the national park, for swimming and wandering on your own. An open bar runs the whole trip: white wine, mineral water, Cola and Fanta, no limit. Meals, entrance fees and transport are all in the price, so there's nothing extra to pay on the island. A professional art historian guide is on board, and tours run in Croatian, English, German, Italian and Czech. Booking is online only. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Czech, German, English, Croatian, Italian, Polish, French, Hungarian, Dutch, Spanish
A roughly 3-hour sunset cruise from Pula's old port aboard the Martinabela, a boat carrying up to 100 passengers, with two restrooms on board and free soft drinks. The route loops around all 14 Brijuni islands while the captain searches for dolphins — the operator claims sightings on about 95% of departures. A live guide narrates in English, German, or Italian. You'll sail past the Pula Arena, the Roman amphitheatre at the edge of the old port, before heading out to the islands. The dolphin-watching stretch happens around sunset, when the animals are typically feeding and playing — keep your camera ready, since the boat slows down for photos. On the return leg the Arena comes back into view, floodlit by then; sit on the port (left) side for the best angle. Make sure your ticket says Martinabela, as several boats depart from the same port. Cancel at least 24 hours ahead for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
German, English, Italian
A 2-hour evening boat trip that leaves from the Port of Pula and follows the 4.5-kilometer stretch of Pula Bay, with views of the city and its harbor as you go. Past the port, the Brijuni Islands come into view, and the route passes the "Peneda" lighthouse at the southernmost tip of the national park. Dolphins live in these waters and the boat slows when a pod is spotted — sightings are common but never guaranteed. The return leg runs after sunset, so you come back to a lit-up harbor: the "Luminous Giants" (the illuminated shipyard cranes) and the floodlit Pula Amphitheatre. Fuel and a skipper are included in the price; food, drinks, and any park entry fees are not listed as included. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund. Bring a light layer — it gets cool on the water after sundown.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.