The short answer: boats to Red Island and St Catherine leave Rovinj on the half hour and leave the islands on the hour, roughly once an hour from 5.30 in the morning until the last boat back at 1.00 at night. A ticket is 12 euros for adults, 6 euros for children under 10, and free if you are staying at one of the island hotels. Red Island is about 15 minutes away, St Catherine about 5.

Which island is which

Both islands go by several names, which is the first thing that trips people up when they are trying to match a timetable to a place.

• Red Island is Crveni otok in Croatian and appears on timetables as Sv. Andrija or St Andrew, after the islet with the monastery. Same place, four names. It is the bigger one, about 15 minutes out.
• St Catherine is Sveta Katarina, sometimes written Sv. Katarina. It is the near one, five minutes from town, facing the Old Town.

Maistra's own timetable uses the Croatian names, so a boat marked Sv. Andrija is the one going to Red Island.

The timetable

One thing makes the whole schedule easy to remember: out on the half hour, back on the hour. The two directions are not the same times - they are offset by thirty minutes - so a boat is leaving one end or the other every half hour, but any given crossing runs about once an hour.

A sailing marked via Sveta Katarina calls at the nearer island on the way, so it takes a little longer to reach Crveni otok. The early and late boats do this; the daytime ones go straight there.

So: the first boat out is 5.30, the last boat out is 00.30, and the last boat back is 01.00. Between 8.30 and 19.30 the outbound boats go straight to Crveni otok; the early and late ones call at Sveta Katarina on the way.

Timetable taken from the operator's own page on 16 August 2026. It is the summer schedule and it thins out off-season, so outside July and August check Maistra's page before you rely on the last boat.

Where the boats leave from

There are two departure points in Rovinj, which is the part people get wrong.

• Delfin pier - on the harbour by the roundabout, under the Island Hotels Reception sign.
• Mali mol - in the town centre, on the main waterfront. Closer if you are staying in or near the Old Town.

Neither is the same place as the excursion boats touting day trips along the waterfront. That is the usual mistake: people go looking for the island boat and end up being sold a four-hour panorama cruise.

Tickets

12 euros for adults, 6 euros for children under 10. If you are staying at Island Hotel Istra or Hotel Katarina the boat is free for the whole of your stay, so say where you are staying before you buy anything.

The boat back is the part to plan

Going out is easy. The last boat back is what people get wrong, and being stuck on an island is an expensive way to end an afternoon. The final return is 1.00 in high summer, but the late sailings thin out off-season - check the return times when you arrive rather than when you want to leave.

If the weather turns

These are small boats on open water. A strong bura or a summer neverin can stop sailings at short notice, usually for a few hours rather than a day. If the wind gets up while you are on the island, come back earlier than you planned.

The alternative: taxi boats

Independent taxi boats run from the town harbour as well, and in summer they leave often. They cost more, they go when you want rather than when the timetable says, and they are the answer if you have missed the last scheduled boat. Agree the return before you get on.

Frequently asked questions

For what is actually on the two islands - the monastery ruins, the swimming, which one suits a lazy afternoon - see our guide to Rovinj's islands. If you are mainly after the swimming, the best beaches piece covers the mainland options too.