In reply to Danny Brown:
We recently got from honeymoon to the islands. We wanted to do one or two days climbing, and chill the rest of the time. For once a holiday with a bit of climbing and not the other way round.
If you fly to Split in the morning, you'll have plenty of time to chill out while waiting for the ferry. Get the bus from the airport (£3plus pp) which drops you off at the main bus station/ferry terminal at Split (Jadrolinia). Get your tickets (about £12 pp one way to Bol). The old Roman citadel in Split is next to the waterfront and worth wandering around in. Have lunch in the main plaza.
We stayed on Brac for a few days, at the Villa Giardino - not cheap (107 euros per night), but worth it - lush gardens, within walking distance to town/beaches. They put us in contact with a local guide and we went climbing with him for an afternoon. Swmbo on sighted her first 5b on top rope, to my surprise. You need to hire a car, or wait for busses if you want to access the two main climbing areas north of the island.
We headed to Hvar next. I'd stay either at Stari Grad next time, or hire a apartment/villa in Hvar itself. We stayed at the Amfora, but it's feeling it's age - the staff and service were great though. If you really want to do a hotel - try one of the more modern ones owned by the same chain, like the Adriana or Palace iirc. I dropped Cliffbase an email while I was there, but they merely sent an email back saying that we had to stay with them in order to climb? I'd try Hvar Adventures in Hvar (went sea-kayaking with them) as a quite of few of the guides are climbers as well.
Plenty non-climbing stuff to do on both islands, beach, MTB, kite/wind surfing, running trails etc. I'd happily go back to Brac first and do some more climbing. Go early season (June) before it gets too hot, crowded and expensive. Worth hiring a guide, as they are good value for money and fairly cheap. Also means you don't have to drag kit around with you. We only took our own shoes and harnesses. A car, as usual makes life easier.
