The queue at Valbiska
Vehicles board in the order they reach the port. That single rule decides which sailing you take, which is why the planning happens before you leave rather than on a booking screen.
Updated
This is the busiest car ferry route in Croatia, carrying close to half a million vehicles a year across a crossing of 25 min. Everything about the experience follows from one rule: vehicles board in the order they arrive.
Why there is nothing to reserve
Jadrolinija sells a ticket for a date. The route page says it is valid for any departure on the date printed on it, and the webshop repeats it on the payment screen: an online ticket does not guarantee boarding at the selected departure time.
So paying in advance buys you the crossing, not a place. The lane decides the rest, and the lane is filled in the order cars roll into it.
When to be there
Jadrolinija publishes no check-in time for this line. The figures below come from travel sources rather than the operator, so treat them as a margin you choose rather than a rule you must meet.
| Period | Suggested margin |
|---|---|
| July and August | about 60 min before the departure you want |
| June and September | about 30 min |
| The rest of the year | about 20 min |
The planner above turns those margins into times. Enter when you expect to reach the port and it names the sailing you should make, the moment to be standing in the lane, and your arrival at Merag.
What the port looks like
Valbiska is a ferry berth in a wooded inlet rather than a village, so there is no town to wait in. The marshalling area is a strip of concrete along the quay divided into lanes by red and white barriers, with the ticket window beside it.
Cars are held in the lanes until the arriving ferry has unloaded, then loaded in sequence. Foot passengers board separately and are not affected by the vehicle queue.
If you do not make it on
You keep your position at the front of the lane, your ticket stays valid because it covers the date, and you sail on the next departure. In high season that is a wait of roughly 90 min in the middle of the day and longer in the evening.
Jadrolinija says additional ferries are provided during the day in the summer months, which shortens some of those waits. Those extra sailings are not in the timetable, so plan on the published times.
The part after the crossing
If Lošinj is your destination, the queue at Valbiska is only the first of two places you can be held up. The swing bridge at Osor opens for boats at 09:00 and 17:00 and the road closes while it does. The page on the Osor bridge sets out how the two schedules interact.
Which sailing will you make?
You cannot reserve a departure on this line, so the only question that matters is where you are in the queue. Enter when you expect to reach the port.