Hard Island Festival 2016 was an amazing experience! We had lots of fun, dancing our ass off in the shining sun, with all the lovely ladies and just the best hard dance music. But most important it was the ultimate summer holiday with all your best friends! Now that we know what Hard Island Festival is all about and Hard Island Festival 2017 is already announced and the first wave of tickets sold, we thought of some serious, useful tips and points you really need to think about in case you decide to go to Hard Island Festival 2017!

Go with a big group!

This tip might be obvious, but we think it’s one of the most important aspects of Hard Island. Yes, we all love to visit festivals with our friends – why should we go alone, when we can have fun with someone else we know really well and who shares the same passion? So, we highly recommend to go at least with four people to Croatia! We were a group of nearly 50 people from all over Europe and had one of the sickest holidays ever!

It will ease a lot of things for you. You can share the price for food, or a car for example! You’re not dependent from that one friend who might feel bad because of the alcohol last night. Why have a nice holiday with just your girlfriend, when you can go with even more friends?

Furthermore, you do not have to be scared of living together with some strangers. When you’re with at least four people you will be put into one apartment, which you have on your own then.

The Tickets

We highly recommend to plan your trip on time, because the later you wait the more expensive it gets! We would say, you need to be sure if you go or not until end of this year, if you do not want to spent more money than normally necessary. First, the festival ticket prices are higher, the later you book. You have the option to choose between a normal festival ticket, VIP and Super VIP!

Seriously – we recommend to take the VIP or Super VIP! Especially when you’re in a bigger group of 5 – 10 people it’s totally worth it! The price is not that much more than the normal ticket price, but you still get access to good places within the club for an awesome view f.e.. If you take the Super VIP, you even have access to one more area, located on the right side of the club, with toilets and nice possibilities to sit down. Furthermore, you have access to two platforms, above the crown, ranging into the dancefloor.

As said before, make sure you book your trip on time! The prices for the flight and apartments will be way higher right before the actual summer season, then now or end of this year! Why spend money on the flights who just take 2h from Netherlands or Germany, when you could spend parts of it for some nice drinks?

Also, if you book your flight early, you can get a cheap one to Zadar, a city which is located just one hour from Novalja. From there we recommend to take the normal bus! There are plenty of options and it’s not expensive, you can even grab a ticket when arriving at the airport! Additionally, you are independent from the official transfer by the Hard Island team! You have more freedom in designing your holiday trip! Follow this link to book your bus: http://www.buscroatia.com/de/

Accommodations

It’s already exhausting to plan your trip to Croatia, by plane, car and all the transfers. Let the Hard Island Team do the job and book a travelpackage! This will ease alot of things for you and your group! While booking you can put in the names of your friends and you’ll be put together in a shared or private apartment, depends on what you booked. The apartments do offer everything you need – enough soace to sleep, an open kitchen, a fridge, things to cook with, an oven sometimes, a bathroom and even a nice balcony! Don’t be afraid, the Hard Island Team will take care of you.

This way, it’s way easier to keep the control of your holiday experience! You can easier stay together with friends and you know what you’re booking and what you get! Ic they offer nice tra el packages, who aren’t even expensive, why not take them. It’s only an advantage for you and your group – the Hard Island Team is from Croatia, they know what they are doing.

Due to the fact, that you have to go to one of three specific check-in points after you arrive in Novalja to get your wristbands in return for your voucher, we’d suggest you to take an early flight and the earliest transfer from one of the possible airports. Otherwise you might arrive very late at your accommodation!

What to bring to Hard Island?

I think this is a quite interesting question! What the hell shall I bring to Croatia, to Hard Island Festival? First, be aware of the Airport rules! Just hit the website of the Airport you are flying from and read through the rules carefully.

It’s not necessary to change money before your trip. There are way more options in Croatia itself. You do not even need KUN in airport range or touristic places, they accept EUR! Also, if you change the money in Croatia you won’t pay any taxes – just make sure, you check the current exchange rate. Normally it’s about 1€ = 7,4 KUN, it can also be 7,3 KUN! So, don’t get yourself fooled!

Get yourself an internet pass for the days you spent in Croatia and Hard Island – seriously, you will need it. There are lots of cases where you just need a working connection, not talking about Facebook or Instagram, but also to google up exchange rates, to google up different places via Google Maps, check flights or just to stay in contact with your friends in case you lose yourself or in case there is an emergency! In Germany, provider like the Telekom and Vodafone offer FREE data roaming – which means you can use the given internet, calling and messaging options within whole Europe without any extra costs. Hit the website of your provider for further info’s, or visit a shop before you travel to Croatia.

All you need are some swimming shorts, shirts and underwear – basically! Don’t even think about bringing clothes longer than this. You won’t need them! Make sure you pack is packed with sun cream, with a 30+ or higher protection. There is nothing worse than get sunburned. Always keep in mind you want to enjoy the trip and not fighting with pealing skin and no sleep due to the sunburned back, right? When you go swimming be aware that the water is salty as hell! It will dry out your skin in addition to the sun. Make sure you bring some sort of sun lotion, you put on after showering and before hitting the club. Furthermore, bring everything you need for summer holidays, such as sun glasses, flip flops, all your phone chargers, some speakers if you have, a snap back, to protect your head, …

Being in Croatia

Food – yes, there are a lot of options to have a meal, but most of the time it actually sucks! We recommend to cook on your own, it will save you lots of money and you can be sure you eat something delicious. There is a huge local store in Novalja, where you get everything you need! Per day we spent around 20€ for breakfast and dinner in total for four or five people. A good breakfast is the perfect start into the day – the sun, the parties and drinks are exhausting! Our tip, try the super fresh fish, you get in the huge store – super tasty! Treat yourself nicely but wisely, it’s your holiday!

Drinks – you better buy them in the local stores! It’s way cheaper than in Club Kalypso for example. At least make sure you had some fresh drinks before you go to the party. A one litre cocktail in club Kalypso will cost you 150 – 170 or even 210 KUN, which is more than 20€! Tip: Check the small club to the right of club Kalypso, you get a one litre cocktail for just 100 KUN and free entrance until 00:00.

Also, be aware that alcohol hits you way harder in the sun as usual. To fully enjoy your holiday, make sure you stay hydrated and listen to your body! There is nothing wrong with sticking to water for a few hours. If you’re sea sick, bring some medicine in case your visiting one or more of the boat party’s.

We also recommend you to get yourself a local bus ticket! You can get it via the official hard island ticket shop, either for basic stay (5 days) or extended stay (7 days). The bus is driving through Novalja and also to Club Kalypso and back. At night the bus drives regularly, at day, as far as we remember, every hour!

We hope this might be helpful! We tried to collect these info’s and tips based on our own experience this year. If you have any other questions regarding your trip, contact the organizer via Facebook or mail. They are more than pleased to help you out! For everything else we recommend to download and safe the official Hard Island Info booklet (.pdf) offline on your phone. There you find ANY other basic-Information you’ll need.

Hope to see you all next year at Hard Island Festival!!