Help me narrow down European destinations

[Nemesias]

I’m looking for next years holiday - here are my potential destinations so far:

Malta
Sicily
Mallorca
Kefalonia
Croatia (maybe fly into split and out of Dubrovnik and hire a car)
Sardinia
Crete

or somewhere else?

probably looking at late June or early September. I have done quite a bit of research into Crete and would probably go to Chania as a base. Ditto Mallorca - probably to Cala d’Or.

the others though I’m a bit stuck on great places to go. I prefer a beachfront hotel over a villa, rocky coves rather than sandy beaches (better for snorkelling!). Somewhere with nice restaurants to go for dinner but not crazy nightlife. Just two adults so we can go in term time and prefer adults only hotels.

anyone have a favourite place to go they can recommend?

I love Sicily and Sardinia from your list. Sardinia has some stunning little coves on the east coast, but it's quite expensive. Sicily is just full of history, which I love (Roman mosaics, Greek temples, etc.) So much to explore, and great food. I loved Palermo. It's gritty, like Naples. Probably for a snorkelling holiday I would go for Sardinia. It's beautiful. I haven't been to Croatia but I know people who really love it.

Snorkelling is one of our top priorities when going on holiday just me and DH.

Sardinia has some truly excellent snorkelling - our favourite places have been around Capo Testa in the north, Palau and La Maddalena, the east coast between San Teodoro and Porto San Paolo, Capo Carbonara in the south east, and the south west coast around Santa Margherita di Pula and Chia. You definitely want a car for Sardinia in my opinion. I can’t think of one particular place to recommend as a base of the top of my head. We love Pula, but it’s probably not Cove-y enough for you.

Malta is also great for snorkelling - Gozo in particular but also the northwestern coast of Malta is great and Comino is worth a visit too. We’ve always hired a car to get to the best spots. On Gozo, Xlendi or Marsalforn might fit the bill.

Croatia - we love Braç island for snorkelling and generally but there are lots of great places. For us Braç has the best of what we want - can also do trips to Hvar and we often do a day at Split on each end of the trip. Both Bol and Supetar have been great bases but I think Bol is slightly better for snorkelling - Zlatni Rat is close by and is great.

Thank you both lots to have a look at!