hi me and 2 friends are flying innto rijeka on the 31st of july and need a cheap place to stay, it appears the only youth hostel is all booked up. would be amazing if someone could let us know somewhere cheap to stay for just that one night!
also how easy/cheap is it to get down to the south from rijeka, to hvar etc?
x

It's not a problem to catch a bus to the south any time of the day.
To get to Hvar, you have 2 options.
1) you can catch a bus to Split and take a ferry/catamaran from there.
2) take the coastal ferry from Jadrolinija (not every day)

We flew into Rijeka as well as we left about 30 mins later. There isn't much to see in Rijeka. We spent the last morning of our trip there. If I was you I'd get a bus directly out. There are loads of buses to Zagreb (almost every hour). If you want to get down south, get the bus to Zadar, that would be a nice distance of a journey for your first day, plus Zadar is really nice (the guidebooks don't do it justice), make sure you see the sea organ!! There is a bus that meets your flight at the Rijeka airport and it takes you to the bus station. There is a board with all the time on it there.
Hope this helps
Mike