jrudge
Well-Known Member
A short guide to cruising in Croatia.
This has been written following a 5 day cruise at he invitation of mapism of this parish.
There don’t seem many forumites keeping boats here so I thought it worth writing up my findings and views.
Getting here
I joined in Zadar and left the boat at Split.
There are only 4 direct flights a week I could find from London. 2 from Luton with easyJet (6am?) and 2 from Stansted with Ryanair.
Coming home ( I was heading to Mallorca ) to the U.K. easyJet fly to split 4 times a day and I did not check other carriers. So if you want to keep a boat here Split seems a better option !
From the airport I got a taxi. Uber works here but it was 10 mins wait so I hopped in a cab. Mistake! Uber was quoting kuna 50-60 and the taxi meter was kuna 230. What tariff it was on who knows.
Mapism had entered from Italy and purchased a cruising permit for circa Euro 700 for 1 month on arrival.
A search of entering Croatia reveals that you MUST check in at the earliest opportunity. This means the first port you come to not the first you stop at any time day or night. There are heavy fines for not doing this and other forums report that they track boats using ais. So I would suggest turning it off !
Similarly boats have not checked out, gone to Italy and returned within the validity of their cruising permit and been fined so they seem to take this seriously. Just as well the eu has freedom of movement !
There is also a requirement to change your crew list each time people arrive and leave. Mapism asked about this and they did not seem bothered ( but were apparently very hot on this a few years ago )
As you can probably tell money and to some extent bureaucracy are rife in Croatia, presumably a hang over of its communist origins.
Zadar.
I didn’t see much of Zadar other than the most luxurious fuel quay I have ever come across. Seating, a restaurant and bar service and a mini mart !
Fuel was circa Euro 1.30 a litre so roughly to same as my home port Mallorca.
Cruising
From Zadar we cruised in sheltered waters between the small islands that were really more like inland waterways in most places. Smooth water and in general not that many boats.
The islands are volcanic and there is little in the way of rocks or shallow water. You can pass close to the shore in 30-50m of water.
The distances are short and the water flat so doing this at displacement speed is altogether a more pleasurable experience.
This is genetically the Kornati nation park. I say generically as its exact boundaries are not marked on the nautical map and finding a map online - even on the official site has so far eluded me.
This is important as the park has a high entry fee of kuna 600 per day for a 17 m boat ( euro 80) which must be bought before you enter or the fee is doubled which can make for an expensive anchoring stop.
They sell passes of 1, 3 and 7 days and 7 days is kuna 2800 e380 which is pretty steep given you have also bought a cruising permit and then also pay for you berthing on top.
The park is however charming. The islands are low barren hills, the water clear and uncrowded. The boats in this part are biased towards motorboats - I assume given the park fees. In the rest of the region sail boats rule.
The sailboat charter fleets are simply huge. In Trogir we visited 2 empty marinas to be told they were full for annual berth holders. I pointed out there were hundreds of spaces in peak season. She replied ... wait until Friday ...(change over day ) Others also advise ( Deleted User and other forum posts )do not try and fuel on a Friday as it will be you against several hundred charter boats who need to return with a full tank.
In the Kornati there are lots of restaurants with either bouys or more commonly small pontoons taking between 5 and about 20 boats.
If you eat there then the berth is free. Electricity is all provided by generator and seems to be available from 7pm to midnight which is enough to charge batteries and run the ac.
In one place there was also electric in the morning which was nice.
The islands have no water and it is all delivered by tanker. Water is usually billable at about e10 per 100 litres but is is also limited to 100 litres so use water wisely or get a water maker !
A full boat for a week uses a lot of water ( well mine does ... I know some use less and the Pbo forum seems full of people who can make a 300 litre tank last a month. ).
The food is good but simple. A sign above one eatery said Fish and Steak which pretty much summed it up to be honest. Mapism being Italian ordered pasta / risotto and it was not really up to Italian standards !
There are a few scattered mini marts that sell little so stock up well.
Both in and out of the Kornati there are very large numbers of mooring bouys. Some of the bouy fields are very large ( say 100 bouys ) but 20 or so is probably more usual. These range in price between kuna 200 and kuna 350. ( about e30 to e50) and might be free or a discount offered if the concession holder is the restaurant.
Bear in mind that the charter fleets seem very price sensitive and the lower priced moorings can get full very quickly and a slightly more expensive one a mile or two past might be almost empty.
Most coasts are rocky and sandy beaches - or beaches at all for that matter - for children or adults are in short supply.
This has been written following a 5 day cruise at he invitation of mapism of this parish.
There don’t seem many forumites keeping boats here so I thought it worth writing up my findings and views.
Getting here
I joined in Zadar and left the boat at Split.
There are only 4 direct flights a week I could find from London. 2 from Luton with easyJet (6am?) and 2 from Stansted with Ryanair.
Coming home ( I was heading to Mallorca ) to the U.K. easyJet fly to split 4 times a day and I did not check other carriers. So if you want to keep a boat here Split seems a better option !
From the airport I got a taxi. Uber works here but it was 10 mins wait so I hopped in a cab. Mistake! Uber was quoting kuna 50-60 and the taxi meter was kuna 230. What tariff it was on who knows.
Mapism had entered from Italy and purchased a cruising permit for circa Euro 700 for 1 month on arrival.
A search of entering Croatia reveals that you MUST check in at the earliest opportunity. This means the first port you come to not the first you stop at any time day or night. There are heavy fines for not doing this and other forums report that they track boats using ais. So I would suggest turning it off !
Similarly boats have not checked out, gone to Italy and returned within the validity of their cruising permit and been fined so they seem to take this seriously. Just as well the eu has freedom of movement !
There is also a requirement to change your crew list each time people arrive and leave. Mapism asked about this and they did not seem bothered ( but were apparently very hot on this a few years ago )
As you can probably tell money and to some extent bureaucracy are rife in Croatia, presumably a hang over of its communist origins.
Zadar.
I didn’t see much of Zadar other than the most luxurious fuel quay I have ever come across. Seating, a restaurant and bar service and a mini mart !
Fuel was circa Euro 1.30 a litre so roughly to same as my home port Mallorca.
Cruising
From Zadar we cruised in sheltered waters between the small islands that were really more like inland waterways in most places. Smooth water and in general not that many boats.
The islands are volcanic and there is little in the way of rocks or shallow water. You can pass close to the shore in 30-50m of water.
The distances are short and the water flat so doing this at displacement speed is altogether a more pleasurable experience.
This is genetically the Kornati nation park. I say generically as its exact boundaries are not marked on the nautical map and finding a map online - even on the official site has so far eluded me.
This is important as the park has a high entry fee of kuna 600 per day for a 17 m boat ( euro 80) which must be bought before you enter or the fee is doubled which can make for an expensive anchoring stop.
They sell passes of 1, 3 and 7 days and 7 days is kuna 2800 e380 which is pretty steep given you have also bought a cruising permit and then also pay for you berthing on top.
The park is however charming. The islands are low barren hills, the water clear and uncrowded. The boats in this part are biased towards motorboats - I assume given the park fees. In the rest of the region sail boats rule.
The sailboat charter fleets are simply huge. In Trogir we visited 2 empty marinas to be told they were full for annual berth holders. I pointed out there were hundreds of spaces in peak season. She replied ... wait until Friday ...(change over day ) Others also advise ( Deleted User and other forum posts )do not try and fuel on a Friday as it will be you against several hundred charter boats who need to return with a full tank.
In the Kornati there are lots of restaurants with either bouys or more commonly small pontoons taking between 5 and about 20 boats.
If you eat there then the berth is free. Electricity is all provided by generator and seems to be available from 7pm to midnight which is enough to charge batteries and run the ac.
In one place there was also electric in the morning which was nice.
The islands have no water and it is all delivered by tanker. Water is usually billable at about e10 per 100 litres but is is also limited to 100 litres so use water wisely or get a water maker !
A full boat for a week uses a lot of water ( well mine does ... I know some use less and the Pbo forum seems full of people who can make a 300 litre tank last a month. ).
The food is good but simple. A sign above one eatery said Fish and Steak which pretty much summed it up to be honest. Mapism being Italian ordered pasta / risotto and it was not really up to Italian standards !
There are a few scattered mini marts that sell little so stock up well.
Both in and out of the Kornati there are very large numbers of mooring bouys. Some of the bouy fields are very large ( say 100 bouys ) but 20 or so is probably more usual. These range in price between kuna 200 and kuna 350. ( about e30 to e50) and might be free or a discount offered if the concession holder is the restaurant.
Bear in mind that the charter fleets seem very price sensitive and the lower priced moorings can get full very quickly and a slightly more expensive one a mile or two past might be almost empty.
Most coasts are rocky and sandy beaches - or beaches at all for that matter - for children or adults are in short supply.
