Croatia cruising

[rigpigpaul]

Hi all, I have chartered a boat out of Split for a couple of weeks in early June. I plan to have a look around the Kornati islands and then sail down towards Dubrovnic. What are the "must see" places, anchorages,towns etc. and what are the places to avoid,

thanks in advance
Paul.

 

[Oliveoyl]

I did a "best of" (very sublective of course) for fellow yotbloggers. I'm no good at links, but its on yotblog, under Galèretours by Oliveoyl. Personally, I would not go back to Kornati - there are many more beautiful islands to visit

 

[Metabarca]

It naturally depends what you want. Kornati is a desolate, waterless, magical place, but if you're into leafy glens, it's not for you. Trogir is definitely a town worth seeing, for instance. You might find some useful links to photos on my page:

 

[geronimo]

Kornati and all the way to Dubrovnik is a little ambitious in 2 weeks. What do you like: towns, quiet anchorages, restaurant every evening, marinas, etc.

You may try this and adapt it:
Go to Primosten or Sibenik the first day. Island and marina Zut the second day, Telascica bay (3), and then back on the outside of the Kornat island to Lavsa or Zirje (4), Vis (5), Paklenski otoci and Hvar (6), Vela Luka (7), Lastovo (8), Mljet (9), Dubrovnik (10), Korcula (11), Jelsa or Vrboska on Hvar (12), Milna on Brac (13), Split (14)

You would have seen a lot and then you can plan to explore what you liked best next year.

 

[MapisM]

If you like snorkeling, this is the best spot of the whole Adriatic imho.
Access is a bit dangerous with strong SE wind, though.
N42°58.700 E16°01.400

 

[BlueSkyNick]

Based on one 2-week charter from Split, I would agree Kornati to Dubrovnik is too far. Especially as the boat must be back in Split without fail by the last day, so you can't afford to get stuck anywhere.

We did a figure of 8, where we only reached Vela Luka in the South and wouldnt bother going there again - moorings directly outside a fuel station, and no real benefit.

Zut was pretty much a waste of time too.

favourites were Kornati, Sibenik, (including visiting the falls), Milna, Hvar, and a little cove somewhere on Brac where we dropped the hook for lunch then stayed for 24hours because we liked it so much - happy memories !!

 

[Oliveoyl]

Would the cove on Brac be Bobovisce? One of my favourites, along with Sesula on Solta

 

[branko]

For 2 weeks the best is to go to Dubrovnik and back. I shall give you some unusual ( out of usual charter routes) itinerary but I am sure that you will be satisfied.
Split - Bobovišce(Brac)- Starigrad (Hvar)- Palmižana- Vis- Lastovo (Skrivena Luka ) with visiting Jurjeva Luka before- Mljet ( Polace) - Mljet ( Prožura) - Dubrovnik (Komolac) - Šipanska Luka (Šipan) - Ston - Korcula - Lovišce ( Pelješac) - Necujam (Šolta) - Split.

Next year I shall give you different directions! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[MapisM]

Nice itinerary. I'll throw in another 2 cents:

Vis is nice, but makes the itinerary a bit longer.
Anyway, once in Vis, I would definitely go also to Bisevo for a swim in the cave of my previous post.

Skrivena Luka, isn't it Skrizeva? (also reported as Portoroz in my maps).
In Lastovo, I'd recommend Zaklopatica bay, with its Triton restaurant (customers have free moring if available).
Oh, and near Jurjeva Luka, there is also a diving center, if you fancy.

In Mljet, the bay SW of Pomena is better (quieter) than Polace, imho.
It's also worth renting one of those small cabrio cars to visit the island, time permitting.
Re.Prožura, if you look for a sheltered mooring, you must either be very lucky or have a very small boat.

 

[branko]

Agree with you 100%. Zaklopatica with Triton is nice. Biševo is also one of the Dream points, but ....... it is difficult to see everything in only 2 weeks. I am sailing here for 40 years and there is a lot of places where I didn't be.
In Prozura are 6 boys + a lot a space for anchoring ( stern to ) small island opposite. Restaurant here (Marijina konoba) is one of the best ( oysters!).

 

[davidbains]

Thnx for the encouragement Branko. I've told my wife we're visiting Kotor from Split/Trogir in two weeks! The distances are not great, it really depends how long every day the crew want to spend at sea. And my daughter is grumbling!! I suppose if we get behind we can always do an overnighter on the way back, but we rarely need to unless really delayed by bad weather.
Mapism. is the bay SW of Pomena no longer military? I'm looking at the 1990 pilot at home!!

 

[wagenaar]

I spent about a month and a half in Croatia in 1997 and assume the situation may be different now, but some things will not have changed. I found the winds mainly coming from a northwesterly direction, which means sailing S., along the coast is easy. In the canals between the islands the winds usually increase, due to funnelling, and going north means motoring, when there is a time-limit, such as is the case when one charters. I have been tacking in some of the canals for a number of hours and barely moved a mile and a half N-wards.
However, the scenery is wonderfull, there are many, almost deserted, anchorages, which makes one wish to stay for months. My advise would be not to go too far south at the beginning, so as to prevent having to motor back all the way to Split.

 

[davidbains]

That's a good point, use the funnelling canals going south but avoid them on the way back north.
I am not chartering, but of course the visiting family and crew have to be delivered back to airports on time. As a last resort they can always jump on a ferry or bus as I tell them every year, but they've never had to do it yet!