Croatia for a week's holiday

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Cheeky Girl

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Thinking about going to Croatia for a week in June with Flotilla or bareboat.

Any recommendations as to where to go.

Would prefer: - more sailing less motoring
anchoring rather than marina tie ups

Wife and I have plenty experience West Coast Scotland etc but are looking for a bit of warmth this summer :)

Thanks
Graham
 
Did the Northern bit from Pula a few years ago. Just for the week. Went with a friend he has a Starlight 39 and I’ve got a Gaffer. We hired a big mobo, a Linssen 40or something. Most of the yachts were motoring and we had loads of room, fridge, microwave, dishwasher, washing machine etc.
Got very snooty looks from the sailing boats as we moored up each evening :)
Was a while ago but it was very enjoyable. Food and islands were superb.
Get Croatia 777 harbours and anchorages before you go, although it will be supplied on the boat.
Enjoy.
 
Leopold Bloom said:
Kornati Islands are great and a visit to the Falls at Kirka via Skradin.
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Agreed, been to Skradin several times. Including sailing both ways up and down the river, arriving at Skradin with a cold engine! The red track shows us tacking: http://www.mjcoon.plus.com/Tracks-2005June&July.kmz

These days you can do S Croatia & Montenegro, but not sure it is worth the bureaucratic hassle of checking in and out.

Mike.
 
June is the best time to go.

Charter from somewhere between Split and Sibenik rather than Istria (Pula) or Dubrovnik and you can take your pick between deserted islands with an occasional restaurant and lovely towns/cities like Split, Hvar, Korcula, Trogir etc which are virtually out-of-bounds in July and August because of the huge numbers of visitors.

Richard
 
If it is a flotilla you are after, we have just booked a Sunsail food and wine tasting flotilla out of Marina Agana, near to Split. Sounds fab and we visit Hvar and Vis amongst other islands. They do good deal on flights as well as 20 per cent boat show discount. Think it's harbours more than marinas but to be honest they had me at "food and wine tasting" .....
 
Have done both bareboat and flotilla in mid Dalmatia.

Activity Yachting were great for the flotilla and are based out of Betina on Murter.

If flying to Zadar and chartering close by be wary that the (rather soulless) Sukusan Marina is enormous and getting fuel on a Friday when the 100's of charter boats return is an experience - one which we decided not to participate in and pay the charter firm to fill it up via jerry cans! Could be worth chartering out of Biograd or Zadar itself instead.

+ 1 for the Kornati Islands. Had a most memorable sail from Tribunj to Zut taking the passage between the islands.
 
We've had a boat in Croatia for 4 out of the last 7 years and love it.

I'm not a fan of the bleak Kornati but each to their own. My preference is the area from Split to Mljet like Richard who I've never quite bumped into in all the years of sailing close.

Plenty of free anchorages all the way down and back. FLotilla or bareboat depends on whether the social side is the most important part or not to you and flotillas will each have their own itinerary and places that can accommodate a fleet.

When we were based near Split we eventually worked out a week sail that would show our guests the best bits of Croatia we had found, and gave inexperienced sailors alternate nights at anchor and in a town and could work for you as bareboat:
Krknasje on Drvenik Veli - turquoise anchorage if you anchor in 3m (remember no Tides to worry about)
Jelsa town quay on Hvar - fab nights out in very pretty harbour
Pokrovenik anchorage in Hvar - spectacular bay of cliffs by secluded beach and you may be the only boat overnighting even in August
Korcula Town marina - the only expensive marina in the week but the most beautiful situated marina I've ever been to anywhere in the world
Long day sail back to krknasje then short hop to base in the morning

You will have to work through some likely things in the Summer, firstly that town quays and marinas empty from 10am and fill up again by 2pm so that's when you need to arrive even if it's a dawn start to get there, and anchorages are full of little local motorboats lunching at anchor in bays who depart from 5pm onwards so best to arrive at anchorages after that and take those lovely shallow swimming spots.

And for a lot of the Summer (except when we have a strong wind season) there is no wind when you wake up after a peaceful night at anchor but from mid afternoon a gentle breeze springs up which becomes rather strong (F6 often) by the time you arrive in the evening and drop the hook then drops to nothing after dusk.

Combine those two generally true bits of info and you can see that if your destination is an anchorage you will have a cracking sail to get there but if your destination is a marina or quay you will have a morning motor in a dead calm.
 
Go for it. Really great place to sail, and like Scotland masses of islands and possible anchorages - and definitely best out of high season.
We also enjoyed the Kornatis, and hired from Zadar which was good. Also hired from Split area and Dubrovnik, the latter also good but busier.
Worth looking at LateSail for deals - our last trip we had a Sunsail boat from LateSail at 45% off list
 
We chartered from Sunsail in Marina Agana in 2016 for a week in June - and loved it! The weather was much better than here in the UK but we felt it was a little bit early in season (we had a school teacher in the crew so the dates were quite restricted). This summer we are going at the end of June.

This time we are chartering for a week through a local-ish firm from Trogir on a bigger boat. Really looking forward to it.
 
RupertW said:
We've had a boat in Croatia for 4 out of the last 7 years and love it.

Krknasje on Drvenik Veli - turquoise anchorage if you anchor in 3m (remember no Tides to worry about)
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An excellent summary Rupert. :)

One of the problems with Croatia is that there are so many options and so much of it is breathtakingly beautiful, especially before/after the Summer crowds, that you can basically point your boat in any direction and find peaceful perfection ..... or 24/7 nightlife, whatever floats your boat.

I agree with you assessment of the Kornati Islands. We did them many years ago and I'm glad we did, but I probably won't go back again for another 10 years. However, even there we took a long walk to the top of a peak which is one of the highest spots in the south of the chain. To look across the entire island chain from above as the sun dips towards the horizon is not to be forgotten .... but places like Korcula, Trogir, Hvar and Krknjas draw us back many times. Which reminds me that I need to update my "Disaster in Krknjas" thread so I'll do that now! :encouragement:

Richard
 
All the above posts are quite true I myself enjoy the kvaner area I'm based at punat on the island of krk lots of charter mainly with German /Austrian customers fly into Rijeka 20 mins to marina . Lots of bays. People seem hesitant to use this area due to senj gap and the bora I myself have had worse bora further south . Much quieter than further south some lovely villages islands Rab,Molat, losinj to name but a few.
 
We did a week out of a friends 2 week charter and managed to do Dubrovnik to Split in 1 week and he did the return on the second week. You do need a minimum Day Skipper or ICC and a vhf cert to charter in Croatia. We spent 2 nights in Dubrovnik before the charter and it was well worth it. It's a great place to see but don't let it eat into your sailing time. I def would not charter out of Split as we witnessed the organised chaos of over 200 charter boats arriving on a Fri and leaving on a Saturday. In comparison leaving from Dubrovnik was a pleasure. We left on 8th June and I wouldn't want to go any earlier as we enjoy swimming and at that time it was just warm enough for lunchtime stopovers with swimming and snorkelling. We really enjoyed the free berthing next to restaurants in Lopud and Miljet . We couldn't get in to Korcula marina as it was full even mid week in June so picked up a mooring in the bay to the south and used the water taxi into town . The old town is a bit like a mini Dubrovnik. Despite what a lot of people think Croatia isn't cheap. You might like to anchor but you will still need to find water and fuel at some time. Marinas are expensive (£100 a night in Split for 40ft). Mooring ball in Korcula was £25. Hvar is another beautiful town but can be busy. We bumped into Yacht Week flotilla in Hvar and enjoyed the spectacle. We had a couple of 20 somethings with us so they loved it. We had a couple of days of no wind and had to motor, Mostly the winds were fickle and not consistent. I've seen the videos of when the Bora blows but June and July are the best months to avoid it. Overall we loved it and will probably go back. If you have any specific questions. I'll try to answer.
 
I found Dubrovnik too over-touristy. The Krka falls are a definite must-see, the river up from Sibenik is an adventure in itself, and in a week in that area you could also spend time in Split and see its astonishing Diocletian Palace.

The Istrian peninsula is under-rated and and has some fascinating destinations such as Rovinj, Vrsar and Porec if Italian-Croation culture - and truffles- are your thing.
 
AndrewB said:
I found Dubrovnik too over-touristy. The Krka falls are a definite must-see, the river up from Sibenik is an adventure in itself, ...
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The falls are certainly touristy, even without knowing that they are switched off at night when the water becomes hydroelectric (we were told). And the main adventure of the river (unless actually sailing; or especially then!) is dodging the (Italian?) motorboats...

Mike.
 
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