Croatia

Chartering locations

You will see some broad brush descriptions of Mediterranean charter locations on the Cruising Association web site. Go to: http://www.cruising.org.uk/cruising_information/cruising_guides/med/

From there browse any areas you are familiar with - Greece, Turkey say. You'll then discover any bias in the descriptions compared to your views of various cruising grounds. Then have a look at the Adriatic.

The nitty gritty detail, which harbours to visit, "must see" spots, places to avoid etc are covered on member only pages, but there's a lot to be seen on the public pages.
 
Lots of charter offer, many good/excellent
However, don't even attempt to compare cruising costs with eg Greece. Few (no) equivalents of free (or very cheap) town quays, some anchorages ( Kornati) have to be paid for, lots of marinas, but be prepared to pay.
Going back in Sept, after 4 years absence.... watch this space
 
Oliveoyl said:
Lots of charter offer, many good/excellent
However, don't even attempt to compare cruising costs with eg Greece. Few (no) equivalents of free (or very cheap) town quays, some anchorages ( Kornati) have to be paid for, lots of marinas, but be prepared to pay.
Going back in Sept, after 4 years absence.... watch this space
Click to expand...
All very true. The Croatians have really honed the rip-off techniques. The new one this year is to ask how long one is staying when declaring in.
"Why? Well you see, we now apply this daily Kurtax on top of this exorbitant sailing permit and the light tax and, and..."
"Daily Kurtax?"
"Yes,that's a daily visitor's tax that all holiday guests pay - you've always paid it before on your buoy and marina costs but now we apply it on your entry costs instead and they shouldn't any longer add it to your bill anywhere else" [skeptical snigger].
"But I don't go into your overpriced marinas and try to avoid all those bays with buoys (difficult as it is). I prefer to just anchor somewhere"
"Well, how long did you say you are staying?"

I'm poised to launch off there again from my Italian marina for the summer - have been for the past month, keep postponing waiting for summer to start, there's no sign of it yet.

The advice about mid-July through August is equally valid, it's when the Italian armada launches itself eastwards and the harbours and anchorages are bursting at the seams. In fact, I stick to the northern Adriatic anyway and no longer go further south than the Kornati just because of the concentration of charter boats in that area that seem to get more and more each year. However, they say that bookings are heavily down this year due to the economic situation.

Be sure to have not only an ICC (or other qualification) but a VHF operator's licence available as charter operators have been ordered by the authorities to check for both when accepting bookings.

And have a great time, fair winds and smooth seas.
 
I live in Trieste and despite the beauty of the country, am going less and less to Croatia (by land, it's been at least two years, and by sea... also). In a land where living costs and salaries are a quarter of those here, I object to pay MORE than in Italy for indifferently-cooked food (and much of the scampi come frozen from Scotland), surly service in the marinas and charges merely for breathing Croatian air. Which is a shame for their economy and for the generally easygoing Istriani and Dalmatians who have been invaded by oiks from inland who are raking in the kunars. And it's short-sighted as it's largely we weekenders who keep the local economy going between 1st September and 1st July.
 
Metabarca said:
I live in Trieste and despite the beauty of the country, am going less and less to Croatia
Click to expand...
I know exactly what you mean - every year I say never again, that I will put in the long haul to Corfu and the Greek islands again but here I am, planning to meet other sailing friends in the northern Dalmation islands.

You are sure to be familiar with Umag, the northernmost Croatian entry port that I find convenient to enter after crossing from Italy. Last year a mooring buoy in the wide harbour there cost 8 euros to overnight, this year it has been raised to 16 euros. When they first laid them I remember 8 Kuna, four times less. In fact before they laid them there was plenty of room to anchor without problem.

I think the strategy is self-defeating. I end up paying little more, just spend less time there. But then, I and my fellow cruisers with our own boats are not the cash cow targets, the charterers are. They come and go, stay in the marinas, eat in the restaurants, with a regularity that fills the cash registers. And they will keep coming, so maybe the business case is perfectly correct - if that's all the authorities are interested in.
 
Yes,I remember Umag when it was free; those were the days when we used to eat on shore virtually every evening; now I never eat ashore except in one or two little places I know. This year, I shall be pottering around between Pirano and Grado, and taking a longer trip on a friend's boat from Greece along the Albanian coast as far as Dubrovnik.
But you're right: the charterers are the milch cows. Which is why we have to say to them loud and clear whenever we can: "You're being ripped off!"
 
88 Euros for one night at Dubrovnik ACI marina for a 12m yacht. 251 for a cruising permit. Up to 30 euros for town quay, water and electricity extra. It is no place for anyone sailing on a budget.

Cavtat...warning. If the wind should blow into the bay from the NW, leave immediately unless you like mooring in a washing machine. Nip into the next bay, holding is suspect due to weed.

The price of fuel is reasonable.
 
It is annoying to anchor in a virtually uninhabited bay only for someone to potter over and ask for 150 Kuna. However there are still plenty of places where this doesn't happen, I'll provide a list for anyone who PM's me!
I was continuing the never ending refit in Nautec recently Lucian, and Marino was complaining about the very late start to the season. I hope to launch on 1st July.
 
An update ....
As I posted earlier, there are new costs applied when declaring into Croatia and effective from 7th June, 2010.

Visitors to Croatia to date have had imposed a so-called Kurtaxe, a daily charge per person, levied by the accommodation agency. This is a charge originating in, and previously exclusive to, Austria, initiated by some local authorities where tourists came to take advantage of health spas and the like where they would partake of a "Kur" (health cure) by virtue of the local water or mountain air. The Gemeinde (town/village administration) claimed the tax was to invest in services to support facilities such as baths, hiking trails, etc.

Croatia, never one to miss a good rip-off when it sees one, copied this "Kurtaxe" and applied it to all visitors via hotels and guesthouses. Marinas and buoy administrators could also fleece their floating guests by adding this tax to their charges but it was soon noticed that some visiting yachts were evading it by finding uninhabited bays and anchorages where no one was around to levy it.

Enter this year the new "Vessel one-off Sojourn Tax" that, together with the exorbitant sailing permit charge that has to be paid when entering the country (not to mention the "Safety of navigation fees", "Light dues", "Government administration fee" and "Sea Information Chart" costs), must now be paid to the harbour office at the entry port.

This tax, no longer called the inappropriate and risible "Kurtaxe" should no more be applied by marinas and buoy operators - although I personally found the latter had hugely increased their costs anyway. I don't know about marinas because I never visit them.

To establish the cost of this tax one is asked how long one will be staying (maximum allowed is three months - although one must pay for a year's permit). The charge is a daily one and based on the length (and notional crew capacity) of the vessel.

If on clearing out of the country one has stayed longer than the time paid then the skipper can be heavily fined. Any extensions beyond that paid for should be obtained in any port of entry before expiry. If, on clearing earlier than the period paid for, there is no redemption of the unused time, either in payment or transfer to a later period.

This new tax, plus the higher buoyage fees, effectively doubled the costs of my visit to Croatia this year. This time I really mean "never again".
 
Well, that was a comprehensive summary of how Croatia has become more expensive to cruise.

But, on an annual basis, is it now more expensive than staying in Italy?

Not to forget that the boat has permission to stay for a year, while personal permission to stay depends on your visa (90 days if you don't ask for an extended stay, but, as an EU citizen, easily extended)
 
jimbaerselman said:
Well, that was a comprehensive summary of how Croatia has become more expensive to cruise.

But, on an annual basis, is it now more expensive than staying in Italy?
Click to expand...
It costs me nothing to stay in Italy, other than my marina costs - yacht Austrian registered, me UK passport, so both EU.

An Austrian just arrived from a long-term Croatian marina (Rab) reported his berth in my marina costs significantly less than where he was. He was still heavily controlled about his crew list and crew changes in case he was charging and evading taxes.

Italy has a totally different mentality about screwing the last ounce of cash out of its visitors. Of course, the east coast is also another world to the west coast and the Italian Riviera.

It is true that the Guardia di Finanza will make spot checks for VAT evasion and money laundering but they choose large, expensive motor yachts for it - in almost 30 years I have never been checked.

Yes, Italian prices generally are high - restaurants and the like - but quality is of another level and genuine friendliness the rule rather than the exception.

My costs are not high living on board as electricity and water are included in the modest marina charges and eating on board by provisioning in local supermarkets is not expensive. I can cruise the local lagoons and anchor free in most areas. No, infinitely cheaper than cruising Croatia.

Marina berths are reportedly hard to find throughout Croatia due to preponderance of charter fleets and VAT-asylum craft. Perhaps when/if Croatia becomes EU member next year the latter may move on (Albania?).

As for costs, Italians now nip over to Slovenia for a short visit rather than Croatia as there are now no entry or payment requirements for EU craft - just tie up and stroll to the harbourside restaurant. I would bet my boots that will never happen in Croatia if they ever accede - at a minimum they will retain this new "Sejourn" tax until Brussels wrests it from them.

It wasn't just the cost of cruising Croatia that initiated my own personal tipping point. I was stuck in Umag waiting for a courier delivery of my blue, international insurance certificate, which my Swiss company had neglected to send me (it is a two-year one and they sometimes forget), because the officials would not accept a fax from them to establish coverage - no, they had to have the actual certificate in their hands. In the end I had to buy Croatian insurance locally, it was cheaper than paying daily for a buoy in Umag harbour.

Then in Krnicka Luka the lovely [sic] lady sunning herself on her ramshackle pier to which I had had the temerity to tie my dinghy to go ashore before she arrived - she had just untied and cast off the line I found when I returned.

It may have had something to do with the short-tempered policeman who wanted to stamp my crew list when I was clearing - I was fumbling around my documents, not realising that the harbour office had stapled it behind all their documents and receipts - "Don't you even know what a crew list is?" he shouted at me.

I could go on - but I won't, having already written too much.
 
Our experience over three summers and months in total cruising the beautiful islands of Croatia: Someone has always got their hand in your pocket. The food is too often disappointing and nearly always expensive. The bureaucrat procedures are painful. A sizable minority of people are unfriendly.

We have found the Ionian a far better cruising venue. Last year we sailed passed Croatia even with an in date cruising permit.
 
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