Sailing Croatia: A Two-Week Split to Dubrovnik Itinerary

Croatia packs more sheltered cruising into 200 miles than almost anywhere in Europe. The Dalmatian island chain runs parallel to the mainland, so you nearly always have a lee shore to duck behind, distances between anchorages are short, and the water is clear enough to see your anchor set in eight metres.

When to go

July and August deliver reliable sunshine and reliable crowds — expect to be on a mooring buoy by 15:00 in the popular bays. June and September are the sweet spot: 26-29C, warm sea, and space in the ACI marinas. The maestral, a thermal northwesterly, fills in around midday at 12-18 knots and dies at dusk, which makes for glorious afternoon sailing and calm nights.

The wind to respect is the bora: a katabatic northeasterly that funnels off the Velebit mountains, arrives with little warning and can gust over 40 knots in the Velebit Channel. Check a bora forecast every morning, and if one is signalled, stay south and west of the islands rather than in the channel.

Day 1-2: Split to Hvar

Clear the marina at Split ACI or Marina Kastela and head southwest. Milna on Brac is a straightforward 12-mile shakedown with a decent supermarket and a well-run marina. From Milna it is 15 miles to Hvar Town, where the Pakleni Islands opposite offer the best anchorages: Palmizana has a marina and restaurant scene, while Vinogradisce and Stipanska give good holding in five to ten metres of sand.

Day 3-5: Vis and the outer islands

Vis was closed to foreign yachts until 1989 and still feels like the quiet Adriatic. Vis Town and Komiza both have town quays with lazy lines; Komiza is the better base for a dawn run to the Blue Cave on Bisevo before the tripper boats arrive. Stiniva, the postcard cove on the south coast, is a lunch stop rather than an overnight — it is exposed and the entrance is barely a boat length wide.

Day 6-9: Korcula, Mljet and the Peljesac channel

The 25-mile hop from Vis to Korcula crosses open water and is usually a fast beam reach on the maestral. Korcula Town's north quay is exposed to swell; the ACI marina on the eastern side is calmer. From there, work east through the Peljesac Channel to Mljet, whose national park saltwater lakes at Pomena and Polace are the highlight of most Croatian cruises. Buoys in Polace are laid by restaurants and are effectively free if you eat ashore.

Day 10-14: Elafiti Islands to Dubrovnik

Sipan, Lopud and Kolocep make a gentle three-day wind-down before Dubrovnik. Sipanska Luka has a long town quay with water and power. Time your arrival at ACI Marina Dubrovnik in the Rijeka Dubrovacka for the morning; the marina sits three miles upriver from the old town and the afternoon inflow can make berthing lively.

What it costs

Budget EUR 90-160 per night for a 12m yacht in an ACI marina in high season, EUR 40-70 on a town quay, and EUR 25-40 for a restaurant mooring buoy. Croatia charges a cruising permit (vignette) and a tourist tax based on length and crew number — for a 12m boat with four crew for two weeks, expect roughly EUR 250-350 in total. Diesel is available at fuel quays in Split, Hvar, Vis, Korcula and Dubrovnik.

Practicalities that catch crews out

Lazy lines are the norm: you back in, take the slime line forward and walk it to the bow. Bring gloves. Posidonia seagrass is protected and anchoring in it is fined in national parks, so anchor in the pale sandy patches only. Finally, if you are chartering one-way from Split to Dubrovnik, expect a repositioning fee — buying a boat and keeping her in Dalmatia is a surprisingly common answer to that maths.