Croatia’s Dalmation coast with its pristine beaches, unspoilt natural settings and diverse charter routes for all abilities make it an ideal destination for those looking for a relaxed sailing holiday writes Sue Pelling
Given the growth in the sailing holiday charter market in Croatia in recent years, you’ll find most charter companies operate from this destination, including Sailing Holidays with no less than nine charter bases spread throughout Croatia, The Globe Sailor, Nautilus, Activity Yachting, Seafarer, Dream Yacht Worldwide, Plain Sailing, The Moorings, Silver Sail, and Sunsail. With a flight time of approximately two and a half hours, and four main airports – Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, and Zadar – logistically travelling there is relatively straightforward. To make it even easier, you’ll also find that some companies have direct flights to places like Pula in the north which are more closely located to their sailing bases. Having minimal transfer times is a particularly good feature if you are travelling to Croatia from the UK with youngsters, or older members within your group.
The cruising area along the Dalmation coast of the Adriatic Sea, which stretches from Kvarner Bay to the narrows of Kotor (Montenegro) is vast with nearly 250nm to explore. Montenegro just across the border to the south, and is well worth a visit if you head that way. Both these areas have become increasingly popular for charter sailors not just for the sailing, but also for the alluring combination of history, culture and breathe taking coastal landscapes.
The weather conditions offer an average summer temperature of 25-28 degrees – not quite as hot as the eastern Mediterranean – and generally lighter winds in the morning with fresh westerly sea breezes (Mistral) setting in during the afternoon. The summer also brings the chance of local winds such as the, Bura (Bora) which is a colder gusty, northeasterly, although that mainly blows in the winter months.
Split, the second-largest city of Croatia after the capital Zagreb, is one of the most popular charter holiday starting points and from there, as an example, you only need to sail for about an hour into the Adriatic to reach the natural environment of Šolta where absolute peace and quiet remains untouched. It has 24 bays and four ports so there are plenty of places to explore. It’s an ideal start base for all abilities thanks to its generally moderate winds, and line of sigh
