How yacht charter in Croatia works
You rent the boat for a week, usually Saturday to Saturday: you board in the late afternoon, sail for six days and hand the boat back after a check.
The company gives you the boat with its safety gear, a dinghy and its papers. You bring the crew, the food and a skipper with the right licence, or hire one. A deposit covers any damage until the boat is back.
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All 15 facts on this page name their source, the latest checked on : 7 from the operator, 7 from official sources and 1 measured by us.
Written by Domagoj Franc, editor. Reviewed by Ivor Benko, skipper.
Start here: the decisions before you book
- Choose bareboat, a skipper or a flotilla.
- Choose a base and compare routes for the pace and places you want.
- Estimate the whole week's cost.
- Check the quote and copy your questions, then agree who arranges what.
Who each way of sailing suits, and the experience a bareboat needs.
What a hired skipper does, where they sleep and how tipping works.
Space, comfort, cost and marina fees compared.
Which base suits your flights, your crew and your route.
The boat, marinas, buoys, fuel, food and the deposit, added up.
How to compare quotes, and what to check before you pay.
The charter week, Saturday to Saturday
Most bases in Croatia run their boats on a Saturday changeover. This is how the eight days fit together.
Board
From 6 pm (From the operator, )
Check-in, then a night in the marina.
Sail between the islands
Six days of sailing, with a new harbour, buoy or bay each night. Our week from Split sails 13 to 28 NM a day, measured along our line (Measured by us, ), and Friday’s last leg is the shortest. Seven days from Split
Back to base
Fuel and the check-out, in the afternoon. (From the operator, )
Leave
Off the boat in the morning, so the next crew can board.
What happens, from the quote to check-out
What each step involves and what to ask. What the law requires and what charter companies ask for are kept apart.
Before you book: read the quote
The weekly price is for the boat. Most quotes then add fixed extras and optional ones. Ask for a quote that lists every item, with the dates it is for.
What each item costs is in What a week’s sailing in Croatia really costs. How to compare a broker with booking direct, and how to read a quote line by line, is in our booking guide.
The deposit and the damage waiver
The deposit protects the company if the boat comes back damaged. You choose how much of it you are willing to risk.
Ask which card the deposit must go on, whether a debit card works, and when the hold is released. The amounts are in our cost guide, and what to check before you pay one in the booking guide.
The crew list, and who may skipper
The company registers everyone aboard with the Ministry before you leave, so it asks you for a crew list first. (Official source, )
What the law says
- The company must register everyone aboard in the Ministry’s eCrew system before you leave. (Official source, )
- The skipper needs a licence that Croatia recognises. Which ones count for US, UK and Australian sailors is in our licences guide.
- How many people a boat may carry: a brodica may carry at most 12 passengers, and a jahta up to 12 besides its crew. (Official source, )
- Whether the charter rules also tie the crew to the berths: no. The charter ordinance sets no crew limit of its own, and nothing in it ties the crew to the berths on board. The limit in law is the one above. (Official source, )
What charter companies ask
- A crew list before you arrive. They ask for the crew list by a deadline: 14 days before at The Moorings, one or two weeks at Ultra Sailing (its terms say both), and at least 3 days before check-in at Dream Yacht Charter. (From the operator, )
- How many people may come. Ask before you book, and name everyone on the crew list.
- What they check at check-in: at least what the law asks, in Boarding and check-in below.
No licence on board? Hire a skipper or join a flotilla. Bareboat, skipper or flotilla compares the three, and hiring a skipper covers the cost, the cabin and tipping.
Food, water and fuel
Stock up before you leave the base. How easy it is to shop along the way depends on the harbour: what a sailor told us.
Buy water, drinks and the first two days' food at the base, then shop in the harbour towns as you go.
Fill the water tanks whenever you are in a marina or on a town quay with water, because buoys and anchorages have none. Our week from Split shows which nights have water. On that week: fuel stations for boats in Vis town (INA Vis) and in Milna (INA Milna-marina), open 7 am to 7 pm every day. (From the operator, )
Boarding and check-in
Sunsail gives 6 pm as its usual boarding time at Marina Agana, its base near Trogir, and sells a 3 pm start as an extra. (From the operator, ) If you get the boat late, spend the first night in the marina and leave on Sunday morning. Sailing out at dusk to a harbour you don’t know is a poor start. Which base is closest to your flight: choosing a base.
A member of staff shows you round the boat. Then test every system yourself before you sign:
- The engine, its cooling water and the fuel gauge
- The anchor windlass and the chain
- The toilets and the holding tank
- The fridge, the lights and the battery charge
- The dinghy, its outboard and fuel
- Life jackets, flares and the first aid kit
- The chartplotter, paper charts and the VHF radio
- The sails, the furlers and the winches
Photograph any damage, and make sure it is written on the check-in list before you sign it. More on the handover and what to sign: our booking guide. Hiring a skipper for the week? Keep a cabin free for them: where the skipper sleeps.
Check-out
Back in the base marina the evening before you leave: by 5 pm at Sunsail and Dream Yacht Charter, by 6 pm at The Moorings and Ultra Sailing, for fuel and the check-out. You sleep aboard and leave the boat by 8.30 to 9 am on Saturday. (From the operator, )
Staff go over the boat with you, and a diver checks what is under the water. Dream Yacht Charter's diver checks the hull, keel, rudders and propellers. Angelina starts its check-out on Friday at 6 pm with the dive, and Ultra Sailing's charter pack pays for the diver. (From the operator, ) Anything new comes out of the deposit, unless your damage waiver covers it.
Tell the base about anything that broke during the week, rather than leave it to be found.
Your first week, from six months out
Where the charter decisions fit into the rest of your planning. The steps with a light blue dot have their guide in this section.
- 1Around half a year beforePick your monthWind, crowds and prices all change through the season.
- 2Five to six months beforeChoose how you sail, and which boatBareboat, skipper or flotilla: what experience you need
- 3Before you pay a depositCheck your licencesWhat the law asks of the skipper, and what your charter company asks.
- 44 to 5 months beforeSet a budget and bookWhat a week's sailing in Croatia really costs in 2026
- 51 to 2 months beforeDecide where to sleepA marina, a town quay, a buoy or your own anchor, and the rules for each.
- 62 to 4 weeks beforePlan the routeDistances, a place for each night, and a Plan B for the wind.
- 7The week beforeWatch the forecastRead the marine forecast every day, and the evening before each crossing.
- 8SaturdayBoard the boatBoarding and check-in
Also read before you book
The licence rules, a checked week to plan around, and the rest of sailing in Croatia.
What sailors told us
From sailors who sailed here. They tell us what to check next, and don't count in the checks above.
Charter companies
One sailor was quoted two very different prices for the same boat and dates. The cheaper quote turned out to be a low-season rate.
Charter companies
Provisioning is difficult and food quality in shops and supermarkets is variable to say the least.
Help keep this page right
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Other ways to helpSources for this page
15 facts from 15 sources, last checked .
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