The short answer
- Bareboat: you are the skipper and the crew. Your skipper needs a licence and a radio certificate that Croatia accepts. Which ones count
- With a skipper: a local skipper sails and moors the boat, and you need no papers. The charter company can add a licensed skipper to your booking: Sunsail, The Moorings, Ultra Sailing and Dream Yacht Charter all offer one. (From the operator, ) Hiring a skipper: cost, cabin and tips
- Flotilla: you sail your own boat in a group, with a lead crew who plan the route and help you moor. On a Sunsail flotilla you skipper your own boat. At its Croatian Agana base, you need a skipper licence and a VHF certificate. (From the operator, )
- Not sure? Answer six questions about your crew. Can we go bareboat?
The three ways, side by side
| Question | Bareboat | With a skipper | Flotilla |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who is in charge | Your skipper, one of you. | A local skipper you hire. | Your skipper, with a lead crew on another boat. |
| Papers | A licence and a radio certificate for your skipper. | None for you. The skipper brings theirs. | Usually the same as bareboat. (From the operator, ) |
| Help in harbour | Marina staff usually help with your lines. On a quay or a buoy, you may be on your own. | The skipper moors, and can teach you how. | The lead crew meet you in harbour and take your lines. |
| Your route | Your own. | Your own. The skipper can say no to a crossing in bad weather. | The flotilla's plan, with some days free. |
| Cabins | All yours. | One goes to the skipper. (From the operator, ) | All yours. |
| Added cost | Nothing on top of the boat. | A daily fee, their food and a tip. (Measured by us, ) | A fee for the lead crew. (From the operator, ) |
| Suits | A skipper who has moored stern-to before, with one able helper. | Non-sailors, families, and crews who want to learn. | Crews who can sail but have little harbour practice. |
Can we go bareboat?
Six questions about the person who will skipper, and the crew. Be honest: nobody sees your answers but you, and we don't keep them.
- 1
Does your skipper hold a sailing licence and a VHF radio certificate that Croatia accepts?
Not sure? Our licence guide lists which ones count.
- 2
Has your skipper been in charge of a sailing boat of about 12 m (40 ft) for a week or more?
In charge means making the calls, not crewing for someone else.
- 3
Can your skipper reverse into a gap between two boats, under engine, in a side wind of 10 to 15 knots?
This is how you tie up in most Croatian harbours: stern-to, with a line from the seabed to hold the bow. Med mooring, step by step
- 4
Has your skipper anchored for a night, and checked the anchor held?
Bays fill up in summer and chains cross. You need to know when to leave.
- 5
Can your skipper read a marine forecast, and change the plan because of it?
The bura, a strong northeast wind, can arrive fast. The right call is often to stay put for a day.
- 6
Is there a second person aboard who can steer, handle the lines and help moor?
Mooring takes two: one at the helm, one at the bow.
Answer all six to see what we suggest.
Each answer counts. We only suggest once we have all six.
A guide, not a test: the charter company and your own judgment decide.
What the law asks, and what companies ask
Two different things. The law sets the papers. A charter company can ask for more, because it is lending you its boat. We asked three Split charter bases in September 2026. Get your own company's answer in writing, with the quote, before you pay. How to read a charter quote
What each is really like, day to day
Bareboat
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, so the first night is often at the base. (From the operator, ) Which base suits your flights and your route is in choosing a base. Each morning you read the DHMZ marine forecast (Official source, ), plan the day and leave by 9 am, before the afternoon wind. A day on our Split route runs from 13 to 28 NM. (Measured by us, ) You aim to arrive early enough to find a berth.
Our Split week is for an intermediate skipper. Two open crossings, the longest about 17 NM from Šolta to Vis. First crews: settled weather, or take a skipper. Seven days from Split
Then comes the hard part: reversing into a gap, stern-to, with other crews watching. In a marina, staff help. On a town quay or a buoy you are on your own. For many first-time skippers, the harbours are the hardest part of the week. Med mooring, step by step
With a skipper
The skipper meets you at the base, gives the safety briefing and plans each day with you. They make the weather calls and handle the harbours, and most will let you steer, trim the sails and learn. They also know which konoba (a family-run tavern) to book.
You give them a cabin. And you pay for the skipper’s meals aboard and ashore, or agree an allowance with the charter company. (From the operator, ) They may say no to a crossing in a strong wind. That call is why you hired them. What a skipper does, and doesn't
Flotilla
A briefing on the lead boat each morning gives the route, the weather and tonight's harbour. You sail your own boat, alone or in company, and the lead crew meet you in harbour to take your lines. Some evenings are group dinners, and some days are free to go your own way.
A middle way. Ask the company whether a skipper can come for the first day or two only, and who pays for the skipper's trip back to the base. Sunsail, Ultra Sailing and Angelina don't offer it in their published terms.
What each adds to the cost
On top of the boat, the berths, the fuel and the food, which every crew pays.
The cheapest way, if you are ready for it.
For 7 days at €230 a day, the middle of the rates four Split-area charter companies publish, or €268 each for six. Plus their food, and a tip if you give one. (Measured by us, ) What a skipper costs
Sunsail sells a flotilla as one price for the boat with its lead crew: from £3,045 in low season and £5,215 in high season from its Agana base, against £1,015 and £4,615 for the same base bareboat. (From the operator, )
Common questions
- How much experience do you need to bareboat in Croatia?
- By law, the right licence and radio certificate. In practice, a week in charge of a similar boat, and the confidence to moor stern-to under engine in a breeze. Take the self-check
- Can we hire a skipper for part of the week?
- Ask the company whether a skipper can come for the first day or two only, and who pays for the skipper's trip back to the base. Sunsail, Ultra Sailing and Angelina don't offer it in their published terms.
- Where does the skipper sleep?
- On board, ideally in a cabin of their own: where the skipper sleeps.
- Do we tip the skipper?
- It is up to you: tipping a skipper in Croatia.
- Is a flotilla a party holiday?
- No. A flotilla is a group of charter boats sailing one route with a lead crew. Party weeks, where you book a cabin on a skippered boat with other guests, are something else.
What sailors told us
What sailors told us about charter bases and skippers. We haven't checked these reports, and they don't count in our checks above.
In late May 2025 a charter company in Trogir upgraded a 38 ft booking to a 50 ft yacht without telling the hired skipper. The crew of two asked for a smaller boat, and finding and cleaning one took a few extra hours.
A sailing club that chartered 12 boats from one large company in Split in October 2024 found faults on every boat, from engines and plumbing to rudders and a main halyard. They put it down to the whole fleet being turned round in four hours, with no time for checks.
You might be lucky, but the charter company was checking both my skipper and radio license while checking in.
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