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Before you pay a deposit
- Ask who the contract is with, and who holds your money and the security deposit.
- Get a line-by-line quote. The same boat can look very different in two quotes. Read your quote
- Agree what the company arranges, such as a skipper or food, and what your crew books itself. Who arranges what
- Count your crew against the boat's papers, not the brochure. A brodica may carry at most 12 passengers, and a jahta up to 12 besides its crew. (Official source, )
Broker or direct
A broker sells boats from many charter companies. Booking direct means dealing with one company and its own fleet. Neither is safer by itself. Ask the same questions either way. What a sailor told us about two quotes
Through a broker
One contact for many fleets, and help to compare boats and bases.
- Which company runs the boat, and at which base?
- Who do you pay, and who holds the security deposit?
- If the boat isn't ready on Saturday, who sorts it out?
Direct with the company
You deal with the base that hands over the boat.
- Which boat exactly, by name and year?
- What is in the transit log, and what is extra?
- If the boat breaks down, how do you reach the base?
Read your quote
Tick each line your quote already shows. The rest become questions you can copy and send to your broker or charter company before you pay.
Ask about: The boat by name, year and base; The exact dates, and the season rate used; Any discount, and what it depends on; The transit log or charter pack, and what it covers, and 10 more.
Ask for the contract too, and check that it names the same company.
Every line you haven't ticked is listed here. Paste it into an email or message to your broker or charter company. Nothing is sent or saved.
Who arranges the skipper, berths and food?
Before you pay, agree with the charter company or broker what they arrange and what your crew arranges itself. Ask for any extra service and its price to be added to the written quote.
- Can someone book the whole week for us?
- Not every night ahead, and nobody can promise it: the weather decides where a boat can sail and stay, and most town quays and buoy fields don't take bookings. What works is a skipper, booked with the boat, who agrees the route with you (From the operator, ) and books berths and dinners as the week goes, while you book the few nights that matter before you go. How far ahead to book
- Boat and contract
- Get in writing the boat's name, the company that runs it, the company your contract is with, and a phone number at the base. Broker or direct
- Skipper
- Book the skipper through the charter company, or get its approval for one you bring: a paid skipper needs the Croatian category C licence. (Official source, ) Agree where they sleep, their food and what the service includes. Before you book a skipper
- Overnight stops
- Your crew, or your hired skipper, usually books each night during the week. ACI takes online bookings even on the day you arrive. (From the operator, ) Most town quays and many buoy fields take you on arrival. Keep the plan open to the weather: ACI refunds nothing if you cancel after 2 pm the day before, bad weather or not. (From the operator, ) How far ahead to book
- Restaurant berths
- Your crew or skipper books the table and the berth together, and asks whether the berth is free with dinner or has a fee. In July and August popular restaurants are often full, and some need booking up to a week ahead. What to ask when you book
- Food
- Agree who buys the food or orders it delivered, and when it must reach the boat. Food, water and fuel
- Route
- An OlaSail route you save or copy is a plan, not a booking: nothing on it is reserved. With a hired skipper, share the pace and stops you would like before you book. They are wishes: whoever skippers the boat decides each day where to sail and stay, by the forecast. What a skipper does
How many people the boat may take
This is where groups get caught out: the law sets one limit, and the charter company often sets a lower one. What sailors told us
What the law says
What charter companies ask
The printed crew list stays on board, to show an official who asks for it (Article 22). (Official source, )
Deposits, waivers and paying
The law asks a charter boat for third-party insurance. (Official source, ) We found nothing in it about the security deposit, the damage waiver or deposit insurance: those are in your contract.
- The deposit
- Without a damage waiver, Sunsail holds €5,865 for a 40 to 49 ft monohull and €7,600 for a 42 to 44 ft catamaran on a Visa or Mastercard; with its daily damage waiver, €800 and €1,037. Ultra Sailing holds €1,600 for a 12.4 m monohull and €2,500 for a 12 m catamaran, in cash or as a card hold. (From the operator, ) Ask which cards the base takes: a debit card may not work.
- A damage waiver
- A fee that lowers what you lose if something breaks. Read what it leaves out before you pay for it.
- Deposit insurance
- A separate policy from an insurer that repays a deposit you lose.
- Paying
- Pay by card or bank transfer to the company named in the contract, and keep every receipt.
- The insurance
- A charter boat must have third-party liability insurance that also covers Croatian waters (Article 4). (Official source, )
Check-in
At the handover the company must check the skipper's competence, hand over the boat's papers, show that the equipment works, and brief you on safety, the rescue numbers, what to do after an accident and the weather warnings (Article 25). (Official source, ) You and the company both sign a record of the handover, in two copies. One stays on board (Article 25). (Official source, )
Plan the Saturday around the base. Split Airport to ACI Marina Split: 26 km by road, about 30 minutes, without traffic. Summer Saturdays take longer. (Measured by us, ) Choosing a base: the airport, the first night and Saturday traffic
Our check-in list
- Film the boat, inside and out, with the base technician beside you. Note every mark on the record.
- Run every system: engine, windlass, toilets, water pump, fridge, lights and instruments. What sailors told us
- Check the dinghy and outboard, the anchor chain's length, and the sails and reefing lines.
- Find the safety gear: lifejackets for everyone, the life raft, flares, fire extinguishers and the first aid kit. The safety check before you sail
- Check the papers. On board you must always have proof that the boat is seaworthy, proof of the skipper's qualification, the third-party insurance, the crew list and the handover record (Article 26). (Official source, )
- Brief the whole crew, not only the skipper: where things are, and what to do if someone falls in.
- Save the base's phone number, and the sea rescue number, 195. (Official source, ) Who to call in an emergency at sea
The skipper's licence and radio certificate: Licences for sailing in Croatia. (Official source, )
Check-out
- When
- 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, )
- Fuel
- Fill the tank before you come in, and keep the receipt. Leave time for a queue at the fuel dock.
- Damage
- Tell the base about anything that broke as soon as it happens, not at check-out. Compare what they find with your check-in video.
- The deposit
- Ask when it will be released, and get the check-out record signed.
Common questions
- Is it cheaper to book a yacht charter direct or through a broker?
- It depends on the company and the week. Compare line-by-line quotes for the same boat, dates and extras. Read your quote
- How many people can a charter yacht take in Croatia?
- A brodica may carry at most 12 passengers, and a jahta up to 12 besides its crew. (Official source, ) The company may allow fewer, often the number of berths. Ask in writing. How many people the boat may take
- What does the crew list need?
- Each person's name, birth date and place, citizenship, residence and passport or ID number. The company registers it before you leave. (Official source, )
- Can we check the boat is real?
- The Ministry of the Sea has a free public search of the boats in its register. (Official source, ) Ask the company for the boat's name, and search for it.
- What if the boat breaks down?
- Call the base first. Write down what broke and when, and keep your messages. What a sailor told us
What sailors told us
What sailors say about booking, deposits and check-in, in their own words. We haven't checked these reports, and they don't count in our checks above. We leave out the names of 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.
On a new charter boat the generator failed at check-in and took four days to fix, and with gale warnings too the crew spent two nights back at the base. The company compensated them for the days without it, but not for the stress.
Do a thorough inspection of the boat at check-in, and make sure all of its systems work.
Sometimes the base briefs only one person. Make sure the whole crew knows where things are.
A charter company refused a crew list of 10 for a boat with 8 berths, although the boat's papers allowed 10 people in category C. The crew had already paid for the boat and their flights.
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26 facts from 19 sources, last checked .
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Changes to this page
Changes to this page's facts and text, with the reason. A sailor's "still right" is not a change.
Booking on the day at ACI marinas added: online, you can book on the day you arrive. Cancel within an hour of booking and you get everything back, as long as you haven't started using the berth.
From the operator. Why: the operator's own page
First published .