What most crews need to know
- Budget about €1,610 to €2,450 a week for the skipper at these three companies, before food. (Measured by us, )
- Feed the skipper. The skipper's food is not in the rate, and at Sunsail you pay for it when you book. (From the operator, )
- Plan a cabin for the skipper, so book a boat with one more than you need. (From the operator, )
- Tipping is your choice. Charter companies say the amount is up to you. (From the operator, )
How to charter a boat with a skipper
Book the boat and ask the company to include a skipper in the quote. Ultra Sailing lists a skipper as an optional extra for its Isla 40 charter catamaran from Dubrovnik and asks customers to make a booking request. (From the operator, ) Ask whether you can choose the skipper before you pay.
Sunsail calls a week with a hired skipper a skippered sailing holiday; it offers a package with skipper costs included or lets you add a skipper to a bareboat booking as a paid extra. (From the operator, ) Compare the full quote, including the skipper's cabin and food, before you choose.
If you want to learn while someone else handles the boat, agree on that role before you book. Check which charter suits you.
What a skipper costs
You pay the skipper on top of the boat. We read the rates three charter companies publish for Croatia, and turned each into euros for a 7-night week. Rates change with the season and the size of the boat, so ask for yours in writing with the quote.
| Company | Published rate | In euros | A 7-night week |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Moorings | $330 a night | about €290 | about €2,030 (From the operator, ) |
| Sunsail | £240 a night | about €280 | about €1,950 (From the operator, ) |
| Ultra Sailing | €230 to €350 a day, with VAT | €230 to €350 | about €1,610 to €2,450 (From the operator, ) |
On 25 Sep 2026 one euro was 1.1403 US dollars and 0.86045 pounds. (Official source, ) A 7-night week with a skipper comes to about €2,030 at The Moorings, €1,950 at Sunsail, €1,610 to €2,450 at Ultra Sailing, before the skipper's food. (Measured by us, ) Sunsail's costs are 'starting from' prices. The page gives no year.
Not every company publishes a rate. Dream Yacht Charter publishes no skipper rate. You pay the skipper in advance or in cash on arrival, and one double cabin must be kept for the skipper. (From the operator, ) How to read a charter quote
Some crews take a skipper for the first day or two only, then carry on alone. Ask the company before you book, and expect to pay the skipper's way back. What a local sailor told us · Bareboat, skipper or flotilla
What the law asks of a paid skipper
A hired skipper is working, so the rules are stricter than for a crew sailing their own charter. Check the skipper's papers the way the law does, and keep what the law says apart from what a company offers.
What the law says
What charter companies say
The licence rules for skippering your own charter are in Do you need a licence to sail in Croatia?
What a skipper does, and doesn't
A skipper is in charge of the boat and your safety at sea. On most skippered weeks that means the planning, the harbour work and the weather calls, while you sail, swim and help as much as you like. If you want to learn, say so, and agree it before you book.
- Usually does
- Ultra Sailing: the skipper does the boat's technical handover, advises on and agrees the route, and looks after the boat's systems and your safety. (From the operator, )Plans each day around the forecast, and berths, anchors and picks up buoys. Med mooring, step by step
- Is not
- A cook or a cleaner, unless you agree that with the company before you book.
- Has the last word
- On whether to sail, and where to spend the night. If the forecast is bad, the skipper may keep you in port. Which forecast to trust
Where the skipper sleeps
The skipper lives aboard for the week, so they need a bed of their own. Ultra Sailing suggests taking a boat with one more cabin than you need, for the skipper. (From the operator, ) On a boat with no spare cabin, the skipper may have to sleep in the saloon, which suits nobody for a week. Ask the company before you book.
On a catamaran, check the skipper berth and fee. Ultra Sailing's Isla 40 Sailor Venus has a small forward skipper cabin and lists a catamaran skipper at €1,925 a week, plus cabin and food. (From the operator, ) Compare catamarans and monohulls.
Food for the skipper
You feed the skipper for the week, on top of their rate. The companies handle it in different ways, so budget for one more person at every meal.
- The Moorings
- The Moorings: in Croatia a skipper costs $330 a night, and the skipper's provisioning is not included in the charter price. (From the operator, )
- Sunsail
- Sunsail: a skipper costs £240 a night, and you must pre-pay the skipper's provisioning when you book. (From the operator, )
- Ultra Sailing
- Ultra Sailing: it is usual for the skipper to eat with the crew. (From the operator, )
Agree before you sail how meals work ashore. If you eat in a konoba most nights, ask whether you pay for the skipper's dinner too, or give them a daily sum instead. Mooring at a konoba for dinner: restaurant moorings, free or paid.
Tipping the skipper
Sunsail: on a skippered charter a gratuity is expected, given to the skipper or crew at the end, and the amount is entirely up to you. (From the operator, ) Split-area charter companies set no amount: Sail Croatia, and Sunsail and The Moorings at Agana, say a tip for the skipper is customary, given at the end of the week, and the amount is up to you. (From the operator, ) No law or price list we read sets a tip. Sailors disagree on how much, from nothing at all to a share of the trip's price, and we keep their words apart in What sailors told us.
If the week went well, give the tip in cash, in euros, to the skipper in person on the last evening or the last morning. If there was also a hostess or a cook, thank each of them yourself.
Before you book a skipper
- Get the skipper's rate in writing with the quote, per day or per night, and whether it includes VAT. Read your quote
- Ask which licence the skipper holds. A yacht up to 18 m hired out with crew in Croatia's coastal waters must have a master who holds the Croatian certificate for a category C boat skipper (voditelj brodice kategorije C) (Article 81). (Official source, )
- Book a boat with a cabin for the skipper, or agree where they will sleep. Catamaran or monohull
- Agree food: on board, ashore, or a daily sum.
- Say what you want from the week: to learn, to relax, or both.
Common questions
- Is it better to sail Croatia with a skipper?
- A skipper suits a new crew who wants help with the boat. An experienced crew with accepted papers can sail bareboat. If you want help only at the start, ask whether the company will book a skipper for the first days and how the skipper gets back. What a local sailor told us · Check which charter suits you.
- How much does a skipper cost in Croatia?
- Ultra Sailing: a skipper costs about €230 to €350 a day, including 25% VAT. The Moorings: in Croatia a skipper costs $330 a night, and the skipper's provisioning is not included in the charter price. Sunsail: a skipper costs £240 a night, and you must pre-pay the skipper's provisioning when you book. A 7-night week with a skipper comes to about €2,030 at The Moorings, €1,950 at Sunsail, €1,610 to €2,450 at Ultra Sailing, before the skipper's food. (Measured by us, )
- Do I have to feed the skipper?
- Yes. The skipper's food is on top of the rate, and at Sunsail you pay for it when you book. (From the operator, )
- Where does the skipper sleep?
- On board, ideally in a cabin of their own. Book one more cabin than you need. (From the operator, )
- Do you tip a skipper in Croatia?
- It is up to you. Charter companies say a gratuity is expected at the end and the amount is your choice. (From the operator, )
- Can my skipper be a friend with a foreign licence?
- Not as a paid skipper. The foreign certificates on the Ministry's list cover private use and bareboat charter only. (Official source, )
What sailors told us
What sailors say about hiring and tipping a skipper, in their own words. We haven't checked these reports, they don't count in our checks above, and they are never the rule.
I’ve booked a 5 day cruise in Croatia. The trip itself is $14k euro and the food is a deposit of another 3k euro.
I have personally been to every single European country, including Croatia, tipping is not a thing.
But in low season there are many free skippers, so you can hire one just for the first 2/3 days. Most are flexible enough to be dropped off at a different location, provided you cover their travel expenses back home.
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