Sailing regions in Croatia

Croatia is one of the favorite charter destinations in the world for many yachtsmen, known also as a sailing paradise. It is famous for its incredible natural beauty, indented coastline, favorable winds and the hospitality of its people. Commonly Croatia is divided into four sailing regions: Kornati area, Split area, Dubrovnik area and Istria and Kvarner area.

Istra & Kvarner

Sailing in the Nort Adriatic includes sailing around Istria – Croatia’s largest peninsula, Kvarner region and northern Croatian coast and islands. The most famous yachting destinations are towns of Pula, Poreč, Rovinj, Umag, Opatija, National Park Brijuni and Kvarner islands of Krk (Croatia’s largest Island), Cres, Lošinj, Rab and Pag.

Istria is known for its small towns, attractive summer resorts on the coast, rich cultural and entertainment offers (film and music festivals, concerts, sport tournaments etc.), quality wines, truffles and notable historical heritage.
The most frequent sailing destination is Brijuni Islands, a national park and attractive touirist resort.

Kvarner sailing region is mostly an island area and it is attracitve for sailing and cruising. In this area you can sail to islands Cres, Ilovik, Krk, Lošinj, Rab, Susak and Unije.
Also you can visit coast cities like Rijeka – the largest Croatian port, and Opatija – Croatia’s oldest touirist resort.

North Dalmatia

Sailing region of Northern Dalmatia covers the area from Island Pag to Rogoznica. There are two big towns in this region: Zadar and Šibenik, and two national parks: Kornati and Krka. Two national parks with only 50km between them could not be more different.

The Kornati National Park is an archipelago of 89 islands, isles and reefs (numbering in total 152 units) of incomparable beauty which offers the boaters the pleasure of sailing, the formidable sheer cliffs filling them with delight and awe in the same breath. Enchanted with their striking beauty, the famous writer George Bernard Shaw wrote one of the best descriptions of the Kornati: “On the last Day of Creation God wished to crown his work and he created Kornati out of tears, stars and breath”.

In contrast, the Krka National Park is full of travertine barriers, waterfalls and lakes the wondrousness of which take one’s breath away. Indeed, they are regarded as one of the favorite tourist picture postcards from Croatia.
This region is a favourite sailing ground, due to particularly indented coast, many islands and favourable winds.
The Zadar Archipelago and Kornati Islands are wonderful places to explore and relax, away from the ultra touristy parts of Dalmatia. There are more than 300 islands, 89 of which are uninhabited. The largest islands are Kornati, Dugi Otok, Ugljan and Pašman, and all have marinas for mooring your boat. Zadar is the city with the ancient tradition and noteworthy monuments, while Šibenik is the most important medieval town Croats founded on the coast.
In Šibenik, you can see worldly renowned Cathedral of St. Jakov, under the protection of UNESCO. Besides them, on the coastal area, there are few interesting small towns like Vodice, Murter and Primošten.The islands of this region are less developed: besides National Park Kornati, there is picturesque lagoon Telaščica on Dugi otok, as well as numerous other islands: Zlarin, Prvić, Tijat, Žirje, Vrgada, Iž, Molat, Premuda,Silba etc.

South Dalmatia

Sailing region of South Dalmatia covers the area from Rogoznica to Dubrovnik.
There are a number of islands, much larger than islands in North Dalmatia.

Split archipelago is definitely most popular sailing area in Croatia and great place to charter a boat because it has glorious weather, reliable winds, great sailing infrastructure, and, of course, plenty of places to explore. From Split you can choose whether to visit the nearby castles of Kastela and the delightful UNESCO world heritage island-town of Trogir, or to head further afield to the islands like Šolta, Brač, Hvar, Vis, Biševo etc.

Dubrovnik is a well-known town in Dalmatia, located almost at the very end of Croatian territories.
Islands in Dubrovnik area are beautiful Elaphiti Islands.
The Elaphiti Islands or the Elaphites (Croatian: Elafitski otoci or Elafiti) is a small archipelago consisting of several islands stretching northwest of Dubrovnik. The Elaphites have a total land area of around 30 square kilometres (12 square miles) and a population of 850 inhabitants. The islands are covered with characteristic Mediterranean evergreen vegetation and attract large numbers of tourists during the summer tourist season due to their beaches and pristine scenery.

Sources differ on the exact number of the Elaphiti Islands. According to a more recent classification, there are 13 islands in the archipelago, among them 8 larger (Olipa, Tajan, Jakljan, Šipan, Ruda, Lopud, Koločep and Daksa) and 5 smaller ones (Sveti Andrija, Mišnjak, Kosmeč, Goleč and Crkvine).
Only the three main islands – Šipan, Lopud and Koločep – are permanently inhabited.

Between Split archipelago and Elaphiti Islands there are located one of the most atractive Adriatic islands: Korčula, Lastovo, Sušac, Mljet (National park) and beautiful peninsula Pelješac.