aussiecorey

We are 2 adventurous families excited about travelling Croatia late Aug-Sep 17.
2 adults & 6 active boys 5-11yr.
We have a week to travel Croatia then heading to Italy. We love to immerse ourselves in the local culture & natural surrounds.
We were thinking flying into Dubrovnik few nights then is it possible to charter a small sailing boat Korcula,Vis,Hvar,Split island hopping? Or should we use ferries?
Then plan to use bus to Zadar Plitvice Lakes,Krka.
All help & suggestions greatly appreciated. Logistics with 6 boys challenging but super exciting
Cheers Corey

Andrew

Covering all of those places in a week is really pushing it, even if you have a car, unless by sailing to Korcula and Hvar you mean sailing past them and waving as you pass by, not stopping or not overnight. Then you could spend your nights in Dubrovnik and Split. You're not really going to have a lot of opportunity to immerse yourselves in "local culture" if you'll be there for such a short time near the peak of the tourist season, when all of those places you mention should be pretty crowded with other tourists. You'll be spending half of your time on buses, ferries, etc.

How are you planning to get to Italy after Croatia? The ferry from Split to Ancona is an obvious choice, but the day trips by bus up to Krka, Zadar, and Plitvice are going to take several days. Personally, if I had eight people in my party, I'd look at renting a mini-van instead of using the bus - and staying over at one of the places on your route instead of backtracking to Split. Maybe you can fly to Italy from Zagreb or something. You can't see Krka, Zadar, and Plitvice in a single day trip from Split, so you'd either be taking the bus back and doing more than one trip...or taking the bus with eight people, settling into a hotel, having a very busy schedule, and then checking out the next day to catch the next bus. Seems very impractical to me.

It might make sense to start in Zagreb and end in Dubrovnik, then ferry from there to Bari, Italy or to Italy. I'm not sure how you are planning to start in Croatia (from where?).

Andrew

I think your most practical choices involve cutting some things out:

1. Sail between Split and Dubrovnik and skip the islands; do day trips to Krka, Zadar, and/or Plitvice from Split.

2. Sail between Split and Dubrovnik and stop at island for maybe 2 nights, and skip Krka, Zadar, Plitvice.

3. Skip sailing between Split and Dubrovnik - base in Split, do a day trip (or maybe a few nights overnight) to Hvar or Korcula and also day trip(s) up to Krka + Zadar, and Plitvice.

You can probably figure out how to combine Krka and Zadar into a single day trip if you can work out the bus schedules but do Plitvice as another separate day. Or do Plitvice as a stop off the bus from Split up to Zagreb, and get to Italy from Zagreb (or start in Zagreb and go south).

Mimar

The OP seems more interested in the Dalmatian coast so Zagreb would be out of his way.

You could fly into Dubrovnik and out of Split or vice versa. We flew Croatia Airlines from Split to Rome.

But this trip seems too hurried. You could spend the whole 2 weeks sailing the Croatian islands. What do you want to see in Italy?

Andrew

I wasn't suggesting Zagreb as a place to spend time; I was suggesting it as a possible entry point/exit point to/from Croatia, one that's not far from Plitvice. Sometimes it has better flight connections than Split. I always check all my options.

nukesafe

Even if you could get someone to charter a sailboat large enough to accommodate your large party, you seem to have not considered the practicality of sailing to and visiting that many ports in the short time you have.

What if the wind is too strong one day to make a crossing? What if there is no wind? Can you make the crossing in one day and then be certain to arrive at each port early enough to secure a mooring? You have to see it to believe the milling about and cursing that goes on when a zillion vessels arrive at at a tiny harbor at four o'clock in the afternoon and scramble hopefully for one mooring that might be open.

I'm not saying it is impossible; my ex wife and I did it with four little kids, but that was many years ago when there was much less boat traffic, and we had much more time.

kja

I think nukesafe is offering some critical advice. I haven't sailed those waters, nor am I a sailor, and I would think you would do best to pay particular attention to people who have experience with chartered sailboats.

Good luck!

nukesafe

Yes, kja, I was not trying to be overly negative to the OP's plans, but unless they are experienced sailors the thought of only two adults trying to safely control a sailing vessel with six little kids is daunting, to say the least. A boat large enough to sleep eight is going to be rather large for two to handle. Late August and early September in those waters are usually relatively calm, but heavy weather can come at any time, and trying to handle an unfamiliar vessel in lumpy seas with six kids underfoot would scare me.

If the OP decides to go ahead with this I strongly suggest he has a long and detailed discussion with the charter company you choose to find what sailing itinerary is possible to accomplish within your limited time frame. A time saver would be to have the charter company provision the boat for your arrival, as doing that on your own could take the better part of a day.

Perhaps other members of the Forum who have sailed Croatian waters recently could provide links to reliable yacht charter companies. For all of my cautions, sailing there can be simply wonderful, and my memories of our time there are precious.

kja

@ nukesafe: OMG, I didn't mean "critical" in the sense of criticism, I meant it in the sense of essential! SO very sorry for the confusion!!!

Honestly, I was trying to underscore the <b>value</b> of your expertise. I might not sail, but I certainly realize there's a BIG difference between sailing and hopping on a ferry ... a distinction that seems to have been lost by some.

I can see how my words could be misconstrued, but I hope that both you AND the OP realize that I think you are offering advice that warrants VERY serious consideration.

I trust that your words in response to my unintentionally mis-readable remark will help the OP -- and anyone else who thinks about sailing these waters -- better understand the issues.

Thanks, nukesafe, for making sure there was no misunderstanding here!

Nonconformist

OP may well be thinking of chartering a yacht with captain included - it's definitely something which is available. If so, then the company coud probably advise a manageable itinerary.

Nonconformist

Actually, it looks as if in Croatia you HAVE to have a qualified captain on board.