Croatia in the winter question
 

We are considering a small boat cruise along the coast of Croatia in December. I've checked the weather and it varies quite a bit. My questions are:
Are the tourist places /stores/restaurants still open along the coast or closed for tourist season?
Is it a damp, bitter,freezing type of cold, or a dry type of cold? We would start in Zagreb, Neum, Mostar side trip, Korcula,Kotor,Dubrovnik, Havar, Split, Sibenik and Zadar.
We were in Croatia in July one year and loved it and thought it would be nice to see it in off season without the hoards of tourists. If you live in Croatia, I would appreciate your thoughts, and advise and opinion concerning this boat trip in December. Thank you!

I have visited Croatia a couple of times in December. Tourist places are nearly all closed because there are no tourists. Towns will have restaurants open, but small resorts will have very little. Bars and cafés are plentiful.
The weather is variable, but I didn't experience any very cold days (I'm used to British weather).
I'm not sure what sort of boat trip you plan to do. Are you hiring a boat? I didn't think any cruise ships ran there in winter.

The company is OAT Tours and the boat holds 50 people. We did the same tour company and boat in the(December) Red Sea a couple of years ago. We rented a car in Greece one December and loved vacationing during the off season. Don't want to drive this time and the Dalmation coast really appeals to us. I am just worried that it will be " totally dead" and the weather really bad. If we had not visited in the summer and loved it we would not be considering winter. My vacation time is 6 weeks in Dec./Jan. only so vacationing is always a challenge.

This is an interesting question. OAT reportedly knows their business, so one can't imagine them running a cruise at a time when the weather is generally going to be miserable.

On the other hand, they cater to a somewhat adventurous rather than luxury hotel demographic.

The historic and natural sites should all be open and pleasant, and the tourist tat should be gone along with the glam crowds.

I would risk it with two caveats:

(1)the bura, the icy and fierce northerly wind may make travel dangerous as well as unpleasant; and
(2) how many hours of daylight are there?

Let us know how it goes.

Ahhh.. excellent point about the hours of daylight! How and where do I look on the net to find the answer to the question?

So they do have nasty weather. I'm going to call OAT and see if I can actually talk to someone that has done the trip and not just sell it. Certainly,someone on the staff has taken it.

Looks to me as if the sun rises in Dubrovnik around 7:00 and sets a little after 4:00 in December.

I am sure that no cruise line would risk their vessel if really severe weather were approaching, but remember that the only sure cure for sea sickness is Oak trees.

Lie down under one, and you will begin feeling better almost immediately.

Thank you nukesafe for the sunlight hours. I'm mainly concerned about being too nasty to want to wander around the towns. My husband says he isn't concerned about the tourist shops being closed. LOL! I can't talk him into Viet Nam. He said he saw all of the fish markets, fruit markets and flower stalls he wants to see when we were in Thailand. Croatia was so nice that I really want to return but don't want to waste $$$ on sitting in a boat rather than enjoying the towns.It's going to be a tough call. The reviews on OAT didn't really reveal anything of value.I think they started the trip maybe only last year or so.
Cute -Oak trees!

having experienced Croatia in winter many times,I would avoid the sea and go with the Terra Firma. All mainland towns will have restaurants and stores open for business, but far more laid back.

Similar question - but timing is first two weeks of March. Driving from Trieste down to Dubrovnik and then day/overnight trips to Montenegro/etc. We're not beach people - but would rather there is no frost/ice on roads etc.

Is this a hire car? returning to Italy?

I looked at this trip too a few months back. I contacted OAT because I was more concerned about the long - long bus trip between the end of the cruise to the mainland city you have to end up at (don't remember what it was). I think it amounted to an 8 hour bus trip. A bit much for me.

I don't mean to discourage you, but I have been to Croatia many times, mostly in October and once in early April. The weather I experienced in April was very cold, rainy, VERY windy and generally rather miserable. The tourist season had not started yet, and in some ways that was good, but some restaurants and shops had not opened for the season yet. When the bura blows, I would NOT want to be out in open water. I've been on a small boat going from Cavtat to Dubrovnik when it was very windy, not the bura, but just windy, and 5 out of the 10 people on board were seasick. Not pleasant. So, if it were me, I would not chance ruining a vacation by being on a boat in choppy seas and visiting towns where half the stores and restaurants are closed. Vistiing Croatia in December, without being on a cruise, would be a safer bet. As I said, being there during the off season does have its benefits, not many tourists and very laid back. Hope this helps.

Having lived in Dubrovnik now for the past 3 years, I do believe that you would be much better off doing this cruise at some other time of year. I know it will be wet, cold and windy and the Adriatic can be very rough during that time of year. There will be very little open in the way of shops and restaurants as most of the locals have closed down for the winter hibernation. When the winds are blowing, it is cold and windy and rather unpleasant. Please do reconsider your date.

Thank you for the honest posts. You no doubt are right. I'm discouraged because now I have to find another place to head in late December. This is why I love fodors because nice people are so helpfull!