Sailing from Split: a week in Central Dalmatia
Split is the busiest charter port in the Mediterranean for a reason: within a day’s sail there are a dozen islands, the distances between them are short, the harbours are old towns rather than marinas, and the wind, most summer afternoons, is a steady breeze from the north-west that fills in after lunch and dies at dusk. A first charter works here; so does a tenth.
This guide is for the week most people sail: Saturday to Saturday, out of one of the marinas around Split, with the islands of Brač, Hvar, Vis and Šolta in reach and Korčula a long leg beyond. The figures beside it are live: the boats, the bases and the prices come from the operators’ own booking systems today.
When to go
The season runs from late April to the end of October. May and June give warm days, cool nights, empty bays and the lowest prices of the summer half; July and August are hot, crowded and dear, with every harbour full by five in the afternoon; September is the month sailors choose, with the sea at its warmest, the winds settled and the crowds gone. October is still good in a warm year, and the discounts are deep.
Charters here run Saturday to Saturday almost without exception. Check-in is on Saturday afternoon, usually from five, and check-out on the following Saturday morning by nine, so a week is six full days on the water with the boat back in its berth on Friday night.
The winds
Three winds matter. The Maestral is the summer’s thermal breeze from the north-west: it starts around noon, blows 10 to 20 knots through the afternoon and drops with the sun. It is the wind the whole week is planned around, and it is what makes Dalmatia a sailing ground rather than a motoring one.
The Bura is the one to respect. It is a cold, dry wind from the north-east that pours down off the mountains, strongest in the channels near the mainland, and it can reach gale force within an hour of a clear sky. It is a winter wind mostly, but it visits in summer, usually for a day, and the forecast gives warning. When it is forecast, stay on the islands’ southern sides or in harbour.
The Jugo is the south-easterly: warm, humid, with cloud and rain, and it builds a sea over a day or two. It is more common in spring and autumn than in high summer.
Where the boats leave from
ACI Marina Split sits under the old town, a ten-minute walk from Diocletian’s Palace, and is the base for the largest fleets. Marina Kaštela, ten minutes from the airport, is the other big one, and the one to choose for an evening arrival. Trogir, with Marina Baotić and ACI Marina Trogir, is a quieter start twenty minutes west, and Marina Agana and Rogoznica lie further down the coast. All of them are inside the same sailing area, and the first evening’s sail to Brač or Šolta is an hour or two from any of them.
Airport transfers are short: Kaštela and Trogir are fifteen minutes away, Split half an hour. Provisioning is easy from any base, with supermarkets in walking distance of the bigger marinas and delivery to the boat from the larger chains.
Licences and papers
Croatia requires the skipper of a bareboat charter to hold a licence recognised by the Croatian authorities and a VHF radio certificate. An ICC, an RYA Day Skipper or a national licence of the same level is accepted in practice; the operator checks both documents at check-in and will not hand over the boat without them. If you have the sailing licence but not the radio certificate, say so before you book: some operators will put a skipper on board for the week, and the certificate itself is a short course.
The operator registers the crew list with the harbour master before departure, which is why the enquiry form asks for names and nationalities. The obligatory extras you will see on every boat here are the paperwork and the port fees for the week: the transit log, the tourist tax and the final cleaning. They are inside every price on this site.
Mooring and money
A night in a Dalmatian harbour is a night on a town quay, stern-to with a lazy line, or on a mooring buoy in a bay with a konoba ashore. Town quays are run by the municipality and charge by length; expect fifty to ninety euros a night for a 40-foot boat in high season, more in Hvar and Korčula, less on Šolta. A buoy is cheaper, and often free if you eat at the restaurant that owns it. ACI marinas cost the most and are the only place to count on water and electricity.
Fuel is at the marinas and at the larger harbours; a week of sailing with the Maestral burns little. Water is scarce on the islands and the quays charge for it, so fill the tanks at the base.
A week from Split
The classic clockwise circuit, with short legs that fit the afternoon breeze and leave the mornings for swimming. Distances are rough, and every leg can be shortened: Milna, Palmižana and Maslinica are each an hour from the next harbour.
| Day | From | To | Distance | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Split | Milna, Brač | 12 nm | Check in, provision, and sail two hours across the channel to a sheltered harbour for the first night. |
| Day 2 | Milna | Palmižana, Pakleni islands | 12 nm | Round the west end of Hvar to the island bays opposite Hvar town; a water taxi takes you into town for the evening. |
| Day 3 | Palmižana | Komiža, Vis | 20 nm | The longest leg, open water, with the Maestral on the beam. Komiža is the fishing town on the far side of Vis. |
| Day 4 | Komiža | Vis town | 14 nm | Round the island by the Blue Cave on Biševo and the bay at Stiniva, and moor on the quay in Vis. |
| Day 5 | Vis | Stari Grad, Hvar | 18 nm | Back north into the long fjord of Stari Grad, the oldest town in the islands and a quieter night than Hvar. |
| Day 6 | Stari Grad | Maslinica, Šolta | 16 nm | West along Hvar and across to Šolta’s small harbour, a short hop from the base for the morning. |
| Day 7 | Maslinica | Split | 10 nm | Two hours back to the marina; the boat should be in its berth by the evening before check-out. |
Questions people ask
Do I need a licence to charter a yacht in Croatia?
Yes. The skipper needs a sailing licence recognised by Croatia and a VHF radio certificate. An ICC or an RYA Day Skipper is accepted. Without one of the two, book a skippered charter; the price difference is the skipper’s fee for the week.
When is the best time to sail from Split?
September, for the warm sea, the steady Maestral and the empty harbours. June is the other good month. July and August are hot, full and the most expensive weeks of the year.
How far is it between the islands?
Short. Brač is two hours from Split, Hvar three, Vis four, and the hops between them are two to four hours each. A week covers the whole circuit without a leg over twenty miles.
Is Split good for a first bareboat charter?
It is the standard recommendation. The distances are short, the harbours are plentiful, the afternoon breeze is predictable and the islands shelter you from most weather. Keep the Bura forecast in view and plan the Vis leg for a settled day.