Croatia is ideal for sailing: it has an indented coastline, many islands, a good climate and 40 marinas with excellent facilities and service. About half of the marinas belong to the ACI Club (Adriatic Croatia International Club) and the others are independent. Of the twenty-one ACI marinas seventeen are open throughout the year and four during the summer season only.

All Croatian marinas are members of an association whose head office is in Rijeka.

Croatian Marinas Association (Hrvatska udruga marina)
Bulevar oslobodjenja 23
HR-51000 Rijeka
Tel.: (051) 209 130 / Fax: (051) 216 033

For more information about sailing in Adriatic see our Sailing pages.

Fees are charged in Croatian marinas for berths and other services. They are usually fixed and published in the autumn for the following year. For actual fees use our marinas data base and search facility.

On public piers in harbours under municipal authority, the local authorities have the right to charge mooring fees. The amount of the fee depends on the size of the boat and the length of pier it occupies, which means that yachts mooring alongside the pier will pay more than those mooring stern of bows to. When berthing “in a pack” (several yachts mooring alongside each other), the mooring fee is charged for every yacht.

The amount of the fee is determined by the local authority can vary from one harbor to another.

In some areas, the local authorities charge mooring fees for vessels moored in bays under their authority. In return, garbage is collected and, in some places, groceries delivered.

The extent to which fees can be charged without any service being provided will in future be regulated by law. Persons collecting mooring fees must identify themselves by producing a printed receipt.

Shopping for food presents no problems along the coast or on the islands. All marinas and harbour have well-supplied supermarkets. However, during prolonged spells of bad weather there can be a shortage of fresh vegetables and bread on small islands which do not have a regular ferry service. Food prices are comparable to those in Europe. Restaurants can be more expensive on small islands.

Fuel is easily available both on roads and in harbours. All types of petrol, including unleaded petrol, and diesel are available; however, unleaded petrol pumps and less common on piers. Petrol stations are temporarily closed for safety reasons when they are being supplied with petrol from tankers.

During off-season periods, opening hours of petrol stations can be limited to a few, usually morning, hours. During the main season, and especially in the morning hours, the large number of customers may cause queuing and considerable waiting times at petrol stations.

The following ports have petrol stations on the waterfront (from north to south):

Spare parts are available throughout Croatia and many Croatian and foreign-owned shops are well supplied with spare parts for boat engines. There are specialized shops in marinas with general spare parts, while marina workshops are also well stocked. It is nevertheless advisable to have the special spare parts for your yacht on board (e.g. drive-belts and impellers) because shops cannot stock all makes.

It is also advisable to write to the manufacturer of your yacht for updated list of service stations which specialize in particular engine makes and stock the necessary spare parts.

It is worth mentioning that the ability of Croatian mechanics to make the required spare part in their shop never ceases to amaze and impress the foreigner.

Water and electricity in Croatian harbours and marinas

All Croatian marinas and some harbours have water and electricity hook-ups on the pontoon-piers.

Water: water connections are usually 1 inch in diameter, 3 inch diameter connections are much less common. Because of possible water shortages in the summer months, most Croatian marinas require yachts to use hoses with taps.

Electricity: In Croatia the current is 220 V AC. In marinas and public harbours (as well as camping grounds), three-pin "Euro-plugs" are used. In some marinas (Punat, Kremik) a number of pillars have ‘conventional’ safety sockets.
The power pillars in some marinas are so wide apart (e.g. in Zut, Piskera, Palmizana) that extension leads with insulated connectors (storm, rain) are needed.
The number of power points is sometimes insufficient for all yachts that may need electricity at the same time. Well-insulated extension leads with connection elements should therefore be carried on board every yacht.