Something significant happened in Croatia’s charter market during the past three years, says Bozena Kascelan, a charter manager with IYC.
“The yachts are changing,” she says. “Croatia is getting a lot more bigger boats than before. Even the experienced charterers, they got tired of the South of France and Amalfi. They wanted something different.”
By bigger boats, Kascelan means motoryachts from about 130 to 230 feet length overall. And newer launches, too. Clients are chartering from seven days to two weeks, alternating their bookings one year along one section of the Croatian coastline, and then another year along another stretch. They sometimes include Montenegro, and even Venice, Italy, as part of the itineraries.
The feedback Kascelan says she gets from clients is that while the bigger boats have arrived, the area still feels quite natural. “Yachting is not overcrowded here, and you have a lot of places you can go to have privacy when you get your toys out,” she says. “It’s a lot easier than in France or Italy. There are many little bays. So even though you’re close to the bigger cities like Dubrovnik or Split, you have a feeling of total privacy.”
The weather is good for charter through early October, she says, and it’s often possible to get a last-minute booking at this time of year. That’s true not only for the boats, but also for the shoreside experiences.
“Compared to everywhere else, Montenegro and Croatia are places with real family restaurants with all-organic food,” she says. “It’s very rare to find in the world. The captains can get you into family-owned vineyards. We have more and more clients who are looking for this.”
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Just about everyone who charters in Croatia makes a stop at Dubrovnik to see the remarkably well-preserved Old Town, as well as the fortification wall that stretches for more than a mile around it. The Old Town is pedestrian-only, with architecture that spans multiple historical eras. And yes, Game of Thrones fans, this was the primary filming location for King’s Landing.
