Hi,
I am a member of a syndicate that owns a boat based in Greece. We have been thinking of moving up to Croatia for a change of scene. We have been looking for a similar arrangement to the one in Greece whereby the boat is hauled out at the end of September until the following May the cost for this being € 1,700-00/annum. So far I have not found a single boatyard in Croatia that can offer a similar service, they all seem to be marinas with an annual cost of € 4 to 5000 plus loads of red tape and taxes. Can anyone who sails there advise.
Regards,
Mike

Haven't been sailing in Croatia myself, but will call around and see what I can find out for you. Were there any particular area's you were intrested in.

You should find it a lot cheaper to moor you boat in croatia though. It might beworth uyou using the money you saved on the mooring to hire another company to take it out of the water for you.

Hi Michael I live aboard my yacht in Turkey and although I have not been to Croatia I have met many people who have. They state that the scenery is fantastic and they really have enjoyed their time there. However most of them have stated that the costs there are prohibative in many ways. For example they often charge for anchoring in certain bays and cost are getting very expensive to get yachts serviced etc. I at present in Marmaris in Turkey (Marmais Yacht Marina) where the cost are very low for berthing, lifting and time on the hard. For example I have a 45 foot yacht and I paid £1100 for 5 months contract (1.5 months in the water, 3.5 months on the hard and lift in and out). The services for repair are becomming more expensive but still lower than most other places.

i will try and find out some cost re Croatia.

Hi Peter,
Many thanks for info, however we are now thinking of Turkey and Marmais marina was one we were thinking of, we have a Beneteau 345, what do you think of Turkey, place, people, sailing?much red tape?

Hi Michael,
Turkey is a fantastic place, there is so much to see and the place is riddled with history and ruins. The sailing is also very good with a coastline that is very interesting with fantastic scenery. The people are extremely friendly and the restaurants are fabulous. You do need to find the right places as some especially in the large resorts are a bit touristy. However in the yacht you can access many out of the way places. Many of my friends have stayed here for several years as it is suh a friendly and beautiful place. As to the red tape there is some but to be honest it is no more than anywhere else. You need to buy a transit log for 50 YTL (£22.30 at present exchange rate) then see the Health Office, Port Police to get Visa and passport stamped(£10), then see Customs, then visit the Harbour Master to get the final signature on the document. When filling out the document you need to put the broad sailing ground to be visited, such as Marmaris, Datca, Bodrum, Gocek, Fethiye. You will probably pay a further 10YTL (£5). There are certain ports that are better to enter than others such as Datca, and Fethiye although the others are fine. The problem can be the location of each of the offices. For instance in Marmaris there are three of the four together in the main dock area (Health, Police, Customs, but the harbour master is in the middle of the towns sea front a considerable walk, althought the walk is very entertaining. Your visa last for 90 days and must be renewed by probably sailing to Rhodes or Kos fro a booze run then returning to by new visa plus the whole process theoreticaly all over again although you can go by fast ferry get the visa renewed that way without having to renew the transit log. Sound busy but the sailing and Turkish experience is well worth it. I hope this helps?

We've cruised the Croatian coast since Yugoslavian days and agree with everything said by others. However we love the northern area by Trieste and it does seem cheaper there than in the South.

But we've just come back from investigating boating in the Bodrum Peninsula.

This is a truly great place to sail and the closest greek island ( Kos ) is just 10Nm off the coast so you would feel at home. You can island hop across the aegean from here with no single leg more than 25 Nm if you want to.

The overwhelming friendliness of the people really hits you wherever you go.
I can't emphasise this enough and it's such a huge contrast to Europe, especially with France and Spain.

Recently-built Port Bodrum is the place to go : it's actually at Yalikavak and very cheap. I was quoted a ridiculously low figure for my Horizon 43 motor cruiser. The services should be good as well, the main service agent is a subsiduary of a superyacht builder. ( Although I don't know the prices at the moment, I suspect they would be modest ).

The Marina is finished but the shops and other facilities are still under construction. Yalikavak is on the Northern side of the peninsula and as such get's good cooling breezes. The older harbour in Bodrum town is pretty but I'm told it suffers from the heat in summer.

There is a much swankier new marina at Turgutreis. This town is trying to go very up market and will end up being just like any of the posh European resorts. It wasn't for us.

We are going back in June for another look.

We've rented a 3 bedroom Villa near Yalikavak ( with Aircon ) in June from a British agent for only £235 per week This is an all in price with no extras. Local Car hire was £20 per day in March rising to £35 in July and August.

There are so many villas and apartments being built that it's unlikely that rents will rise : in fact I think they may well fall through the floor in a year or two.

Unlike Spain there is a huge amount of coastline which is unspoilt and not yet built on so it is certainly not overcrowded.

The only drawback are the flights. Bodrum airport is only 30 minutes from the Marina but direct flights seem to be available only from May to October. Otherwise you have to go via Istambul which costs about £50 more and means the trip from Heathrow is an all day affair.

We have booked from direct flights from Bournemouth to Bodrum in June and the cost was only £200pp including taxes and fuel surcharge. This is only a 4.5hrs door to door for us. Flights are Mondays only and it's difficult to book for more than a week at a time.

Weather is good from April to end of October but very hot in July and August.

It's certainly a very tempting place to have Your boat !

I have lots of photos so if anyone would like to email me direct I would be glad to help.

Hi Michael i own a Bavaria 32 which i base in Jezere on the island of Murter in Croatia.Jezera is a charming village and the marina is very well run with excellent sevices.Cost wise its 2,073,78 Euro per year which works out about £1480 this includes the Visitory tax of 54 Euro.The other cost is the Cruising Permit which is 1,012,50 kn which is around £100.This year will be my first full season but my unstanding todate is that the Marinas are well run and compare well with the Marinas in Greece however your main problem may be finding a Marina berth which in many Marinas there are waiting lists.The Marina is ACI and they have a good website.All the best John F

Michael

My wife & I bareboat charter in Croatia in May and The Sporades in September. We are astounded at how greedy the Croatians are compared to the Greeks. £25 to tie up to a town Quay that has no facilities, when the same thing in Greece is free. The result is that in Croatia we tend to eat on board to save money, whereas in Greece we eat out in the local Tavernas. Presumably the proximity of affluent Germans has a bearing. It's a pity because we love Croatia as a country and the sailing around Murter is superb.

For the record:

Mooring in Croatia ( Peak season) for our 52' skippered charter yachts costs at one end around 50KN ( £4.50) to tie up to a buoy or anchor off, this includes a small local tax to help maintain the area and gash collection. At the other end of the scale Marina Frappa, probably the most expensive in the country costs per night 550KN (£50) but this includes water and electricity and the marina has swimming pool restaurants, live entertainment, clubs, laundry, shops etc etc. To tie up to the town quay costs about 150 KN (£ 13.70) and in most places includes water and electricity. Smaller independent marinas tend to be slightly cheaper and more desirable spots eg Hvar, Dubrovnik, tend to be more expensive. As you travel south done the coast you will find a lot of free mooring owned by restaurants, obviously you are expected to dine at your hosts restaurant! Obviously lots of anchorages are free.

We have been running sailing holidays there ( bare boat and skippered charter) www.lazywinch.com for the last four years and have found that although rates are reasonable it is now almost impossible to get a permanent berth at any of the marinas, a new generation is in the planning stage so I guess it will be a few years yet.

oh , and one last thing, try the restaurants the fish is some of the cheapest and best quality in the Med!

I would be happy to take emails if anyone needs further help.