Croatia was never in my Top 10 places I wanted to go. I had never given Croatia much thought, although I had heard it was beautiful, so are so many other places I’ve dreamed about visiting. That changed last year in Annapolis when we visited the Croatia sailing booth, saw the photos, heard the testimonials and were offered a sweet deal to charter a big catamaran in Split, Croatia and sail the Adriatic Sea. Now that I’ve seen and sailed Croatia, I’m singing a different tune.
To truly appreciate Croatia, one must know a little about its history. I confess I knew very little, other than it was a former communist country that had gained independence not that long ago; however, during our adventure I learned some interesting information that helped me appreciate this land and its people even more.
Croatia’s history can be traced back well into the BCs, where it bounced around between emperors and conquerors and at the end of WWII, Croatia was part of Communist Yugoslavia, which also included Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Serbia. Fast forward to 1991, having had enough of the Communist regime, Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia, which triggered a civil war among Croats, Serbs and Bosnians. This war, known to be the bloodiest event in Europe since WWII, ended in 1995 only after NATO intervened. In 2013, after almost 2 decades of peace and independence, Croatia joined the EU (but instead of Euro, it still uses its own currency, the Kuna).
As our plane descended into Split, it was impossible to not gape at the incredible Mosor Mountain range that runs along the Adriatic coastline. Split’s airport is small, but new and modern and efficient – tarmac to border control to checked luggage in hand in less than 30 minutes. Then a 20 minute bus ride to the town of Trogir, and we were ready for our next adventure – sailing the Adriatic.
We had chartered a 45 foot Lagoon catamaran and invited 6 friends to join us on this adventure. This impressive boat has 4 queen-sized staterooms, each with its own head. Our “Gatto de Mare” had a decent galley for meal prep with a dining table that comfortably sits 8, and an outdoor deck with another dining table and extra couch space. Up top, another seating area to watch the waves and sunsets and a fly bridge sitting way up high, from where to drive the boat.
I had no interest in driving the boat myself, but instead left that to Allen and the other guys while I enjoyed the scenery and the company onboard. Just the sheer size of this yacht was intimidating; however, with dual engines, controlling it was not an issue – Allen described it as driving a big, fat marshmallow. And for the most part, we were driving and not sailing, as most of the time we either did not have enough wind, or the day the bora (a northern to north-eastern katabatic wind in the Adriatic Sea) came down, we had too much wind.
Hvar City at night 
Hvar City
Our first sail was to the town of Hvar on Hvar Island, a bustling town and harbour between the blue sea and soaring mountains. There are only two docking options in this busy, crowded harbour: mooring ball or wall tie-up. We chose the mooring ball and with fenders out on both sides, we tucked in between two other large catamarans. We soon noticed another large boat trying to squeeze into the tiny spot next to us and wanted to protest, but then we realized that’s just the way it’s done. Here, boats are tucked-in, hull to hull, fender to fender, even on mooring balls. We were so close to our neighbors that we could see the guy next door brushing his teeth in the morning. This took some getting used to, but that’s just the way it’s done here.
We had similar experiences each night during the trip. The shorelines are very deep and out of anchoring range, so we grabbed a mooring ball most nights and then used the dinghy to taxi to and from shore. Mooring balls cost in the ballpark of $100 C per night, and docking on the wall can be triple that price. Local port authority boats come to your boat to collect paperwork and arrange payment. One night we were able to anchor, but the port authority still came by to collect a fee, although it was only about half the cost of a mooring ball.
Taking a dip in the Adriatic
We spent 7 days and nights on the boat, with only one rainy day. Each day we appreciated the clear blue water, the mountains, and the villages, even the church bells that began ringing at 6am and seemed to ring all day long at random times. We rented scooters and drove through the mountains, through tunnels, farms and olive groves. We walked small village streets, bought local produce and indulged in Croatian gelato (a little softer than Italian gelato, but just as good). It was a special trip shared with special friends, with memories that will last a lifetime. We ended our trip where it started, in a marina in Trogir, we said our farewells and Allen and I began to head south to explore the second largest city in Croatia, Split.
Split is an ancient city that was the retirement residence for the Roman Emperor Diocletian in the 4th century. Today his palace is essentially a walled town, with old buildings, stone streets and walkways, twisting alleys, trendy restaurants and brand-name shops and a big-ass sculpture of Gregory of Nin (medieval Croatian bishop). Split also boasts a large waterfront promenade lined with high-end restaurants with patrons who definitely go there to be seen.
We only had one night is Split before boarding a bus to Dubrovnik. We learned there are no easy options to get to Dubrovnik from Split. There is one ferry a day in the off-season, departing at 7am. Then there are several busses that go throughout the day, length of trip depends on number of stops, and all of them have to pass through the Bosnia and Herzegovina border and then back into Croatia. Just a couple decades ago these countries waged a long, bloody war with each other, so the thought of crossing their borders was a bit daunting; however, we were assured that although it could be time consuming, it would be easy. Without better options, we picked up some sandwiches, boarded a bus with no washrooms (5 hour trip!), a driver who did not speak English, but it was clean and comfortable. The upside was being able to watch the magnificent Croatian coastline roll by us as the bus navigated the twists and turns of the coastal road.
About 4 hours into the journey we came to the Bosnian border. A young officer boarded the bus, collected passports and left. Ten minutes later, the driver walked through the bus handing back passports. After traveling for about 15 minutes, another young man in a Croatian uniform came aboard and had a quick conversation with the driver and then announced anyone traveling with a passport has to get off the bus. Allen and I, along with just a few others, left the bus and entered the building where the young man took each passport, matched our faces, stamped it and waved us away. We learned Croatians are issued cards to make crossing back into Croatia easy, but those without cards need to go through the regular border process.
Soon we were in Dubrovnik and after what felt like a never-ending climb up a mountain slope, we were in our next, and last, B&B of our European adventure.
Dubrovnik is an unusual city. Outside the wall, it is a typical modern-ish European city, and typically Croatian with mountains and sea views. The Old Town, inside the fortress walls, is famous for several things. First, it’s a protected Unesco World Heritage site. This means it was chosen because of its cultural and historical significance and is legally protected by international treaties. Unfortunately, this distinction did not protect Dubrovnik during the civil war when the rest of the world watched in horror as nearly 56% of Dubrovnik’s buildings were bombed and civilians were killed. In recent years Dubrovnik has found new fame as the place where Game of Thrones was filmed. GOT was actually filmed in several locations in Croatia and elsewhere, but some of the most recognizable locations are in Dubrovnik. As GOT fans, we couldn’t resist being the tacky tourists and signed up for a GOT walking tour in the Old Town. I was a little worried it would be cheesy, but all I could say is “wow”. Not only did we see many recognizable locations, we got some insider tidbits on the actors and as a bonus, our guide was a historian and provided some real history as well.
We also paid the $20 to walk atop the Old Town walls, walls that have been there since Roman times and were free to walk until GOT turned this city into a tourist destination, but it was worth the views. The city itself is charmingly beautiful, stone buildings and tile roofs, stone roads, no motorized vehicles. It was; however, interesting to note that while the buildings looked old from a distance, most were fairly new builds. This makes sense as over half the city was damaged in the war and the recent influx of tourists and their kuna is allowing the city to thrive financially and continue to rebuild. Though what I found unfortunate was the gross commercialization, the tacky souvenir shops and overpriced restaurants and bars capitalizing on GOT fame. In speaking with some local residents, they are not happy with what is happening to their city either. Housing prices are skyrocketing and families living in the Old Town, families that have always lived there, now have to line-up with tourists to get in and out of their city (the wait can be up to an hour in high season), pay exorbitant prices for everyday items like groceries and have to put up with daily throngs of strangers wandering past their homes and looking in their windows.
This wrapped up our 3 week European Adventure, and to be honest, we were ready to come home. After all of the incredible adventures we’ve had since leaving our dock in May, it does feel good to be in one place again. Our boat, Meshuggana is on-the-hard, tucked-in for winter. We are using every opportunity to reconnect with our loved ones, family and friends we’ve missed. It’s even nice to return to the same address each evening…well, maybe for a little while…the next adventure is around the corner, just 4 weeks away…
Stay tuned as Allen, Cat Stevens and I skip Canadian winter and move to beautiful and WARM Merida, Mexico.
I didn’t even realize you wrote about your Italy and Croatia trip here!! :):) reading through now