Activity Yachting Holidays

For those of you new to this concept a Flotilla is a group of yachts sailing in company. If you don't have any sailing experience you come on one of our Learn to sail holidays which combines tuition with a flotilla holiday - read about our Learn to Sail vacations for more information on this option.

An experienced skipper on board one of our tuition yachts leads each Flotilla, and decides where it goes each day. As much as possible daily distances are kept to between 10 to 15 miles, allowing you all day to get there. Every morning the lead skipper holds a briefing to tell you about that evening's port and what to expect there, gives recommendations for the day's route, lunchtime stops and anything of interest to look out for. Each yacht is then free to plan their own day and sail as much or as little as they like.

Our Flotillas generally vary from about five yachts with one tuition/lead yacht, up to about ten yachts with two or more tuition/lead yachts in charge. In busy periods, where possible we split larger groups into smaller flotillas spreading the yachts between nearby ports, making for more manageable and sociable groups. The yachts used vary in size, age and price and range from 31 to 50 feet. Flotillas can be for one or more weeks. The price per person is dependent on the time of year, number of people and the yacht you choose. You can read our prices here.

Our flotillas are generally in the central area between Split and Zadar as illustrated on the map below.

From a sailing & holidaying point of view this area offers the following.

• An indented mainland coastline with a good selection of bays, town quays and marinas for stopping at.
• The biggest marina in Croatia, which is just south of Zadar is in this area.
• There are no "high rise" style developments, or "strips of clubs", but instead smaller villages and centers, all of which cater for yachts and tourism during the season. A number such as Vodice and Primosten are more touristy, and these offer more night life than the smaller centers.
• In addition there are four larger towns Zadar, Sibenik, Trogir and Split, all of which are steeped in history and can trace their roots back to the Roman Empire. All four have good yachting facilities, and while catering for tourists are also very much living towns for the local Croatians.

From Zadar to Sibenik just offshore there is an almost continuous row of inshore islands. Murter which is our main base is one of them. All of the larger islands are inhabited and all cater for yachts. Most offer town quays with lazy lines setup (so no anchors to foul), and there is an overnight charge of around 120 Kuna (for simplicity assume £1 is 10 Kuna). They all have have shops and restaurant facilities.

A few miles further offshore there is another row of Islands. The Kornati National Park is part of this and are the Islands outlined in green on the map. These islands are more barren and have small populations. This is the perfect area for anyone wishing to get away from it all. There are plenty of anchorages and bays and one marina actually in the Kornati. A per person charge is levied for yachts choosing to remain overnight and it is in the region of 40 Kn per person.

There is a second national park, the Krka National Park also in this area. It is the area outlined in Green just above Sibenik. You can go by yacht through the gorge by Sibenik, across the lake and to the marina at Skradin. This is located just where the red road and the green outline of the park area meet.

The Island of Murter is joined to the coast by an opening bridge. This opens every morning and evening for 30 minutes to allow yachts to pass between the island and the shore. There are numerous small islands and islets to the North of Murter, plus the big relatively enclosed area of sea between it and the coast. This area is well protected and offers plenty of bays, islands and towns to stop by.

Getting There: There are international airports at Zadar and Split, with the latter airport actually being located nearer to Trogir. Both Split and Zadar have ferry ports with links to Italy as well all internal Croatian routes. Local buses operate from all towns and there is a a regular daily service to other main Croatian cities like Dubrovnik, Zagreb as well as to Italy, Austria and other European countries.