Sailing the Dalmatian Coast
The Dalmatian Coast is an area of Croatia that I can only describe as full of magic. It’s turquoise blue salty water will get even me, not a strong swimmer paddle boarding on its waters. Our sailing experience with Yacht Getaways was unlike anything that I could have imagined. The given itinerary on the website gave J and I an idea of what to expect but the reality of sleeping in Santonrin for a week was unlike anything we could have anticipated.
The stops we made on our way to Dubrovnik
We boarded our catamaran in Trogir, which is just outside of Split and we were to sail to Dubrovnik over the course of a week with a skipper, host and six other new found friends. I don’t know if they knew our personalities before they put us all together because we got on like a house on fire which was a good thing. Imagine spending a week with people that you did not get along with! Lucky for us we did not have that experience.
The Santorin Crew :)
After we finished with the induction, we popped a bottle and we began our short sail to Šolta where we were to drop anchor and spend the night. I liked that the first part of the sail was short because it gave you a taste of how it would feel so if you were prone to seasickness you could see how bad you could get. The moment we dropped anchor we all headed in to change into our swimsuits as we had time to play in the water. I did go in too, terrified but I held onto the paddle board as I didn’t want to miss out. I ended up being brave enough to be on the paddle board on my own exploring the water. A word of warning, there are a lot of sea urchins in the Croatian waters and you will find most places are rocky so bear that in mind when you are planning your sailing adventures there.
Soon it was time for dinner and that on its own was an interesting affair. We quickly learnt that the sailing season has allowed for some niche restaurants like the one we went to thrive in business. You see the only way to get to this particular restaurant was by sea. The food without a doubt was out of this world. Olive oil in Croatia is so much better to you’d find in Italy which was a surprise and I quickly learned that Croatians are very passionate about their food so I expected every meal was going to be a gastronomic adventure
After dinner, we sat in the upper deck of the catamaran listening to music, drinking and watching as the sky above us grew more lit by the stars. Being away from the town meant that light pollution wasn’t an issue. I turned in earlier than J and the next morning when he told me he saw shooting stars, I was beyond jealous.
The next morning, after breakfast we headed off to Stari Grad which was on the island of Hvar and on the way we stopped by a beautiful cove where we could swim, and spend some time in the sun before lunch. When we were anchored, we noticed something was wrong with this spot very quickly. It was filled with so much litter it actually spoilt the entire area. We swam our way to shore and found ourselves picking up what we could, a lot of it plastic that had probably washed up from the sea and we filled a recyclable bag with it so that we could dispose of it correctly when we got to the next marina. In a short space of time, we were able to enjoy the area and lunch. I loved that no one told us that we should do that. I mean we were after all on a vacation and it wasn’t expected of us, but pollution doesn’t care if you’re on vacation or not. It doesn’t matter if we live there or not, it’s our responsibility, collectively to make the planet a better place for our future.
After lunch and a clean bay :) we headed into Stari Grad and docked in the marina. We had a lot of time to ourselves when we go there so we spent it exploring the town of Stari Grad. Turns out it’s been around since 2000 BC when the Greeks had inhabited it and some of the lands they used to farm was still being used. We went to one for our dinner.
The next morning we found ourselves manoeuvring Santorin out of the marina back into the waters towards Vela Luka. Vela Luka is very small, you can go around the main sights in a short period of time so don’t plan to spend a lot of time there. We did find a bar that was showing the football so we were able to support England as they played Tunisia. They won that match.
Another hot morning saw us finding another spot to cool down in the water and play whilst J had a lot of time to practice his lake swim as he would be taking part in the half Iron Man in Zell am See in Austria.
We then went to fuel the catamaran which is pretty much like fuelling a car, complete with a service station. Once our ride was all fuelled up, we went on to moor in Korcula.
Korcula has a lot going for it. It has amazing viewpoints where you get to see the city from a different viewpoint which was a nice change as most of the other towns were quite flat. It’s also quite populated so there is a greater variety of places to eat and drink. If you can, go to Cocktail Bar Massimo. There’s a steep ladder to get to the seating area so don’t wear a dress or a skirt because people we’ll easily see under there. Also, make sure you have cash as their card machine is sometimes unavailable.
After a good breakfast and a shoot with a unicorn, we got Santorin out of her tight space and back into the open sea heading to Mljet National Park. Compared to the other islands we had seen, Mljet was so much different compared to the other islands we had seen and I was in love with it hence why I consider it as one of Croatia’s gems.
Star of the moment
As we headed to the Elafiti Islands we suddenly realised that our time on Santorin and sailing the Croatian waters was running out. We got to Šipan in the late afternoon and unfortunately for me all that sleeping in the sun had caught up with me and the consequences were dire. I spent the rest of the afternoon asleep, trying to cure my heat exhaustion and managed to feel mildly better to see the most magical sunset.
I remember almost crying because it felt like we were being given a send-off from the Dalmatian Coast into bustling Dubrovnik.
Our sail to Dubrovnik the next day echoed those sentiments. Although the sighting of a dolphin got everyone excited to head back out to the sea once we had dropped off one of the couples that had to make their way back home, high winds and rain prevented that from happening. We weren’t going to be deterred as we found a restaurant to have our final dinner together and it was amazing. Make sure you go to Bistro Izvor if you are in Dubrovnik. It’s setting by the end of a waterfall makes it a beautiful setting and if you’re having lunch there on a hot day then sitting outside would be a dream.
A week since beginning our sail we parted ways with our vessel that had taken us to the most amazing locations and had given us a new love for the Adriatic Sea. She had brought us new friends and taken us to the best coves where we played around in the water and kept us safe with a head over us though sleeping outside would have been good as it was quite warm at night.
As far as sailing experiences go, this one set the bar quite high. So any other trip that I take after this one would have a lot to measure up.
Have you sailed the Croatian Waters? Let me know your experience or if you’re booking your trip :)
PS -: this was in no way sponsored, J and I paid our way so you can trust me :P