Chartering News
NEWS and NOTES on SAILING-VACATION OPPORTUNITIES
EXPLORE THE ADRIATIC
With vacation sailors from North America increasingly focusing on Croatia, a group of charter companies in the southeastern European country have collaborated on promoting the destination. And a global company has opened a fourth base there, as well as one in nearby Montenegro.
The Mediterranean’s Adriatic Sea presents one of the world’s most beautiful coastlines, with more than 1,100 miles of shoreline and 1,200 islands and islets. Hidden bays and anchorages, as well as historic island towns, are part of the attraction. Marinas and ports provide mooring and shelter; prevailing summer winds are from the northwest.
Four European outfits — Nautika Centar Nava (navaboats.com), NCP & Mare (ncp-charter.com), Sunlife (sun life.hr) and Adriatic Cruising (adriatic-cruising.com) — attend the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis each October to present fleets and itineraries. Look for them at this year’s show too, waving the banner of the Croatia Charter Experience. Here’s what each offers: Nautika Centar Nava was founded as one of the first privately owned companies in the charter business in Croatia. Bareboat and crewed charters are its main activities. It also offers all-inclusive vacations, such as dive and sail, wine tasting, big-game fishing and adventure sailing.
NCP & Mare has more than 70 vessels; crewed and bareboat monohulls, multihulls and luxury motoryachts are available. The fleet is situated at Marina Mandalina in Sibenik, 10 minutes from the highway and 40 minutes from two international airports in Split and Zadar.
Sunlife Charter is a family-owned company in Split, Croatia. Founded in 2000, it offers a mixed fleet, including sailing monohulls and multihulls, as well as motoryachts, for bareboat and crewed charter.
Adriatic Cruising has specialized in luxury crewed holidays aboard gulets and traditional motorsailers on the Adriatic coast since its inception in 2002. Adriatic Cruising owns and manages its four-member fleet. Embark from Sibenik, Dubrovnik, Split or Trogir.
Dream Yacht Charter, with more than 900 boats in more than 45 global destinations, in spring 2018 added bases on the Adriatic coast: in Pula, on the Istrian peninsula of Croatia, and in Kotor, Montenegro.
The Pula base is on the southern tip of Istria, a hub for sailing around the northern Adriatic islands. DYC now operates five bases along the eastern Adriatic coastline in the cities of Dubrovnik, Trogir, Zaton (near Sibenik) and Pula. Among the total of nearly 200 yachts in Croatia, the company has expanded its catamaran fleet to 45; new models include the Lagoon 42 and 52, Bali 4.3 and 4.5, and Lagoon 450 S.
The Kotor base, Dream’s first in Montenegro, is inside Boka Kotorska Bay, a Unescoprotected region. For more details, contact the company (dreamyachtcharter.com).