Yacht Charter Zadar

Where your boat actually is: Zadar, Sukošan or Biograd

Search "Zadar" on any charter platform and you get the sailing area, not the city marina. On the first page of our own listing, one boat in thirty is berthed inside Zadar. Thirteen are in Sukošan, seven in Biograd, and nine at ACI Marina Jezera on Murter, which is already Šibenik county.

That is normal for the Adriatic, and it is only a problem if nobody tells you beforehand. A 60 km transfer on the morning of check-in is a different holiday from a 15-minute taxi ride.

Marina Zadar is the one base inside the city: roughly 300 berths, yachts up to 40 metres, a 50-tonne travel lift, Blue Flag status and open all winter, which makes it the local refit yard too.

Check the marina on the boat card before you pay a deposit. If you land at ZAD after 20:00, ask us to filter for the two Zadar marinas.

What the price includes, and what "mandatory costs" means

Every boat card carries a second figure, + mandatory costs, between €150 and €322 in the Zadar area. It is not a platform fee and it is not negotiable. Croatian charter companies charge the same items at every base, and you pay them at check-in.

The deposit is the item people miss. You either block the full amount on a card at check-in and get it released once the boat comes back undamaged, or you buy deposit insurance and block a fraction. With our Free Deposit Pack you pay 20% of the deposit value up front, non-refundable, instead of blocking the whole sum, or 25% if you book inside 30 days of departure.

What you spend while sailing is separate, and no charter company includes it in the weekly rate:

Budget for these separately. A crew that plans only for the weekly rate gets a surprise on day three, usually from fuel and marina nights, not the park ticket.

What a week in Zadar actually costs

These figures come from our own listing. The cheapest bareboat sailing yacht in the Zadar area is €1,031 per week plus €150 in mandatory costs. Anyone quoting "from around €800" for a Croatian summer week is quoting a price that no longer exists.

The listing above carries the live figure for every boat: filter by class from 32 ft upwards, monohull or catamaran, and by your dates. Peak season rates are higher across every class, so read a July quote against a July comparison rather than against this line.

Prices checked: August 2026, low season.

With the Free Deposit Pack you pay 20% of the deposit value, non-refundable, rather than blocking the whole sum on a card, or 25% inside 30 days of departure. Our service costs you nothing: the charter company pays our commission.

Licences: what you need for a bareboat charter in Croatia

Croatia wants two documents on board, not one. The Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure requires a nationally recognised skipper's certificate, and someone aboard needs a VHF radio operator's certificate, normally the Short Range Certificate. The port authority asks for both.

The International Certificate of Competence is the safest document to carry. The ICC is issued under UNECE Resolution No. 40 and accepted across the Mediterranean, so it covers you in Italy or Greece next year too. An RYA Day Skipper or ASA 104 alone is accepted by many operators but not by every authority, so convert it to an ICC before you travel.

No licence, or no time to sort one out? Book the same boat with a skipper. You still pick the route and the anchorages, and the skipper handles the paperwork, the marina calls and the night entries.

The sailing area: 11 islands within a day's reach

The Zadar archipelago gives you more islands per mile than anywhere else in the Adriatic, almost all within a comfortable day sail of each other.

Ugljan and Pašman lie across the channel from the city and make the standard first night out: fifteen minutes to an hour from any base, with quiet bays on the seaward side. Dugi Otok closes the archipelago to the west and takes the swell off the open Adriatic, which is why Sali and Božava stay calm when it blows outside. Behind it lie Iž, Molat, Ist, Silba, Olib and Premuda, where you will still anchor alone in June.

South of Dugi Otok the Kornati chain begins, and with it Telašćica, the deepest natural harbour in the area. The whole group works as a loop. You can leave Sukošan, sail out to the far islands, come back down through the Kornati and reach the base on Friday without repeating a single overnight stop.

Kornati and Telašćica: park fees and buoy booking

Both are national parks and both charge. Kornati and Telašćica set their own tickets, priced per boat per day by yacht length, and both are cheaper bought before you enter than from the ranger boat inside the park.

Anchoring is restricted. Across most of the Kornati you take a designated bay or a park buoy rather than dropping the hook where you like, and in high season the buoys go by late afternoon. Arrive at Levrnaka, Lavsa or Uvala Mir by 16:00, or pick a fallback bay. The konobas in bays such as Vruje keep their own buoys for guests who eat ashore, worth arranging by phone in the morning.

Sample routes: 71, 99 and 100 nautical miles in a week

Three routes that work from any Zadar base. Distances are rounded planning figures, so check them against your chart before committing to a daylight window.

Sheltered week, 71 nm. For a first Croatian charter or a crew with children.

Outer islands, 99 nm. Fewer people, more open water, one longer leg each day.

Kornati loop, 100 nm. The classic week, and the one that justifies the park ticket.

Two weeks? Run the Kornati loop and the sheltered week back to back for 171 nm without sleeping in the same bay twice.

How the charter week really works

Check-in is Saturday, and the boat is rarely ready before 17:00 because the previous crew only left that morning. Handover and the inventory check take an hour or two, so the first night is normally spent in the home marina.

Friday you come back. Most bases want the boat alongside by 17:00 on Friday with a full fuel tank, and you sleep on board and disembark Saturday morning.

That gives you five sailing days, six if you clear the marina on Saturday evening. Plan four or five destinations, not eight. A comfortable Adriatic day is 15 to 25 miles with time to swim and find a berth before the afternoon queue.

Wind you need to plan around

Four things are worth planning around, and the Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service publishes the daily forecast for all of them. Note the naming: the summer north-westerly is the Maestral here, not the Mistral, which is the French and Sardinian wind.

The season runs April to October. May, June and September give the same Maestral with half the traffic.

FAQ

Is the boat actually moored in Zadar?

Often not. On the first page of our Zadar listing, one boat in thirty is berthed inside the city. Thirteen of the thirty are in Sukošan, 10 km away, seven in Biograd, 30 km away, and nine at Jezera on Murter, 60 km away in Šibenik county. Every boat card names its marina.

What are "mandatory costs" and how much are they?

The fixed extras every Croatian charter company charges at check-in, from €150 to €322 in the Zadar area depending on the boat. They cover final cleaning, the transit log, and bed linen and towels. Fuel, berths in other marinas and park tickets are separate and paid as you go.

What licence do I need to charter bareboat in Croatia?

Two documents: a nationally recognised skipper's certificate and a VHF radio operator's certificate, usually the Short Range Certificate. The International Certificate of Competence is the safest one to carry, because Croatian authorities accept it without argument. If you hold neither, book the same boat with a skipper.

What does a week's charter in Zadar cost?

The cheapest bareboat sailing yacht in our Zadar listing is €1,031 per week outside July and August, plus €150 in mandatory costs. Budget separately for diesel, berths in other marinas and Kornati park tickets. Peak season rates are higher and the good boats go early.

Do I have to pay to enter the Kornati islands?

Yes. Kornati and Telašćica are national parks and charge per boat per day, priced by yacht length. Buy the ticket before you enter rather than from the ranger boat inside the park, because it costs less. The ticket also covers the park mooring buoys where they are available.

How many islands can I realistically visit in one week?

Four or five, not eight. The charter week gives you five full sailing days, and a comfortable day is 15 to 25 nautical miles with time to swim and find a berth before the afternoon rush. Our three sample routes cover 71, 99 and 100 nautical miles.

When does the charter week start and end?

Check-in is Saturday, usually from 17:00, because the boat has to be cleaned after the previous crew. You return to the base by 17:00 on Friday with a full fuel tank, sleep on board and disembark Saturday morning. That leaves five full sailing days.

Is the Bora dangerous for a bareboat crew?

It is manageable if you plan around it. Bora is a cold north-easterly that falls off the Velebit range with little warning, and it is strongest in the channel between Zadar and the mainland. When one is forecast, stay on the seaward side of the islands and sit it out.

What currency is used in Croatia?

The euro. Croatia joined the euro area in January 2023 and the previous currency has been withdrawn, so any price list quoting anything else is out of date. Charter fees, mandatory costs and park tickets are paid in euro, and every marina in the area takes cards.