Originally posted in 2014.  

 When I tell people we went sailing in and around the idyllic islands of the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia  I  get blank looks.  Like, where is that? It isn’t that far from Italy—a popular European destination. Take a look at a map. (See Below) . Lots of cruises start at Venice and make their way to Dubrovnik and back. Or on to Istanbul.  Both are great destinations and actually we did the first about five years ago and were so amazed with the beauty we vowed we would return.

 So we chartered a boat with friends and sailed in the area near Trogir (near Split) in May.  If you are a boater,  pay attention.   It is a spectacular area.    And if you like cute, quaint old world villages with great restaurants…..well, it is nirvana.

 The week started with a rainy day but  by the time we pushed off the dock the sun came out and then, Ta Da, a rainbow.  I took this as a sign that we were in for a very good week.  And I was right.  It was darn near perfect.

 We chartered through Dalmatia Charters who set us up with a wonderful Skipper.  He could single handedly manage the boat, knew all the best places to eat and seemed to intuitively “get” our energy levels.   We were not the type of sailers determined to cover huge distances.  We savored and enjoyed every experience. We operated on a languorous, smell-the-roses pace.

 So, what are the highlights?

 Cute quaint towns.

I have so many photos of the Pinterest Perfect Villages,  I could do a book.  Here are a few.  Don’t you just love the red roofs? That’s the Venetian influence.   Very old stone.  Low Key. A Wow a Minute.

 Hvar

Hvar—both an island and a town, it has been crowned the new “Amafi Coast” by many– an international tourist destination for the “Beautiful People”  We were not there during “The Season” so we didn’t see any celebrities, but loved poking around shops on the winding hill side streets and eating fresh fish caught that day  in a charming courtyard restaurant.

 Seafood

We loved the  seafood.  It was incredibly  fresh.   Octopus salad is always on the menu so we sampled it every day, enjoying the variations.

 Interesting People

Meeting people.  Occasionally we chatted with the folks in the boats on either side of us when we moored at night.  Most seemed to be from England or Germany.

We ran into these guys a couple of times.  These Hilarious Englishman  have been doing a men’s sailing trip for 15 years.  Every year they get new look-alike shirts and then wear them all week.  Friendly and funny.

 Croatian Singers

We enjoyed performers of the traditional Croatian folks songs.

 A Plethora of Boats

I loved seeing all the  boats.  Not surprising.  Evidently during July and August there are a lot of mega-yachts.  We saw more cute, smaller boats or small passenger cruises.

Hope you enjoy these scenes from the week.

Are you wondering where the heck is Croatia? We sailed only a small portion.  Will enjoy going back.

During covid, I am reposting some of my favorite blogs about really great travel experiences.  I have returned to Croatia and sailing the beautiful waters along the coast with our terrific skipper,   Deni.  I would love to go back.