Marinas and Town Quays

Croatia's coast and islands offer a mix of overnight options, and a good week often combines several:

• Marina berth: a managed harbour with pontoons, staff and shore facilities.
• Town quay: a berth along the harbour wall in the middle of a town or village.
• Mooring buoy: a buoy fixed to the seabed in a bay, often in fields run by a local operator.
• Anchorage: a bay where the yacht drops its own anchor.

The skipper chooses each night's stop based on the weather forecast, the shelter a place gives from the expected wind, availability and the route. Our guide to anchoring and mooring buoys covers the last two in more detail.

Marinas are the most comfortable option ashore. Facilities differ from place to place, but commonly include:

• toilets and showers
• fresh water and shore power at the berth
• staff (often called marineros) who help with lines
• rubbish and recycling points
• nearby shops, cafés and restaurants, and sometimes a fuel station

Marinas are also where weeks usually start and finish, and where yachts take on water and supplies. The trade-off is that they can feel less characterful than a town harbour, and some sit a short walk or taxi ride from the old town.

Mooring on a town quay puts the yacht right on the waterfront, a few steps from cafés, restaurants and the evening promenade. Many island towns, including several on Hvar, Brač and Korčula, have quays that welcome visiting yachts in summer.

Facilities vary a great deal. Some quays have water and power points and nearby public toilets, while others have very little. Quays are usually managed by the local port authority or a concessionaire, who collects fees and directs yachts to a space. Evenings can be lively and sometimes noisy, so the town quay suits people who want to be in the middle of things.

In Croatian marinas and on many town quays, yachts moor stern-to: the back of the yacht faces the pontoon or quay, with lines from the stern tied ashore. The bow is held off by a lazy line, a rope attached to a heavy weight on the seabed. A marinero or the crew picks it up from the quay, walks it forward and ties it to the bow. Where there is no lazy line, the yacht drops its own anchor further out instead.

It is efficient and fits many yachts side by side, but it needs a coordinated crew. Guests may be asked to help, for example by holding a fender or handing a line ashore. Follow the skipper's instructions exactly, keep hands and feet away from the gap between hull and quay, and never try to fend off another yacht with your body. Getting on and off is usually over a gangplank or the stern, so take care, especially at night.

In July and August, popular marinas and town quays fill up quickly, often by mid-afternoon. Some marinas take reservations, while many town quays work on a first-come, first-served basis. That is one reason skippers sometimes leave a lunch stop earlier than guests would like: arriving in good time can be the difference between a berth in town and a night elsewhere.

If a planned harbour is full, or the forecast makes it a poor choice, the skipper will find an alternative. Our page on weather and route changes explains how that works.

A few habits make harbour life easier for everyone:

• keep noise down late at night, as people on neighbouring yachts may be asleep
• use shore toilets where available and follow the crew's rules for the yacht's toilets in harbour
• take rubbish to the proper bins ashore
• walk carefully across other yachts only if their crew invites you

Local rules, skipper instructions and environmental restrictions always apply.