A week from Kaštela: Krka, Vis, Hvar, Brač
8 days · 150 nm · starts in Split · Croatia
Marina Kaštela
Handover after 17:00, the big provisioning run at the Tommy supermarket by the marina. Kaštela is Split's main charter base: the airport is ten minutes away and open water starts just around the headland.
Kaštela → Skradin
North-west past Trogir and Šibenik, then through the narrow St Anthony channel between cliffs and up the river Krka to Skradin. The marina lies in fresh water, and in the evening the town empties along with the last bus.
Krka national park
A day without a passage: from the Skradin quay the park boat runs up to the Skradinski Buk falls — a seventeen-step cascade, wooden walkways and an old power station, the second in the world after the one at Niagara. Back by lunchtime, with the afternoon left for the river.
Skradin → Vis (Komiža)
The longest day of the week: down the river, out through the channel and south into open water. Vis was a closed military island until 1989 — which is why it survived intact. Komiža is a fishing town under a mountain; for dinner order peka before 17:00.
Vis: the Blue Cave and Stiniva
In the morning, 5 nm to the island of Biševo and the Blue Cave (go before 11:00, while the sun still lights it up). After lunch, Stiniva bay and its rock gateway. Night in Vis town.
Vis → Hvar
Moor on the town quay in Hvar or take a buoy off the Pakleni islands. In the evening, the Fortica fortress and the liveliest waterfront on the Adriatic.
Hvar → Brač (Bol)
Bol sits under Vidova Gora beside the Zlatni Rat spit, which changes shape with the wind and the current. Quieter and cheaper is Milna on the west of the island, and it is closer to Kaštela.
Bol → Kaštela
A last leg along the north coast of Brač, refuelling in Kaštela, handover by 17:00.
Central Dalmatia is Croatian charter in concentrate: in a week from Kaštela you sail up a river into the Krka national park, take in three big islands, moor in the busiest party harbour on the Adriatic and in bays where there is nobody but you. The loop is about 150 nm: two long days for Krka and Vis, and legs of two to three hours for the rest.
Practicalities
- Wind: in summer the daytime maestral of 10–18 knots from the north-west is on the nose on the way to Krka and behind you coming back to Vis and Kaštela. The bora and the sirocco belong to spring and autumn — watch the forecast on the day you cross to Vis.
- Krka: park admission is paid separately from the berth in Skradin marina, and the boat to the falls is included in the ticket. In July and August buy tickets online the day before — the daily visitor quota sells out.
- Berths: Croatia is the most pay-as-you-go area in the Mediterranean, with town quays and buoys all charging (Hvar most of all). Nights at anchor save real money: Stiniva by day, the bays of Šolta and Brač.
- If the loop needs a weather margin, Skradin is the first thing to drop: without it the route falls back to the classic 90 nm around three islands.
When to go and what it costs
Croatia's best window is spring: a median €150 per person per week — the lowest figure anywhere in our data — and €123 for a last-minute spring booking. Autumn, by contrast, is the most expensive (€262). Year on year Croatia is getting cheaper: −9% per berth in summer.
RYC Rentals data, 2,062 offers from 2024–2026, as of 13 Aug 2026 · full breakdown →