Croatia

[Wazzajnr]

Hi all,

Anyone know the rules in Croatia? Going there in August and would love to take the tub.
Any requirements or can I just pitch up and launch?
Cheers..

[Pikey Dave]

We went to Croatia with the RIB in 2017 & fell foul of the authorities & ended up with a €600 fine. Since then, Croatia is now part of the Schengen area & things should have changed, but you need to check. We got caught out on 2 counts, we launched in Istria & went to Trieste for lunch, we didn’t check out/in of Croatian waters, so they had us for illegally leaving/entering the country. The second count was that we didn’t check in with a harbour master when we first entered the country and register the RIB. Bearing in mind that we towed the RIB into Croatia, and entered by road and passed through Croatian immigration & customs. We didn’t initially arrive by sea.
They are very officious and we sensed that there is still a lingering post communist paranoia within the state bureaucracy. Like I said, things may have changed since they joined Schengen, but I suspect the rules regarding registering with a harbour master may still stand. I had done all my research before we went, had checked the RYA cruising website for rules in Croatia, and as far as I could ascertain we had complied with all the requirements. But it’s hard to argue with an armed patrol boat on his patch. So we paid up. Expensive lunch.

[Wazzajnr]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

We went to Croatia with the RIB in 2017 & fell foul of the authorities & ended up with a €600 fine. Since then, Croatia is now part of the Schengen area & things should have changed, but you need to check. We got caught out on 2 counts, we launched in Istria & went to Trieste for lunch, we didn’t check out/in of Croatian waters, so they had us for illegally leaving/entering the country. The second count was that we didn’t check in with a harbour master when we first entered the country and register the RIB. Bearing in mind that we towed the RIB into Croatia, and entered by road and passed through Croatian immigration & customs. We didn’t initially arrive by sea.
They are very officious and we sensed that there is still a lingering post communist paranoia within the state bureaucracy. Like I said, things may have changed since they joined Schengen, but I suspect the rules regarding registering with a harbour master may still stand. I had done all my research before we went, had checked the RYA cruising website for rules in Croatia, and as far as I could ascertain we had complied with all the requirements. But it’s hard to argue with an armed patrol boat on his patch. So we paid up. Expensive lunch.

Crumbs, sounds horrid! Will be cheaper to hire something there than risk that then.
I have tried to find some info but there doesn't seem to be much about. I think I will just take the paddle boards and maybe the kayak then. Hopefully non motorised stuff won't attract any ridiculous fines!