The True Cost of a Croatian Sailing Charter

If you've been following the blog, you know we just got back from an amazing 10 days in Croatia where we chartered a 42' catamaran for a week. As we were researching the trip we were shocked at how little information existed on what to expect and how much things cost. We also came across terms in the yachting agreement that we didn't fully understand.

The goal of this post, is to break down exactly how much things cost and what to expect.

Too long, didn't read:

Looking for a quick answer. VERY ROUGH rule of thumb: budget around $1,900 per person for a nice catamaran charter with good food, ample alcohol, and a wonderful crew during the shoulder season. Not including flights. If you have a bigger group and are willing to pack more people into a boat, you can get it down significantly. You can also cut costs on food and drink.

Let's Get Into It: Cost Breakdown

Since we're talking finances - Let's jump right into a spreadsheet. If you want to see the actual sheet - you can download it here.

Let's break this down:

Boat Rental

Our 42' Lagoon comfortably handled our group of eight. We went during the shoulder season, which we strongly recommend if cost is of concern to you (more on that here). Our broker connected us with Cata Sailing and we were happy with them. Both our Skipper (who owned his own charter business before coming to work for Cata) and our hostess (who freelances with all the charter companies) said Cata was one of the best in the area. A big reason - they keep a newer fleet.

You can find Cata's price list here - with a very hard to read screenshot (as of June 10, 2019) below.

If you squint, you can make out that the price for a new 42' Lagoon during shoulder season is ~3,100 euros. Just a month later in peak season the same boat rents for 8,300 euros. So yeah, shoulder season makes a difference.

APA - Advanced Provisioning Allowance

You'll also notice on the price sheet that each boat has an APA listed. This stands for advanced provisioning allowance. This is money you're required to send the charter company ~5 weeks before you get on the boat. It's used for:

• Paying for groceries (so the hostess can have the boat stocked when you arrive)
• Fuel that you use while motoring
• Meals for the skipper and hostess
• Mooring and docking costs at marinas
• etc.

At the end of the trip the skipper will present you with a record of everything they spent and return any unused funds. They take this very seriously (our hostess was worried about buying cherries at a local market because they don't give a receipt).  

While you do get any unused money back, I would not expect to get much back. They seem to calculate the APA pretty accurately for the boat and typical group sizes that they hold. We got back ~$100 from our 2,500 euro APA.

Tipping & Paying the Crew

We were not sure on the payment and tip etiquette when we embarked (and no one tells you, either). Here is what we learned:

• Skippers and hostesses work really, really hard for you. They never really get a break and they're living in pretty uncomfortable conditions (especially if you're taking up all the guest rooms). If you break it down, hourly they're making something like $5 / hour. Tips help a lot and it's customary to give between 5% and 15% of the total boat cost between all the crew -  depending on your  satisfaction with the service. Put another way,  if your boat alone rented for ~3,000 euros and you were happy with the service you'd tip at least 300 euros. This would be divided between the hostess and the skipper (150 euros, each).

• You pay the crew at the end (we did it when we were reviewing expenses for the APA).

• Our broker said that we should pay in euros. This created some stress, since we couldn't get enough euros at the airport and found nowhere in Croatia that had them. Fortunately, once we specifically asked they said that Kuna works. I think there was some confusion since Croatia, while in the EU, does not use the Euro. Kuna are preferred and there are ATMs everywhere.

Meals & Groceries

Tip: Don't skip the hostess. You may be tempted to cut costs by not getting a hostess. I would suggest against that. They take SO much stress out of the trip - from getting fresh groceries to suggesting places to eat to somehow cooking amazing food in the smallest kitchen you've ever seen they're invaluable.

The Kuna is the primary currency of Croatia. As of this writing, the exchange rate is something like 6 Kuna equals one US dollar. However, in most of the ports you'll visit on a sailing charter, that exchange rate is more than accounted for.

Our average meal out was roughly $19 per person. Though, it should be noted that we mostly ate dinners out, generally had a bottle or two of wine with dinner, and ate at mid-range restaurants.

A .5L of beer was about $4 if you got the local beer (which was good). Imported was more expensive. Wine was usually about $12 for a decent bottle.

Groceries and meals at markets were much less expensive. Especially if (or your hostess) shopped at local spots.

Can I do it Cheaper?

Yes! If you book early you can get up to 15% off the cost of the boat. If you go even earlier in the shoulder season, that saves money too. You could also check out some of the group packages like Yacht Week.

We also had an open room which was used by our hostess. Technically you could fit another couple in that room with someone else sleeping in the saloon (warning, that's a pretty public area). If you're willing to give up some comforts you can absolutely save $$$ here.

What would make it more Expensive?

Going during peak season will probably double the cost for most people. See Meghan's post here on the pros and cons of visiting during the shoulder season. Hint: Cost is a big pro. The boats more than double in price, the marinas increase their prices, our Airbnb tippled their price during the peak season.

You'd have to work REALLY hard to get the cost of a Croatian cruise down to $1.8k per person in the peak season.