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Cruise Croatia is a cruise unlike so many others. Instead of sailing through the night and arriving at a new port each breakfast time, you sail away as the sun comes up. And instead of spending the day somewhere, the day comes to you.
First, a calm, generally deserted spot… a cove, a bay, maybe a hint of beach. Rugged, hilly backdrops on one side, rippling blue waters stretching away on the other towards another island or three. Croatia is reckoned to have more than 1,000 islands and islets on a mainland coastline of little over 1,100 miles, so although this is a sea cruise, you’re never out of sight of land – in fact, you can usually see some in every direction.
There’s a swimming stop each morning, followed by a three-course lunch on board, generally before arriving at a harbour town ready for a guided walk.
Sometimes there’s a little beach for a late afternoon swim before a drink on deck as the sun slips away. Only two evenings are there onboard meals, the rest of the time it’s time to explore under your own steam – and Croatian resorts are packed with reasonably priced little waterfront restaurants. After dinner, a quick stroll through the lively streets and home to bed.
The ship – My Wish
My Wish is a motor yacht for 36 guests. The main deck is given over to an airy dining room that opens on to a covered terrace with sofas and comfy chairs. Upstairs is another spot to sit and relax while up more stairs is the top deck with sun loungers… and a hot tub. There’s more deck space at the front. And at the back there’s a swimming platform with inflatable kayaks and paddleboards, snorkels and other water toys for the daily swimming stops. Rooms are divided between those with balconies and those semi-below deck with twin eye-level portholes. There are decent-sized shower rooms and TVs with Sky and BBC news. Décor, in room and around the ship, is Euro-chic, lots of black and many shades of grey laced with chrome.
The food
There are only two evening meals served on board: the welcome dinner and the captain’s dinner. For us, the latter was a four-course affair… a starter collection of octopus salad, tuna pate and smoked salmon with bruschetta, then squid ink risotto and a main course of grilled sea bass and shrimps on pea puree, finishing with white chocolate cake. Each dinner came with a glass of wine, but drinks are mostly chargeable. Lunch is a three-course meal, aside from one excellent buffet, loaded with squid, king prawns, spaghetti with shrimps, porcini risotto, steak and much more. Breakfast is a mix of fry-up – bacon, sausages et al – and Mediterranean, lots of grilled vegetables, cheese and ham, plus fresh fruit (deliciously ripe peaches and apricots) and eggs to order. A free coffee machine serves the real thing all day.
Day 1
Dubrovnik’s Stradun, the main street…
Our flight into Dubrovnik skirts the coast and the world of islands that we’re about to explore. A 30-minute drive snakes along the coast road, opening up magnificent views over the stone-walled city. Our ship is tucked away with some others at the end of the long, fjord-like Gruž harbourfront, just around the bend and beneath the lofty Franjo Tuđman. There’s a buffet with fizz as guests arrive, and we then take a stroll towards the main waterfront (not easy as the Croatians don’t seem to be footpath fans). Later in the afternoon, a coach takes us, led by amiable, knowledgeable cruise director Biljana Serbo, for a walk around the old town inside the walls. I wander to little Banje beach just outside the walls – busy but in a fabulous setting – and sit with an ice-cream on the old stone quayside. Later, it’s the welcome dinner, one of only two evening meals onboard.
Busily beautiful,,, Dubrovnik’s Banje beach, just outside the city gate
Day 2
Ston’s oyster island…
Setting sail from Dubrovnik, we slowly make a panoramic sweep past the ancient walls before heading for the little mainland beach resort of Slano (stopping for a dip in a hidden bay first). A 20-minute coach ride and we’re in Mali Ston at the head of a lengthy inlet behind an even lengthier promontory, where the mix of seawater and freshwater from river and hills has driven shellfish farming since Roman times. A tiny boat takes us to a tiny island where we have unlimited oysters, small and sweet, along with mussels and white wine, all part of the holiday price. Back on My Wish, it’s the Captain’s Dinner with musical interludes by a cheery trio, southern Med meets Southend pier. A moonlit waterfront stroll is further illuminated by multiple lightning strikes out at sea.
Day 3
Into the blue… Korčula’s idyllic swim stop
Morning swim stop off the island of Korčula. Early afternoon, we’re docked at the namesake town, which prides itself as the birthplace of explorer Marco Polo. The stone harbour is alive with small cruise boats, yachts, sailing ships and ferries to the mainland. Biljana takes us on a walking tour of the narrow alleyways lined with cafes and restaurants, tables spilling out the door or filling ancient stone courtyards. As the sun sets we secure our spot on the colourful waterfront dining stretch for a dinner of grilled octopus and truffle risotto. We finish with an after-dark stroll on paths that zig-zag in and out of fortifications, along marinas and past yet more places to eat and drink.
Korčula’s stunning seafront
Day 4
Hvar’s yachtified quayside seen from the Španjola Fortress high above
Heading for the hip island of Hvar, but with an extended stop in a little cove. Tiny beach, pine trees pouring down to the rocky surrounds as we’re cosseted by the sounds of massed cicadas while we swim, canoe and paddleboard with a distant view of the mainland.
All aboard and we’re off to Hvar, not trendy Hvar town itself, but the busy and more real town of Jelsa on the other side of the island. We visit Vina Tomić, a family winery that has created a beautiful arched limestone subterranean hall in the style of Diocletian’s Palace on the mainland in the town of Split. It’s a wonderfully cool – in both senses of the word – setting for a tasting of splendid wines, not least the island’s rich Plavac Mali red, along with cheese, meat and olives. Our coach takes us into Hvar itself, packed with fancily dressed folk and yacht-style cruise ships, including two more from Cruise Croatia, including the new MV Aretis.
It’s August 5, and the 30th anniversary of the end of the Croatian War of Independence and opera singers serenade the crowds. Back to the relative calm of Jelsa and, across the harbourfront from our ship, at the open-air Obala restaurant, the best deep-fried squid you’ll ever taste and a bottle of Plavac Mali (not the same winery) with a creditable 15.5 alcohol content. There’s opera here, too, on the town square set back from the water, special in the balmy darkness.
Day 5
Golden Horn beach
The sun is up and the sky is blue as we approach Bol on the island of Brač, barely half an hour from Hvar. We’re treated to one of those funny little land train rides along the front, up into the olive groves and pines, weaving down to triangular, stony Golden Horn beach (Zlatni Rat in local dialect). There’s lovely swimming, although if I wasn’t concentrating, with the breeze, I could reach Hvar faster than the boat could.
I take the lovely coast path back into town, a 30-minute walk passing fragments of beach, children’s play areas and idyllic houses surrounded by pines. A quick look in a couple of shops – hats, T-shirts – then we sail around the island to gorgeous Pučišća, curving around a hilly bay. It’s famed for its waterfront Stone Masonry School where students as young as 14 learn the skill – work that has included columns at America’s White House and rebuilding the Notre Dame in Paris. A brief tour, then we meet Josip Radić, a famed stone mason who shows us his monumental stone-crafted model of the Vatican’s St Peter’s Basilica.
This is a day for double-dipping, and I wander several minutes along the quayside to a tiny beach, then enjoy a glass of wine sitting on My Wish’s top deck before another al fresco waterfront meal (more delectable squid!) as an almost full moon lights up the crown-topped bell tower of the Church of St Jerome.
Pučišća with its beach
Day 6
Sailing on the sundeck
Breakfast time sail around the bottom of Brač, north along the mainland, past the city of Split in its beautiful bay, and on to a spot below greenery-covered cliffs. We’re just off a cute beach that’s deserted apart from the handful of nudists who thought they’d found a deserted spot. Reason enough to stay in the deep, clear, blue water even if the shingle would have done that anyway. A short sail and we’re in Split, a quayside next to a huge market, thronged with people getting on and off the multitude of ferries to island holiday spots.
Here, the old town is tucked inside the vast walls of the retirement palace of Roman Emperor Diocletian and Biljana takes us on a walk through the mind-bending alleys that suddenly open into stunning squares. The palace’s underbelly is cavernously dramatic, one of the great sights of Croatia, but, with an entrance fee, it’s not on the tour so I do it later. Then I wander back to the ship where, feet up with a glass of wine, I watch crowds in red, white and blue heading for Poljud Stadium to watch local heroes Hajduk Split take on Albanian rivals Dinamo in the UEFA Conference League (they win 2-1). Back to the alleys and saffron risotto topped with 24k gold leaf for €22 outside Portofino restaurant before a waterfront stroll home.
Day 7
Swim stop on the way to Sibenik
Our final swim stop and it’s a gorgeous spot off the island of Zlarin. Then a sail past St Nicholas’ Fortress, on a tiny island at the entrance to the narrow channel into the bay and the town of Sibenik. On to a coach and off (all included) to Krka National Park 20 minutes away, a place of waterfalls and lakes, a spirited boardwalk stroll. A last sunset glass of wine on the top deck then a waterfront wander until we stumble on Šešula, a little restaurant with a little shaded terrace up against the bobbing sailboats. Shark fillet, tuna, sardines, squid grill, squid ragout, barely anything over €20, and an enormous red sunset over the water, the perfect almost end to the trip.
The waterfalls of Krka National Park
Day 8
Sibenik’s relaxed little beach
My flight, from Split, isn’t until 5.30, so I leave my bag and walk back along the water’s edge, past Šešula, deserted in the balmy morning. Further on, as the path weaves its way, is Banj beach, where I spend an hour or two before heading home after enjoying a string of dream-like spots with no effort whatsoever.
Top tips
View from the table at Šešula in Sibenik
* Remember, this is the yacht life! It’s about sailing and swimming and relaxing – so sit back and enjoy!
* Make sure it’s what you want, because it might not be what you expect. The swim stops are gorgeous, yet they – along with an hour or so of lunch – mean that exploring time in destinations is limited.
* Cruise Croatia offers a great service of recommending and booking restaurants, yet don’t feel the need to go with that – there are so many places that you’ll never be stuck and it can be nicer to wander and find something yourselves. Simpler places have fabulous food, at great prices, open late.
* Remember that the joy of exploring the restaurant scene each evening comes at the expense of popping down to the dining room for dinner as on most cruises, and when you get back the most you might find is a handful of guests having a drink from the bar.
The sea, the sundeck and the scenery…
Verdict
A cruise that has the relaxed air of a private yacht voyage, swimming and sitting on deck enjoying the near constantly changing scenery. Evenings in port with meals in restaurants let you see a destination in a way that you wouldn’t on a bigger cruise and the yacht-like ship has so few guests that everyone quickly becomes friends.
How to do it
Cruise Croatia offers seven-night small-ship cruises, May-October, from £1,995pp, including breakfast, lunch, two dinners, private transfers, excursions and wifi. Flights, tips and port fees not included. https://cruisecroatia.com
My Wish chilling in hip Hvar
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