Travel documents
The absolute first thing to do before starting to pack for
your long-expected nautical holidays is to prepare all the documents you might
need during the charter. There are several important groups of documents
required for your charter vacationing in Croatia. Here we will try to group and
shortly describe them, but it is up to you than to check their validity in
accordance to Croatian law and expiration dates. We would also suggest that you
bring extra copies of all most important documents just in case.
Travel documents
All the passengers traveling to Croatia
must possess an internationally recognized identity document valid at least
three months longer beyond your
planned departure date. If you’re
coming from Europe, North America or Australia and are chartering a crewed yacht, a valid passport is basically all that
you will need for an up to 90 days stay in Croatia. Some European nationals can
even enter Croatia only with their identity cards, so you should check the
below list to see if your country is one
of them.
COUNTRIES WHOSE
CITIZENS REQUIRE ONLY IDENTITY CARDS FOR ENTERING CROATIA
|
· Austria
· Belgium
· Denmark
· Finland
· France
· Greece
|
· Ireland
· Italy
· Luxembourg
· Hungary
· Netherlands
· Germany
|
· Portugal
· Slovenia
· Spain
· Sweden
· United Kingdom
|
However, there is a certain number of
countries whose citizens have to obtain an entry visa issued by one of the
Croatian embassies and consulates. To make it easier for you, here is the list
of countries whose citizens do not
require an entry visa.
COUNTRIES WHOSE CITIZENS DO NOT REQUIRE
ENTRY VISAS FOR ENTERING CROATIA
|
·
Andorra
·
Argentina
·
Austria
·
Australia
·
Belgium
·
Bolivia
·
Bosnia and Herzegovina
·
Brazil
·
Brunei
·
Bulgaria
· Cyprus
· Czech Republic
· Chile
· Denmark
· Ecuador
·
Estonia
·
El Salvador
·
Finland
·
France
·
Greece
· Guatemala
· Honduras
|
· Ireland
· Iceland
· Italy
· Israel
· Jamaica
· Japan
· Canada
· Republic of Korea
· Costa Rica
· Latvia
· Liechtenstein
· Lithuania
· Luxembourg
· Hungary
· Macedonia
· Malaysia
· Malta
· Mexico
· Monaco
· Nicaragua
· Netherlands
|
· Germany
· Norway
· New Zealand
· Panama
· Paraguay
·
Poland
· Portugal
·
Romania
·
San Marino
·
Singapore
·
Slovakia
·
Slovenia
·
Spain
·
Sweden
·
Switzerland
·
Turkey
·
United Kingdom
·
USA
·
Uruguay
·
Vatican
·
Venezuela
|
If your country is not on this list there is a great chance you will need a visa for coming to Croatia. In this case I recommend the web site of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at www.mvp.hr where you will find
more details about the entry requirements of the Republic of Croatia. You can
also call directly +385 (0)1 45 69 964, whatever is easier for you.
Navigation certificates
In case you decided to go for
a bareboat yacht charter in Croatia
the most crucial requirement is that at least one of the crew members possesses
a valid nautical certificate of competence and a VHF radio certificate. The
Croatian law is very strict on this matter and you won’t be able to charter a
bareboat yacht without the mentioned documents. Another thing to remember is
that you should bring originals with you, copies are not accepted. The thing is
that different countries issue different types of certifications and not all of
them meet the Croatian requirements. From our experience, many world charterers
come to Croatia without previously informing themselves, convinced that their
documents are ok when in fact they’re not. I couldn’t begin describing their
surprise and disappointment after finding out that the bareboat charter is not
an option for them and that they will need to hire a skipper to be able to
spend a week on the yacht as planned. Therefore, to be absolutely sure your
certificates are valid according to the Croatian laws, we strongly advise you
to send one copy to the yacht charter agency before you definitely book the
yacht and ask for their confirmation. In case you’re chartering a skippered or
crewed yacht, you do not need to worry about these regulations – your skipper
will have all the necessary documents for operating your yacht.
Boat documents
During the check-in in one
of the charter bases along the Adriatic coast you will be provided with all the
documents needed for bareboat charter in Croatia. According to the Charter
Agreement (it is always wise to have one copy of the contract with you, just in
case), the charter company is obligated to prepare the rental documents
including permit, registration, concession etc., as well as the crew list with
all the party member details. Obviously, these documents are property of the
charter company and should be handled with care and returned to the charter
company during the check-out.
