Day One: Dubrovnik to Sipan
Croatia Yacht Week 2020
- Planning
- Day One: Dubrovnik to Sudurad (Sipan)
- Day Two: Sudurad (Sipan) to Polace (Mljet)
- Day Three: Polace (Mljet) to Korcula
- Day Four: Korcula to Loviste (Peljesac)
- Day Five: Loviste (Peljesac) to Vrboska (Hvar)
- Day Six: Vrboska (Hvar) to Supetar (Brac)
- Day Seven: Supetar (Brac) to Trogir (Split)
- Day Eight: The Summary
Here is the full list via Google Maps of all the cities and restaurants that we visited during Croatia Yacht Week 2020.
Morning in Naples
After quickly doing our laundry in the early hours of Naples and enjoying my last Italian expresso, we thankfully were going to the airport. While leaving the day of for our cruise was a little nerve wracking in this environment, we were mostly excited that we were 1) leaving Naples and 2) about to get on a catamaran for a week!! Since we stayed next to the Naples Train station, we decided to take the airport bus rather than a taxi. While we may have regretted our decision on the hot and cramped bus, we enjoyed the savings for a tasty airport treat!
Compared to other airports, Naples was very busy. All stores were open, but we still found a quiet area. Sadly, the airport lounges were closed so we had to wait out our hour long flight delay with the common peasants. However, once we boarded, we were one of 23 people onboard! We had entire aisles to ourselves!!
Travel Tip: Running every 30 minutes, the Alibus from Naples Train Station to Airport, and visa-versa, costs 10E and takes about 30 minutes. Great cheap way to avoid paying more in taxis!
Initially, I was really worried about customs with the COVID situation. While Croatia accepts Americans, they only accept them with negative COVID tests. Thankfully, we encountered no problems! We handed the customs agent our UK residence cards alongside our passports and faced minimal questions. Now, let Croatia Yacht Week begin!!
Our Arrival
After our really easy flight from Naples, we hopped in an Uber from the Dubrovnik Airport and went straight to the marina. During the 30 minute drive, we made our grocery list and started to get really excited!
Travel Tip: There are two good options from the airport to Dubrovnik: the shuttle or taxi. Shuttle is very cheap and drops you off in Old Town.
Once at the marina, we found the stalls fairly easy to find our booth at Dream Yacht Charters. Because we had an hour or two, we went grocery shopping for our snacks and drinks for the week! Compared to our Greece trip, we went very light since we are anticipating very tasty breakfasts and lunches from the hostess! The ACI Dubrovnik marina has everything - from putt-putt golf to a swimming pool! If only we had more time here!
At our checkin time, we met our skipper and hostess, Freddie and Helen! For the whole week, they would shepherd us across the Adriatic! They walked us onto the boat and everything was extremely easy! Inside the boat, everything was already prepared and ready to depart - outside the passengers and luggage!
In our room, the bedsheets and towels were prepared for us and it included a nice goodie bag! Our room was a little bit smaller than we expected as we did not have a ton of storage and our beds were literally next to the wall.
For our bathroom, well, we have had better… We could shower and use the toilet at the same time!
Our common areas were the best part of the catamarans! The bow (front) of the boat was huge, accommodating the entire crew at once with plenty of space to lay out either on the trampoline (the rope) or on the sides. On the back, there was a huge table with bigger lounge chairs on either side. Inside the boat, the kitchen and dining room was full of space compared to a monohull. However, we did not spend much time in there!
Nevertheless, we were super excited for our Croatian Yacht Week!
I'm on a Boat
Ahoy Mate
After a brief tour of our staterooms, Freddie gave us a five star safety briefing. I was just memorizing the call signs when the engines were on and we were on our way! From Dubrovnik marina, we passed a huge bridge and the countryside before sailing off into the Adriatic! We popped some bubbles and immediately toasted the beginnings of a fabulous trip!
Instantly, we loved the sound of waves against the boat and gazing out at the islands and turquoise water. It is simply magical! For our first sailing foray, we were sailing from Dubrovnik to the nearby island of Sipan. While it would be a short journey of 2-3 hours, we really wanted to take advantage of every sailing minute.
Compared to our Greece trip, Mary Frances volunteered to be a “tosser” and was a critical docking team member. I stood beside her for moral support and just in case she needed extra strength.
Sleepy Sudurad
Compared to busy Dubrovnik, our little village of Sudurad was empty! There were a few boats here and there, but we were one of the only boats in the marina. I also saw three churches and maybe 2 restaurants. How quaint!
After getting dolled up for dinner, we walked to the Konoba TriSestre restaurant. Family owned and named after the dad’s three sisters, Konoba TriSestre is set on a hill with perfect views of the village. We knew we were in for a treat especially when we read the menu and there were only 5-6 dishes in total. We could also see the wife in the kitchen so we felt like we were home! For dinner, MF and I decided to split our dishes because we could not decide! I ordered a zucchini fritters while MF started with pork dumplings. It was a great meal to split because one was light while the other was heavy!
Sadly, after dinner, we had to return to our little cabin. As expected, the cabin quickly became hot and cramped, but we were finally on Croatia Yacht Week so we tried not to think about it!
Hello Sudurad!
The UnChartered Summary
For our first day in Croatia, we had a terrific day beginning our sailing journey!
- Sudurad is a great little village to begin our Yacht Week! The village enables us to settle into our catamaran.
- Our arrival process was extremely simple despite our initial worries! From customs to yacht checkin, we were exceptionally lucky to experience no hiccups!
- When in doubt, go with the local suggestions. Try Konoba TriSestre!