We grabbed 8 of our friends and lived on a boat exploring the Croatian coast for 7 days.
If you want to plan this epic trip yourself, here are my takeaways!
ROUTE
First off, choosing your route. Due to the various schedules of our group of 10, the only date that worked was Croatia Party Route. We had an epic time, don’t get me wrong, but it was a LOT of partying. If we all were in our early 20s I think we could have managed a little better, but let’s face it none of us had the money in our early 20s lol. I think no matter which route you choose, you will have many opportunities to party, SO if we had to choose again, we would have opted for the Adventure Route or something a little less intense. An absolute blast none-the-less.
HOSTESS or NO HOSTESS
It all depends on the type of group you’re going with. We ended up loving have a hostess because it took the responsibility off of us to share the cooking duties. If you are trying to save money on cost, you definitely could skip out on the hostess; but having more free time to actually relax and vacation was totally worth it to us. Plus our host was like another friend to hang out with & get to know!
SAIL WEEK vs YACHT WEEK
I’ve never done Yacht Week (YW) so this is just what I’ve heard from friends who have done YW. YW is a bigger more well-known brand name, and I think honestly you are paying for that brand. I do think because they are a bigger company, they are able to book larger club venues and host bigger parties. But we actually loved the small group Sail Week offered. There were only 12 boats and we got to know everyone on them because it was a smaller group overall. To be fair, it was a smaller group to begin with because we sailed literally Week 1 of the season. I’m sure other weeks over summer are more popular especially something like the Ultra Route. Personally, Yacht Week did have a more professional set up for check in such as a big welcome sign & designated area to hang out before departure. If Sail Week could steal one idea from Yacht Week it would be how they collected all the used floaties from previous guests for the following week’s guests to use. We somehow managed to snag one, all in the name of sustainability.
ARE YOU ACTUALLY SAILING
Don’t let the name fool you. This was the biggest disappointment for me. The itinerary is pretty set so the boats motor most of the time to get where you need to go. I really wish we weren’t in so much of hurry to get from Point A to Point B so we could have sailed some more. The last day, there is a Sailing Regatta, which was awesome, but that was I out of the 7 days. I was really hoping it would be a little bit more sustainable than the other options out there, so this is where SW fell a little bit short.
I do recommend carbon-offsetting your trip, which I did on sustainabletravel.org (there are many carbon offsetting websites out there besides this one, just make sure it’s vetted!). This isn’t an end-all be-all solution, but it helps nonetheless.
AC
Don’t go without if you have the choice. It gets really hot, so if you want any chance of sleeping, AC is your best bet. But of course, you’ll manage without it if you end up on a boat without it.
TIPPING
It is expected you tip about 10% at meals out with your group & crew. Even though it was 2022, most places still DO NOT let you add tip onto the credit card bill. So make sure you bring a lot of cash. Your crew will also dine out with you, so everyone will cover the cost of their meals evenly.
OUR FAVORITE ISLAND
VIS. We took mopeds a cross the whole island and had the most spectacular views. Full of wineries & open land, Chris and I took a little break from the group and found a place to take a dip in the crystal clear water. We also had an authentic Croatian meal prepared by a local family, a recommendation by our awesome skipper, Goran. I definitely wish we had more time to explore this island.
OUR FAVORITE PARTY
BOL- one of the coolest outdoor venues for a party admit the trees on a sandbar. The drinks were incredible, and the entire vibe was so much fun. I also got the best drone footage here.
FINAL THOUGHTS
We had so much fun we absolutely would do it again. The only room for improvements we had would be that we didn’t know the prices or details of the additional excursions, so it was hard to plan ahead on what we would choose vs what to skip out on. Also, one of the clubs we were most looking forward to going (Club Deep on Makarska) was being renovated, so it would have been really nice to know that beforehand.
Overall Sail Week is an incredible time to make memories in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. The staff and crew were so nice & truly made our trip one we will never forget. We are definitely hoping to go back again.
