Europe Yachts
— Route · 7 days · one-way
Yacht charter route · Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik
via Hvar & Lastovo.

7-day yacht route from Dubrovnik via Mljet (Saplunara), Lastovo, Korčula, the Pakleni Islands & the Pelješac peninsula — sailor brief with NM and mooring notes.

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The route

Day-by-day route

Click any pin on the map or any day in the Route summary below to see the daily stop, narrative, and photos.

Veli Drvenik
Day 1

Dubrovnik → Saplunara (Mljet)

20 nm northwest from ACI Marina Dubrovnik to Saplunara on Mljet’s southeast tip — one of the few sandy beaches on the Croatian coast and the natural first overnight outside the National Park boundary.

Distance

16 NM

Sailing

~3.2h at 5 kn

— At a glance

Route at a glance

Best season
May – mid-October (peak Jun – Sep)
Duration
7 days · Sat – Sat
Departure
Dubrovnik
Sailing area
Dubrovnik

Route summary

Click any day to jump back to the map and see its photos, narrative, and mooring tip.

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The full story

Day-by-day journey

Named anchorages, restaurants, and route notes for every leg of the week — written by sailors who've actually run this passage.

Day 1 / 7
Veli Drvenik
1
Day 1

Dubrovnik → Saplunara (Mljet)

Out of ACI Marina Dubrovnik in Komolac, the opening leg pushes 20 miles northwest into Saplunara, the small village on the southeast tip of Mljet. Saplunara sits outside the National Park boundary — no Park fees apply — and the headline draw is the long, shallow sandy beach at Saplunara Bay (one of only a handful of natural sand beaches on the entire Croatian coast). Drop the hook in 4–6 metres on the sand floor or pick up one of the seasonal restaurant buoys laid by two of the konobas on the beach. The bay is well-sheltered from N, NW and W; only S gradient pushes any swell into the inner section. Once secured, swim from the boat (the water is exceptional — the sand floor combined with shallow depth gives the bay turquoise tones), walk the path inland to Blace Bay (a smaller, quieter beach 20 minutes north on foot) or just stay on board and read until the konoba dinner.

Things to do

Anchor on the sand floor and swim from the boat

Walk to Blace Bay 20 minutes north (smaller, quieter beach)

Order grilled orada at a Saplunara beach konoba

Take the dinghy across to the small islet south of the bay

Stay on deck for the open-Adriatic stars after dark

Mooring tip

Anchor in 4–6 m on excellent sand holding (the standard choice). Free restaurant buoys also available with dinner ashore. Bay is sheltered from N, NW and W; exposed to S gradient. If S forecast above 18 kn, push 6 nm north into Okuklje (also outside the National Park, fully sheltered).

Skrivena Luka
2
Day 2

Saplunara → Skrivena Luka (Lastovo)

Fifteen miles west takes you to Skrivena Luka — the literal Croatian translation is 'Hidden Harbour' — a fjord-like bay carved into the south coast of Lastovo, walled by 200-metre hills on three sides and accessed through a narrow entrance that is invisible from offshore until you are inside it. Skrivena Luka (also called Portorus on older charts) is one of the most sheltered overnight bays on the entire south Adriatic coast: the bay is fully protected from every wind direction, the holding is excellent on a sand-and-mud bottom, and a single restaurant on the eastern shore lays free mooring buoys for guests who eat ashore. The afternoon move is to walk the path that climbs the eastern hill to the Struga Lighthouse — a 19th-century lighthouse on the southern cliff with the best view of the Italian coast on a clear evening — and back down for a swim in the inner bay. Lastovo is a designated Nature Park with the lowest light pollution in Croatia; on a clear August evening the Milky Way is visible directly overhead before midnight.

Things to do

Pick up a free restaurant buoy in exchange for dinner

Walk the path up to the Struga Lighthouse

Swim in the inner bay (water is exceptional)

Order Lastovo lobster (jastog) at the konoba

Stay on deck for the Milky Way after dark

Mooring tip

Free restaurant buoys at Skrivena Luka — dinner ashore secures the buoy, confirm with the konoba on arrival. Anchoring on bottom is also possible (sand and mud, excellent holding). Bay is fully sheltered from every wind direction — the all-weather alternative when Zaklopatica on the north coast turns rough.

Vela Luka
3
Day 3

Skrivena Luka → Vela Luka (Korčula)

Fourteen miles north takes you to Vela Luka, the deep west-facing harbour at the western end of Korčula. The bay is fully sheltered from N, NE and E; only S gradient above 18 kn pushes any swell into the inner harbour, and even then the inner pontoon stays comfortable. Mooring is straightforward: stern-to with own anchor on the long town quay, modest fee, water and power on the central section, fuel pump at the western end. Vela Luka village wraps the inner half of the harbour, with three good konobas on the waterfront promenade — the headline dish is žrnovski makaruni, a hand-rolled pasta tradition that two of the village kitchens still maintain by hand. The afternoon move is a 30-minute walk inland to Vela Spila ('Big Cave'), a prehistoric site with 20,000 years of continuous occupation that has produced some of the most important Mesolithic finds in the eastern Adriatic; the cave is open to visitors with a guide booked at the village tourist office.

Things to do

Visit the prehistoric Vela Spila above the town

Order žrnovski makaruni at a Vela Luka konoba

Walk the Vela Luka waterfront promenade at dusk

Pump fuel at the western end of the town quay

Take the dinghy out to the small islets at the bay entrance

Mooring tip

Stern-to with own anchor on the long town quay — modest fee, water and power, fuel pump at the western end. Holding is excellent in mud and sand. Bay is fully sheltered from N, NE and E; only S gradient above 18 kn pushes any swell into the inner harbour.

Palmižana
4
Day 4

Vela Luka → Palmižana (Hvar)

Thirty miles east-northeast is the longest single passage of the week. Start at first light to clear the Korčula Channel before the prevailing W Maestral fills in around 14:00 — once it builds, the wind sits squarely on the beam for the remaining 18 miles into Hvar Channel. Palmižana sits on the eastern side of Sv. Klement, the largest of the Pakleni islets, and is the only one of the cluster with a marina: Palmižana ACI Marina, with stern-to lazy-line slots and limited summer capacity (book online for July–August or expect to anchor). The main bay holds in 5–10 metres on a sand-and-weed bottom but turns rolly when the Maestral funnel kicks in around 14:00, so the more comfortable overnight options are the south-side coves: Vinogradišće and Tarsce, both holding well in W gradient with line ashore the standard configuration. The afternoon ritual on Palmižana is the Meneghello family's 1906 botanical garden, dinner at one of the four konobas spread along the bay, and snorkelling over the submerged Roman amphorae off the western shore.

Things to do

Snorkel over the Roman amphora field on the western shore

Walk Meneghello's 1906 botanical garden

Anchor with line ashore in Vinogradišće if the marina is full

Take the water taxi across to Hvar Town for the evening

Walk the path across Sv. Klement to Vlaka Bay

Mooring tip

ACI Marina Palmižana stern-to with lazy lines, online booking essential for July–August. If full, anchor in Vinogradišće cove (south side, sand and weed, line ashore standard) — better protection from afternoon W. Avoid the main Palmižana bay overnight when SW gradient builds.

Korcula
5
Day 5

Palmižana → Korčula Town

Twenty-two miles southeast back across the Hvar Channel takes you to Korčula Town, the walled medieval port on the eastern tip of Korčula island. The skyline is unmistakable from offshore: a peninsula of red roofs, a single bell tower, the limestone curtain wall sliding down to the sea on three sides. ACI Marina Korčula sits on the eastern side of the peninsula and offers full services with lazy lines; alternatively the town quay on the western side accepts a few stern-to boats with own anchor for a harbour fee — closer to the gates but exposed to W Maestral and rolly when the channel funnel kicks in around 14:00. The Old Town is genuinely small but the layout is famously the precursor to the radial grids the Venetians later used elsewhere. Headline stops: the Cathedral of St. Mark (climb the bell tower for the channel view), the (debated) Marco Polo House, the Land Gate. The Moreška sword-dance performance — a 16th-century theatrical sword combat between Christian and Moorish armies — runs Monday and Thursday evenings at 21:00 in season at the open-air theatre.

Things to do

Watch the Moreška sword dance (Mon and Thu evenings in season)

Walk the Old Town at dusk after the ferries leave

Climb the bell tower of St. Mark's Cathedral

Visit the (debated) Marco Polo House

Order fish brodet at a courtyard konoba

Mooring tip

ACI Marina Korčula on the eastern side is the all-weather option — lazy lines, water, power, full services. Town quay on the western side accepts stern-to with own anchor but is exposed to W Maestral; rolly after 14:00 in summer. If the channel turns rough, the sheltered alternative is Lumbarda Bay 3 nm southeast.

Pelješec
6
Day 6

Korčula → Kobaš (Pelješac Peninsula)

Fifteen miles east takes you to Kobaš Bay on the south coast of Pelješac peninsula — Croatia's longest peninsula and the heartland of the indigenous Plavac Mali red, the parent grape of Zinfandel. Kobaš itself is a small pine-walled cove with a single waterside konoba (Konoba Kobaš), which lays free mooring buoys for guests who eat ashore — pick up a buoy, dinner reservation locks it. The headline draw is the Pelješac wine country: the steep south-facing vineyards on the cliffs above Dingač and Postup villages produce the densest, most concentrated Plavac Mali wines in Croatia, with the Dingač appellation in particular requiring 100% old-vine south-slope fruit. A 30-minute taxi or village shuttle from Kobaš gets you to the cellars at Bartulović, Grgić (the Croatian arm of Mike Grgich) or Saints Hills for tastings; book one or two ahead. Back at the boat for dinner: the konoba's headline dishes are local oysters from Mali Ston (the next bay east, the most famous oyster region in Croatia) and beef pasticada slow-cooked overnight.

Things to do

Pick up a free buoy at Konoba Kobaš and book dinner ashore

Taxi to the Dingač or Postup vineyards for tastings

Order Mali Ston oysters and Pelješac Plavac Mali at the konoba

Walk the path inland to the small chapel above the bay

Swim from the boat in the pine-walled inner cove

Mooring tip

Free Konoba Kobaš buoys — dinner ashore secures the buoy, confirm on arrival. Anchoring on bottom possible (8–12 m, sand and weed) if buoys are full. Bay is sheltered from N, NE, W and NW; exposed to S gradient. If S forecast above 15 kn, push 6 nm east into Mali Ston Bay, fully sheltered.

Dubrovnik
7
Day 7

Kobaš → Dubrovnik

The final leg is twenty-five miles southeast from Kobaš back into ACI Marina Dubrovnik in Komolac. Saturday handover protocol applies: the boat must be back at base by 09:00 with fuel topped, holding tanks emptied, decks rinsed and inventory checked, with the skipper available for the off-going inspection between 08:00 and 09:00. The course passes the Elaphiti chain on the way south — a final swim stop in Šipanska Luka or off the western beach of Lopud is the standard close to the week before pushing into the Rijeka Dubrovačka river estuary and up to the marina pontoon. ACI Marina Dubrovnik sits eight kilometres inland from the Old City; once fuel is pumped and inspection clear, Bus 1A or a taxi takes you to the Pile Gate of the Old City in 15 minutes. The walls walk and a long lunch in the back lanes off Prijeko close the week. The route just covered is one of the most sheltered 7-day options out of Dubrovnik — the southern-arc routing avoids the longer crossings to Vis and the time pressure of trying to push to Hvar Town for nightlife.

Things to do

Stop for a final swim at Lopud or Šipanska Luka

Top up fuel and pump out before the 09:00 inspection

Walk the Old City wall circuit before the airport transfer

Visit the Rector's Palace or the Franciscan cloister

Stand a long lunch in a Prijeko back-lane konoba

Mooring tip

Return into ACI Marina Dubrovnik in Komolac per your charter contract — base manager directs the slot. Saturday handover window 08:00–09:00; arrive by 17:00 Friday if your contract specifies night-before return. Allow 30 minutes door-to-door from the marina pontoon to the Old City Pile Gate by Bus 1A or taxi.

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