Entering by boat: Croatia
What to do to enter Croatia by sea: the procedures, the papers to present and the ports where you can clear in.
Based on official sources, checked on 28 October 2026.
Before you arrive
- Online procedure: Vignette (redevance de navigation, capitainerie) et taxe de séjour en ligne (eVisitor nautika) — nautika.evisitor.hr
The steps
- From outside Schengen: sail directly to a port of entry, Q flag flying.
- Border police: passports and crew list stamped.
- Harbour master: vignette (navigation and safety fee), valid to the end of the calendar year.
- Pay the sojourn tax online at nautika.evisitor.hr.
- Leaving for a non-Schengen country: border police and crew list certified by the harbour master.
Papers to have on board
- Passports for the whole crew
- Visas, if your nationality requires them
- Crew list
- Boat papers (registration certificate)
- Insurance certificate
- Skipper’s licence
Good to know
- Croatia joined Schengen on 1 January 2023: from Italy or Slovenia no border check, but the vignette and sojourn tax are still due.
- From outside Schengen (Montenegro, Albania...): go straight to the nearest port of entry without anchoring first; a EUR 200 fine was reported for not reporting to Cavtat.
- Since 2023 about half the maritime crossing points closed (including Istrian Rovinj, Poreč, Novigrad); the list below follows the 2023 decree.
- EES since 12 October 2025, fully running since 10 April 2026: non-EU travellers are registered at the port of entry office.
- Russian-flagged or registered yachts have been barred from Croatian ports since April 2022.
Ports of entry
The ports where you can clear in, and the services available there.
- CavtatCustomsImmigrationHarbour office
- Dubrovnik (Gruž)CustomsImmigrationHarbour office
- PločeCustomsImmigrationHarbour office
- PulaCustomsImmigrationHarbour office
- Raša-BršicaCustomsImmigrationHarbour office
- RijekaCustomsImmigrationHarbour office
- ŠibenikCustomsImmigrationHarbour office
- SplitCustomsImmigrationHarbour office
- UmagCustomsImmigrationHarbour office
- ZadarCustomsImmigrationHarbour office
Prepare your arrival with Hullteam
In the app, free: the map of every port of entry and its offices with their contacts, the crew list and the entry forms filled in for you, ready to print or send to an agent.
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- zakon.hr/cms.htm?id=44917
- zakon.hr/c/podzakonski-propis/55600/nn-1-2023-%282.1.2023.%29%2C-uredba-o-izmjenama-uredbe-o-granicnim-prijelazima-republike-hrvatske
- noonsite.com/place/croatia/view/clearance/
- navicroatia.com/blog/28-croatia-entry-rules-for-sailors-vignette-and-border-check
This information is gathered from public sources and sailors’ experience. It does not replace the country’s authorities, whose word is final: check before you leave.