Port of Entry: Summer only (April to October 0800-2000)
Croatian regulations state that you must clear in at your nearest port of entry. Therefore, if coming from Greece (in the summer and within office hours) then Cavtat will be your POE.
However, cruisers recommend heading for Gruz/Dubrovnik if possible, which has a much easier and more efficient system and is a better location for vessels.
Note:
Over the years Noonsite has received mixed reports from cruisers about the officials' behavior in Cavtat.
There is one stern-to berth for customs clearance on the "Q" dock where there is CCTV, and you have to wait at anchor in the bay until the space is vacated by the previous boat. Don't let any crew go ashore until cleared in.
Berthing and electricity are charged separately and facilities are limited. Be aware that people offering assistance with berthing here will expect to be paid.
First, go to the Harbormaster with all documents and pay for clearance (there is an ATM next door) and get your Vignette. Then go to the Police, situated about 50m to the North (through a garden). Fill in a crew list which is stamped and show your passports.
Last updated: August 2024
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Authorities available from 0800 to 2000. In the marina, you must drop the anchor and go astern to city quay. You must pay separately for berthing and electricity ( 20-30 kN per meter for electricity). No facilities. If you use docking assistant in the customs, you must pay about 40 Euro. All payment in cash
Cleared out of Cavtat April 2018, very friendly and efficient. No sign of ‘Mooring Assistants’ demanding money to help tie up. Port Authority was on hand within 10 minutes to collect moorage, 300 km for 14m boat. Visited Port Captain and Policier/Customs in the morning, very appreciative of our stay in Croatia, quick, friendly and efficient. We moored along the harbor quay, with our anchor to hold the bow (no layed moorings), in the spot right next to the cordoned off Customs area. Customs was so kind that they did not make us move our boat over to clear and allowed us to stay as moored to the quay. Cute, quaint village with lovely foliage and birds happily chirping away. Wish we had more time there. Enjoy.
After reading many horror stories about clearing into Croatia, we did some research on the requirements. Note that you MUST clear in at the nearest port of entry. If you come from the south in summer (May – October) this means you have to go to Cavtat, provided you arrive between 8 am and 8 pm. They are open every day during those hours, contrary to what the Imray pilot book says. Outside these hours you must continue to Gruz, where there is a 24h per day check-in service.
In Cavtat, we refused the help of the mooring service guys on the Q-quay, although it involved a jump off the boat. The conditions were not ideal (anchor and stern-to, with wind gusts from the side), but we managed. You must first go to the Harbourmaster with all relevant documents (passports, crew list, boat registration, insurance, engine power) and pay (ATM next door). They were friendly. Then to the police to show passports, stamped crew list, and boat registration. Also very friendly.
I asked the policeman about the mooring service and he said I only had to pay if they helped. Upon returning to the boat, sure enough, I was asked to pay 100 kunas. For what, I asked? “My colleagues helped with the mooring”. “Actually, they didn’t, I did it myself, so I don’t have to pay anything”. He got aggressive and said that I was not allowed to jump off the boat, that next time I should go to Dubrovnik (where he said the mooring service was 150 kuna) and took a picture of our boat.
All in all a mixed experience. Authorities friendly and helpful, but mooring conditions not ideal and mooring service aggressive. We will make sure to check-out elsewhere. However, you have no other choice but to check-in here if you come from the south, so if you want to avoid having to pay 100 kuna for a service that in any other place someone will do for you out of courtesy, simply refuse their help.
Posted by SV Golden Glow on main Croatia page:
We checked in and out of Croatia through Cavtat. Officials were very cordial. The night we arrived, it was evening and although port police were open, the immigration office was closed. We had anchored in the bay just north of the bay where immigration has its quay because the quay was full of other boats. Port police asked us to return to their bay, but we explained that we were securely anchored in the adjacent bay and that anchoring in the unfamiliar harbor (where winds were picking up) after dark put us at risk. They said, “in that case, be sure you are on the dock here before immigration opens in the morning” – 8 am.
We sailed over at first light, brought our boat to the quay, and were waiting at immigration when they opened and all was fine.
Note, weather and winds can whip up fast and furiously in these bays. We saw it go from no wind to 35+ knots – with boats dragging anchor – in a heartbeat!
Further comment from bluewatersailor:
Just to clarify my comment below – the mooring service is offered at the Customs quay, which all boats have to tie up to on arrival in Cavtat. The charge for the mooring service is 15 euros, but there is nothing I saw that says it mandatory to use the mooring service. We didn’t and we were not charged. I have to say that they were not happy about us not using their services and they will intimidate you, but you only need to stand your ground. The problem here is most don’t stand up to them and just give in and pay. There is a sign which says, “it’s forbidden to step off the boat before it is moored up”.
Both the harbor master and the police saw to want to keep their distance and they will tell you it is nothing to do with them. The only people who can forbid you from stepping off the boat to moor up is them. And being a customs quay, there has no right to it.
I suggest if you don’t want to pay their outrageous charges just refuse their help.
I also suggest people should start to complain to:
Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport, and Infrastructure
Dunja Staničić, Administrative Assistant
dunja.stanicic@mppi.hr
If enough people mail them, then maybe something will be done about it.
This is the second time we have cruised around Croatia having returned to Cavtat (18/6/2016).
The mooring service has gone up from 6 euros in 2014 to what it is today – 11 euros. To avoid paying all you have to do is refuse them helping you moor up. Send one of the crew ashore with the rope and do it yourself. They may use the excuse that it is unsafe to let anyone off the boat before it is moored up but stand your ground. You are the captain and it’s your boat.
You have to remember it’s a mooring service and you don’t have to use it.
I agree there are a lot better places to clear in and out than Cavtat. The port police and harbormaster can seem unfriendly.
My response to the fines that have been reported is that it is very clear that you have to check in at the first port of call and check out on leaving the country. If people will break the law of this country then it isn’t really any good complaining about it when you get caught.
Second visit to Cavtat July 2015. There is a “Mooring service” at the customs quay with a mandatory charge based on boat length.From memory Euro 20 for an 8 metre boat.You have no alternative but to go to this quay as the Police insist on it. Surely breach of EU law!!! The harbourmaster was very helpful but the Police here are disgraceful-last time the officer couldn’t tear herself away from a soap opera on TV to pay attention to the documents and made mistakes and this time they were just plain rude and arrogant. I shall avoid Cavtat in future but you do have to ensure that as a leisure sailor, you complete the formalities at the first/last available port of entry into/out of Croatia.