Taking a boat to Croatia: licence, vignette and rules

Licence and certificate of competence

• Anyone in charge of a foreign-flagged boat or yacht in Croatian waters needs a certificate of competence.[1]
• For Croatian-flagged boats, including charter yachts, Croatia accepts any ICC issued under UN/ECE Resolution 40, provided it covers coastal waters and you keep to its conditions.[2]
• The same official list recognises the German SBF See and Sportküstenschifferschein for yachts up to 18 m in inland and territorial waters, and the Austrian FB2 and FB3 certificates from via donau. Whether a German licence also counts for a German-flagged boat is not officially confirmed, so check before you travel.[2]
• According to ADAC, skippers under 18 may only drive boats up to 15 kW and must not plane, and provisional licences are not accepted.[4]
• With a VHF or GMDSS radio on board, Croatia also requires a matching radio operator’s certificate.[2]

Liability insurance and proof on board

• You must be able to show proof of liability insurance on board. Check before you travel which language the authorities accept.[3]
• According to ADAC and ÖAMTC, cover is compulsory for boats over 15 kW, with a minimum of EUR 460,000.[4][5]

Vignette, tourist tax and arrival

• To sail in Croatian waters you buy a vignette, the fee for maritime safety. It is valid for the calendar year, however long you stay.[3]
• According to ADAC, you pay online via eNautika or at a harbour master’s office, but online payment only works for boats already registered. Check before you travel from which length and engine power the vignette applies and what it costs in 2026.[4]
• If your boat is longer than 7 m and has berths, you pay tourist tax for yourself and everyone on board, as a lump sum or per night via nautika.evisitor.hr before leaving port. Keep the receipt on board.[3]
• Arriving from another EU country, you no longer need to clear in, but your first stop must be a harbour master’s office. According to ÖAMTC, a crew list is then no longer compulsory, though recommended.[5]
• Boats arriving in Croatia from outside Schengen must first call at a port with an open border crossing, with exceptions such as emergencies or engine failure.[3]
• Bringing your boat by trailer? According to ÖAMTC, register it with the nearest harbour master’s office before launching.[5]

Papers on board

• Required on board: proof of paid fees, proof of seaworthiness, the skipper’s certificate of competence, proof of liability insurance and proof of ownership or right of use.[3]
• According to ADAC and ÖAMTC, you should also carry the Internationaler Bootsschein (international registration certificate), the EU declaration of conformity, proof of VAT status and the INFO 101 card.[4][5]
• If you skipper someone else’s boat, ADAC says you need the owner’s authorisation with an officially or notarially certified signature.[4]
• The skipper has the crew and passenger list confirmed at the harbour master’s office before departure.[3]

Safety equipment

• According to ÖAMTC, required items include lifejackets for everyone on board, a first aid kit, a sound signal, a waterproof torch, an anchor with 25 to 100 m of line and a means of bailing.[5]
• Fire extinguisher size depends on engine power, according to ÖAMTC: 2 kg up to 20 kW, 6 kg above that.[5]
• In open boats faster than 20 knots, ÖAMTC says lifejackets must be worn and an engine kill switch is compulsory. Check the official equipment list for your sailing area before you travel.[5]

Speed, distances, anchoring and alcohol

• Within 150 m of the coast the limit is 5 knots, between 150 and 300 m it is 8 knots.[3]
• Keep more than 50 m from marked bathing beaches and more than 150 m from natural beaches. Planing boats and jet skis may only plane from 300 m offshore.[3]
• According to ADAC, since April 2026 a distance of 70 m applies when anchoring, measured from the shore to the point where the anchor chain enters the water.[4]
• ÖAMTC notes special rules for anchoring and overnight stays in national parks such as Brijuni, Kornati, Krka and Mljet and in the Limski kanal. Check anchoring bans over seagrass outside the parks before you travel.[5]
• Under the 2011 version of the Croatian Maritime Code, skipper and crew on duty may have no more than 0.5 g/kg alcohol in their blood, and the harbour master’s office may test. Check whether this limit still applies unchanged.[6]

Towing a boat trailer in Croatia

• The European Commission lists 80 km/h outside built-up areas and 90 km/h on motorways for cars towing a trailer in Croatia. The Croatian Road Traffic Safety Act (Art. 55) applies these limits only to unbraked trailers and sets no separate limit for a braked one, so check which limit applies to your rig before you travel.[7][8]
• A two-axle car towing a trailer falls into Croatian toll group II regardless of the trailer's height or axles, and into group III if the towing vehicle is over 1.90 m high. This follows the 2013 toll regulation; later amendments were not checked.[9]
• The last trailer must show at least two red lights at the rear, and two white lights at the front if it is wider than 1.6 m. Dipped headlights or daytime running lights are required in daytime from 1 November to 31 March.[8]

Emergency numbers

• Search and rescue in Croatia: 195, free of charge and around the clock, plus VHF channel 16 and the European emergency number 112.[3]
• From a foreign phone, ADAC gives +385 51 195 for MRCC Rijeka, the rescue coordination centre.[4]

Questions

Sources

As of: 11 Oct 2026. Rules change. Check with the authorities of the country before you travel.

1. Ministerium für Meer, Verkehr und Infrastruktur Kroatien: Nautik, ohne Datum, abgerufen 2026-10-11
2. Ministerium für Meer, Verkehr und Infrastruktur Kroatien: Liste anerkannter ausländischer Befähigungsnachweise, 2026-05-21
3. Kroatische Zentrale für Tourismus (HTZ): Information for boaters, ohne Datum, abgerufen 2026-10-11
4. ADAC Skipper-Portal: Revier Kroatien, ohne Datum, abgerufen 2026-10-11
5. ÖAMTC: Revierinformationen Kroatien, ohne Datum, abgerufen 2026-10-11
6. Narodne novine 61/2011: Änderung des kroatischen Seegesetzbuchs (Pomorski zakonik), Art. 134, 2011, spätere Änderungen nicht geprüft
7. Europäische Kommission, Your Europe: Road rules and safety (Croatia), abgerufen 2026-10-11, Seite zuletzt geprüft 18/09/2024
8. Zakon o sigurnosti prometa na cestama, konsolidierte Fassung (zakon.hr), abgerufen 2026-10-11
9. Pravilnik o cestarini NN 130/13 (zakon.hr), abgerufen 2026-10-11

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