At the end of March, the Croatian Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure introduced a new regulation called "Rules on the Safety of Maritime Navigation in Inland Waters and Coastal Seas of the Republic of Croatia and the Manner and Conditions of Carrying Out Supervision and Management of Maritime Traffic".
Behind this long name is a comprehensive set of rules of 120 pages, excerpts of which sports skippers should be familiar with. So far, the regulation is only available in Croatian and some of the wording leaves room for interpretation.
Minimum distances to the coast
Article 49 "Navigation along the coast and organised bathing beaches" is particularly relevant for sports skippers in Croatia. Boats must now keep the following minimum distances from the coast:
- Boats over 30 metres in length: 300 m
- Boats from 15 to under 30 metres: 150 m
- Boats under 15 metres: 50 m
These minimum distances also apply to the fencing (floating line) of a regulated bathing area. In addition, according to Article 50, motorised gliding (motorboats, scooters, jet skis) is only permitted in Croatia at a distance of at least 300 metres from the coast.
Anchoring with shore forts
Article 53 of the new regulation specifies where anchoring is permitted or prohibited. According to paragraph 7, it is now prohibited to "moor vessels on the shore in such a way that parts or accessories are 50 metres or more from the shore". This wording is not entirely clear. It probably means that when anchoring with shore moorings, the boat (or parts of it) may not be more than 50 metres from the shore.
Paragraph 6 already stipulates that mooring lines and anchor chains must not obstruct the passage of other vessels. This regulation makes sense, as it often happened that yacht owners in Croatia stretched their lines across bays and thus obstructed access for other boats.
Hundreds of moorings affected
However, not all of the new rules meet with approval. In paragraph 9 "Anchoring is prohibited", point 5 explains: "at a distance of less than 150 metres from the shore of a natural bathing area". However, the term "natural bathing area" is not clearly defined.
In Croatia, people not only swim on beaches, but also on rocky coasts, from which you can jump into the water and get back to land via various routes (such as ladders or stairs). Many popular anchorages are located in small bays and fjords, where it is often impossible to maintain a distance of 150 metres from the shore.
The consequence could be that hundreds of these popular anchorages can no longer be visited. We will gather additional information and report further. The original regulation is available at Official Gazette Narodne Novine NN 52/2025 viewable.
