Quiet marinas on remote islands

Croatia has more than a 50 marinas, which are all united in the Association of Croatian marinas, capacity 16,000 berths and 8500 seats on the mainland and another 30,000 berths ....
Pros

SCENERY.  The scenery is beautiful.  There are pine forests coming down to the shoreline in many places, limestone escarpments and waterfronts.  The water is clear and clean and relatively full of life.  We have had several dolphin sightings and even a sunfish waved it's fin at us.  We also saw more fish while swimming at the SE end of Mljet island than anywhere else in the Med so far.

ANCHORAGES.  Anchorages are plentiful and for the most part attractive.  See beaches however.  There are enough anchorages to provide refuge from the sudden strong winds that can crop up.

WEATHER AND FORECASTING.  The climate is such that long range forecasts are notoriously inaccurate and do not in any event warn of the sudden winds.  Split radio issues accurate weather warnings on Ch 16 and you usually have a couple of hours warning before a big blow.

TOWNS & VILLAGES.  The small towns are very attractive.  Korcula, Hvar, Stari Grad for example.  The villages are even more attractive than their larger siblings, and all are less spoiled by tourist treatment than elsewhere in Europe.  In many towns signage is kept to a minimum (Dubrovnik for example) and some streets are pedestrianised.  Vbroska and Jelsa are good examples of lovely villages that retain all that they once had, without bowing too much to the pressure to become "postcard pretty".  We immediately noticed how quiet everything is in these villages and provincial towns (June 09).  So different from Greece where there is incessant scooter traffic, animated conversations everywhere, someone shouting about something and music in the streets.  By contrast Croatian villages are so quiet it is almost somber.  The locals are not very much in evidence.  You will see them walking to or from their houses, but they do not seem to spend time socializing in the cafes and in the streets like the Greeks.  Perhaps it is oversimplifying to relate this to the recent war, but there does seem to be a sense of enjoyment of the peace and calm that currently exists.

RESTAURANTS.   Food in restaurants is cheap.  Restaurants are cheaper than Greece, possibly cheaper than Turkey and with better standards of hygene.  Fish is cheaper than in most of Europe.  Wine is cheap and quite good, especially the reds, even small islands such as SV Klement in the Pakleni Island group have reputable wines.  As you would expect prices go up in the more touristed towns.

VISITORS.   Although there are quite a few charter-boats cruising these islands, most of them are smaller than we are used to seeing, with very few catamarans and there are not as many charterboats as, for example, the BVI's or the Ionian.  Croatia's sheer number of islands and their size makes it quite possible to avoid the areas where the charterers tend to congregate if that's your preference.  Around the islands most land-based travellers are independent travellers, the back-packing hostel and cheap hotel type, lots of cyclists and hikers.  Of course the larger towns have their fair share of package hotels and coach tourists.  We only saw cruiseships in Dubrovnik and Hvar.

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