Sailing with children is the easiest sailing there is, provided the week is planned for them and not for the miles. Short mornings under way, a bay by lunchtime, an afternoon in the water and a harbour or a quiet anchorage for the night: that rhythm keeps a six-year-old happy and lets the adults sail. This page gathers what a family needs to decide before booking – how many cabins, which base, whether to take a skipper and what that costs – and points to the two posts and the itinerary that go deeper.
If you want the short version first: a 3-cabin boat for one family, a 4-cabin catamaran for two, Split or Trogir as the base, and our skipper for the first week unless one of you already holds a licence Croatia accepts.
Cabins per family size
Count cabins, not berths. One family with one or two children fits a 3-cabin boat; with three children, four cabins. Two families share a 4-cabin catamaran if the children pair up. Add our skipper and they need a real cabin of their own, so a 4-cabin sailboat that sleeps eight on its own sleeps six with the skipper aboard – the boat's page states the exact number.
A charter listing says things like "8+2" or "sleeps 10". The first number is the beds in the guest cabins; the second is the extra beds – a forepeak single in the bow, or the saloon sofa – and they are not equal. The rule we apply to every booking:
- A cabin is a cabin. Every double or bunk cabin is a bed for two people who know each other well. Two small children share one happily; two teenagers often do not.
- A forepeak single is a child's bed, and a good one – it is the cabin children ask for. It counts as a guest berth on the boat's page.
- The saloon is a sofa. It is a berth in the brochure and a bed only for a night or two. Our checkout asks you to confirm before it counts anyone there.
- Nobody above the legal maximum. Every person aboard counts, babies included; the boat's licence sets the number and the charter company checks the crew list at check-in.
- Our skipper needs a real cabin – a double or a bunk cabin, or a forepeak single when there is a toilet they can reach without crossing a guest cabin – and never the saloon. That is why a 4-cabin sailboat that sleeps eight on its own sleeps six with our skipper aboard (one cabin is theirs), why a "4+2" catamaran with bow singles can keep all four cabins for you only when a toilet opens off the corridor, and why the boat's page prints "sleeps up to N guests with this crew member aboard" beside the skipper line. Count that number, not the brochure's.
Which boat for which family
| Who is coming | Cabins | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2 adults, 1–2 children | 3 cabins | Children share a cabin or one takes the forepeak single; a 36–40 ft sailboat or a small catamaran. With our skipper, the third cabin is theirs and the children share. |
| 2 adults, 3 children | 4 cabins | A 4-cabin sailboat (around 45 ft) or a 4-cabin catamaran. The skipper's cabin comes out of those four, so pick one whose page says it sleeps six or more with the skipper aboard. |
| Two families, 4 adults + 3–4 children | 4-cabin catamaran or 5-cabin sailboat | The children pair up in two cabins. A skipper aboard takes one of the four unless the catamaran has forepeak singles and a toilet off the corridor; the boat's page says whether that is the case. |
| Three families | Two boats | Sail in company – two 3-cabin boats anchored side by side, and the children have two decks to roam. |
The boat's page applies this rule to that boat's real layout; search with "with skipper" and your guest count and only boats that fit are shown.
For the boats that work best – and why most families end up on a catamaran – read the family-friendly boat selection guide. For the people side – starting small, sailing with another family, giving children jobs – read sailing with kids in Croatia.
The swim-stop rhythm
The day that works with children looks nothing like the day that works with six friends. Sail in the morning, when the sea is flat and nobody is hungry yet; drop the anchor in a bay by one o'clock; swim, eat, nap; move on in the late afternoon only if the next stop is close. Two hours under way is a long leg. Three and a half is the one crossing of the week, done once and early.
In numbers, a family week from Split or Trogir is about 90 nautical miles over seven days, legs of two hours or so, and a bay within an hour whenever the wind picks up – the day-by-day version is our family sailing itinerary. The anchorages guide says which bays have the sand and the shallow water children want, and the check-in and check-out guide explains the Saturday-to-Saturday week the whole plan is built on.
Which base for a first family week
Start from Split or Trogir. Central Dalmatia is the default for any first charter and the right one for a family: the airport is ten to thirty minutes from the marinas, the first island is under two hours away, and Šolta, Brač, Hvar and Vis sit in sheltered channels with a bay or a harbour every few miles. Whatever the forecast, there is a short alternative.
Zadar and Šibenik also work, with the Kornati on the doorstep; the distances are a little longer between stops. Dubrovnik gives you Mljet and Korčula, but the islands are farther apart and the first day is a longer leg. Save it for a second family week. The regions, side by side, are in Croatia's sailing regions.
Skipper or not, and what it costs
With children aboard, somebody has to watch the children and somebody has to sail the boat, and on a bareboat those are the same two adults. A skipper changes the week: the parents are crew and company instead of captain and first mate, mooring stern-to in a crowded harbour is somebody else's problem, and the route adjusts to the children's day instead of the other way round. Our family itinerary calls it the easy button, and for a first week it is.
Our skipper costs from 2.100 € a week plus their food, by the whole week, and is paid in advance together with the boat. They take one cabin – see above – and the boat's page shows the price on that boat. What they do all day, what they do not, and how we match a skipper to a family are on our skippers.
Sailing it yourselves needs one adult with a licence Croatia recognises and a VHF certificate aboard, checked at check-in; the licence guide has the finder. Go bareboat with children when at least two adults can handle the boat without each other, because one of you will be below with a child when the mooring line needs taking.
Take our skipper when
- It is the children's first week afloat, or yours.
- Only one adult can sail, or the second has never moored stern-to.
- You want the route to change when a child is tired, seasick or thrilled with the bay you are in.
- The crew is two families and nobody wants to be the captain.
Go bareboat when
- Two adults hold the licence and the experience, and one has sailed this coast.
- You have sailed with the children before and know how they are at sea.
- You are happy with shorter days and a plan that bends to the weather.
What to bring for the children
A soft bag each, a child's life jacket if yours has outgrown the boat's sizes (ask us what the boat carries), a wide hat, reef shoes for the pebbles and more sun cream than seems sensible. The rest is on the packing list. Food comes from the supermarket by the marina on Saturday – provisioning covers what and where.
Read next
- Sailing with kids in Croatia – start small, sail with another family, give the children jobs.
- Family-friendly boat selection guide – catamaran or sailboat, galleys, bathrooms and nets.
- Family sailing itinerary – the seven days, bay by bay, from Split or Trogir.
- How to book a boat – the free hold, the instalments and the dates.
FAQ – sailing in Croatia with children
Do children count towards the boat's maximum?
Yes. The number on the boat's licence counts every person aboard, babies included, and the charter company enters everyone on the crew list at check-in. Our checkout applies the same number.
Can the children sleep in the saloon?
For a night or two. The saloon is a sofa, and our checkout asks you to confirm before it counts anyone there, so you are never surprised on the dock. A forepeak single is the better child's bed, and a cabin each is the one that keeps the peace for a week.
Does our skipper take a cabin from us?
Yes, a real one – a double, a bunk cabin, or a forepeak single with a toilet they can reach without crossing yours – and never the saloon. The boat's page prints how many guests the boat sleeps with the skipper aboard; search with "with skipper" and your guest count and only boats that fit appear.
Which week?
For a family, the last weeks of June and the first of September: warm sea, settled afternoon wind, fewer boats in the bays and a lower price than July and August – the charter prices guide shows the gap. School holidays push most families into July and August; book those nine to twelve months ahead (early booking).