“Split is where Croatia charters begin: the biggest crewed fleet on the coast, a Roman palace on the waterfront, and Hvar, Brač and Vis an hour or two out.”
Split is Croatia’s second city and the working capital of its charter fleet. The old town is Diocletian’s Palace, a fourth-century Roman retirement home that people still live and eat inside, and the Riva promenade runs along its seaward wall. The charter marinas sit at either end of the same bay, so a group can walk from the palace to the boat.
It is also where our team goes every year. The CROYA Charter Show fills ACI Marina Split on the West Coast at the end of September, and we spend the week on board around fifty yachts, then usually a few more days on one of them. The airport is thirty minutes away, Trogir is on the way to it, and Krka National Park is forty-five minutes inland for the day before or after, covered on our Šibenik page.
Every route we publish from here starts with a short first leg: Milna on Brač or straight to Hvar. Our Split round trip, Split to Dubrovnik and Split to Venice itineraries all begin on this quay, and Split or Dubrovnik answers the question we get asked before every Croatia booking.
Must-dos in Split
- Diocletian’s Palace, an evening walk through the Peristyle and the cellars before the boat
- The Riva at sunset, seen from the water on the way out
- Boarding at ACI Marina Split, the yacht ready at noon and the crew waiting on the quay
- The first leg to Hvar or Milna, two hours at most, so the first swim is the same afternoon
From our visits to Split
Our DMA Yachting team comes to Split every year for the CROYA Charter Show, at ACI Marina Split at the end of September.
In October 2024 the whole team was on the quay for the show week: on and off around fifty yachts, the itinerary seminars at the Chamber of Economy, the flavoured-water competition, the gala on the last night, and one lunch on board that John Boullin still calls one of the best meals he has eaten. We wrote up the ten yachts that stood out that week.
In 2025 I was back with the team for the show from 29 September, inspecting the same fifty or so yachts, and then stepped straight off the dock onto the catamaran FLORAMYE for four days around the islands: out of Split to Hvar on day one, Vis, Brač, and back in to Trogir. Before that, in March 2024, I had a week on the coast for a course, Split, Šibenik, Krka and Hvar, and took the photos you see on these pages. March is a good time to see Split before the crowds.
Klara Jakobsen, Yacht Reviewer at DMA Yachting
Diocletian’s Palace, the Riva and Marjan: the old town
The whole old town is the palace. Diocletian built it in the fourth century as a retirement home the size of a small city, and it never emptied: the streets inside the walls are the palace corridors, the restaurants sit in its rooms, and the cellars under the seaward wall are the way in from the Riva. The Peristyle, the central court with the cathedral of Saint Domnius on one side, is where the evening starts; the cathedral bell tower has the view over the bay and the yachts. Marjan, the wooded hill west of the town, is the morning walk or the sunset spot.
For the night before a charter, Mo’s advice to our brokers is a good apartment inside the palace rather than a hotel: there is no room for a classic hotel in a Roman core, so the best places to stay are apartments that keep the original layouts, next to the Peristyle. The bigger hotels our brokers name, Radisson Blu and Le Méridien Lav, are outside the old town and a taxi from the marina.
From the water the Riva is the last thing you see leaving and the first coming back, and it is the photo that says Split: the palace wall, the palms, the café tables and Marjan behind. We take it from the bow every time.
ACI Marina Split, Marina Kaštela and the airport: boarding
Two marinas share the bay. ACI Marina Split is on the West Coast, Zapadna obala, a ten-minute walk round the harbour from the Riva; it is where the show is held and where many crewed yachts board. Marina Kaštela is the other charter base, across the bay towards the airport; from there the yacht runs past Trogir to reach the islands. Either way, boarding is at noon and the first stop is a swim, not a passage.
Split airport is thirty minutes by road from the town marinas and closer still to Kaštela, with Trogir between the two, which is why some weeks start or end in Trogir instead. The city has the biggest crewed charter fleet in Croatia, so a boat that boards here can be swapped, refuelled or restocked without a detour, and one-way weeks to Dubrovnik leave from here; the one-way fee is the yacht’s empty run home.
Fitting Split into the week
Split is the start and the finish, not a stop. The first leg is short on purpose: 16 nautical miles to Milna on Brač, or about 25 to Hvar town. On FLORAMYE we went straight to Hvar, arrived among the first yachts and got the spot on the promenade under the fortress; our published routes take Milna first and cross to Hvar or Vis the next morning. Either way the group is swimming the afternoon they board.
- Round trip: Milna, Vis, Hvar, Korčula, Šćedro, Šolta and back, the shape of our seven-day Split loop.
- One way south: Brač, Hvar, Vis, Korčula, Lastovo, Mljet to Dubrovnik, our Split to Dubrovnik week, with a relocation fee for the empty run back.
- One way north: Šibenik, Zadar, the Kornati, Lošinj, Pula, Rovinj to Venice, the eight-day Split to Venice route, for a second visit.
- The last morning: crews bring the yacht back to the Split or Trogir quay in the morning, and the airport run is thirty minutes.
People also ask about Split
Is Split a good place to start a yacht charter?
Yes, it is the usual one. Split has the biggest crewed charter fleet in Croatia, two marinas in the town bay, the airport thirty minutes away and the islands an hour or two out. Every Split route we publish has the group swimming the afternoon they board.
Where do crewed yachts board in Split?
ACI Marina Split on the West Coast, a ten-minute walk from the Riva and the palace, or Marina Kaštela across the bay towards the airport for the larger fleet. Boarding is at noon; the crew tells you which marina in the week before.
Split or Dubrovnik: where should the week start?
Split, eight times out of ten in our guide: more yachts, shorter first legs and the central Dalmatian islands ahead. Dubrovnik is for a second Croatia week or a quieter southern loop. Our guide on Split or Dubrovnik goes through it, and the one-way fee is the yacht’s empty run home.
How far is Split airport from the marina?
About thirty minutes by road to ACI Marina Split and the town, less to Marina Kaštela, and about twenty to Trogir. A transfer can be arranged with the yacht so the crew meets the group at arrivals.
What should we do in Split before the charter?
An evening inside Diocletian’s Palace: the Peristyle, the cellars and dinner in the old town. With a spare day, Krka National Park is forty-five minutes inland and the day we recommend; our Šibenik page has how we do it. Our team stays in apartments inside the palace walls rather than a hotel.
When is the yacht show in Split?
The CROYA Charter Show runs at ACI Marina Split at the end of September, around fifty crewed yachts and their crews on the dock for three days. Our team is there every year; it is where we step on board the boats we then recommend.
Croatia routes that start on the Split quay.
