Skipper's licenses for yacht charter

For a bareboat charter in Croatia it is necessary to have a valid skipper's license and license to operate the radio station (VHF Certificate) according to Croatian law. A list of accepted licenses in Croatia can be found - here.

If you don't possess the necessary licenses, you can obtain a skipper's license in Croatia, or hire a skipper for your charter.

It takes only one day to pass the exam and to obtain the license, which will be ready in 1-3 days after passing the exam. You need to contact the nearest Harbourmaster's office for more information and for applying - here.

Yes, the Croatian skipper's license is international and valid in other countries too.

Yes, mostly they do, if you passed the exam for the radiofonia. If not, you can pass this kind of exam separately by applying and paying an extra fee. You need to contact the Harbourmasters’ office where you passed the exam.

There are several categories of Croatian licenses issued by the Ministry of Sea, Transport and Infrastructure. You will need to obtain the international skipper's license.

1.) Boat Skipper category A
- is authorised to operate with boats up to 7m with engine power up to 15KW
- navigation area III and IV
2.) Boat Skipper category B
- is authorised to operate pleasure boats up to 30GT or charter boats up to 30GT without a professional crew
- navigation area III and IV
3.) Boat Skipper category C
- is authorised to operate with any kind of boat up to 30GT
- navigation area I, II and all the seas globally
4.) Yacht Master category A and B
- is authorised to operate with any kind of boat up to 100GT for A category, and up to 500 for B category
- navigation area on all the seas globally

Gross tonnage is the volume of all enclosed spaces of the ship, internal volume of the ship.

You can calculate it by multiplying the length of the boat by the width and by draft (in feet) and corr. factor and by dividing this amount authorised with 100.

BT Bavaria 37 Cruiser= (37.45ft × 12.54ft × 6.43ft × 0.57)/100= cca 17.21 BT

If you want to calculate BT of catamaran Lagoon 450 in charter than you can calculate:
BT Lagoon 450= (46.06ft × 25.87ft × 4.29ft × 0.57)/100= cca 30 BT

For power vessels you can use the same formula, but only by using value 0.67 instead 0.57 in the formula above. This formula works for vessels up to cca 75ft (cca 23m) and it is only informative. You need to check your license for each boat! This is very important.

Exams for boat skipper categories A and B (Voditelj brodice) are quite simple and accessible to everyone.
The exam can be passed in every Harbourmaster's office in Croatia. Exams are usually organised once a week in season, and rarely outside of the season. The exam covers only the theoretical part and lasts for 1-2 hours. Prices and fees are determined by Ministry of Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, but you can count on cca 150.-EUR cost for foreign citizens.

1. completed form and paid fee
2. two recent photos (2,5 cm x 3,5 cm)
3. copy of passport/ID Card
4. payment proof

There is no need to pass the exam again, you can obtain a new license at the Harbourmasters office where you passed the exam. You need to contact them directly and provide the necessary forms, send 2 photos, provide passport copy, pay fees and buy tax stamps. The new license will be ready in a few days.

You'll need a license that goes over 30 BT and then you can take the exam for a Yachtmaster in Croatia, a license which is valid for any boat type up to 100 BT. For that kind of license you need to have at least the B Category license, and you'll need to pass a theoretical and practical exam too. You would directly contact training centres in Croatia that organise the exams for Yachtmaster licenses A or B.

You can obtain it here on this link