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Route · 7 days · round-tripYacht charter route · Istria

Pula round-trip.

A seven-day yacht route from Pula through the Kvarner islands: Medulin, Unije, Vele Srakane, Cres and Rabac, with distances, moorings and konoba tips.

The route

Day-by-day route

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Medulin
Day 1

Pula → Medulin

A short eight-mile shakedown south from Pula around Cape Kamenjak into the broad, shallow sweep of Medulin Bay.

Distance

5 NM

Sailing

~1h at 5 kn

At a glance

Route at a glance

Best season

June – mid-September (peak Jul – Aug)

Duration

7 days

Departure

Pula

Sailing area

Istria

Route summary

Click any day to jump back to the map and see its photos, narrative and mooring tip.

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The full story

Day-by-day journey

Named anchorages, mooring notes and things to do for every leg of the week — the map follows along as you scroll.

Day 1 / 7
Medulin
1
Day 1

Pula → Medulin

The first leg is deliberately gentle: eight miles south from the base, rounding the tip of the Premantura peninsula into Medulin Bay. Kamenjak is a protected reserve, so keep clear of the seagrass meadows when you drop the hook. We usually berth stern-to at Marina Medulin, which takes boats up to twenty metres and has fuel, water and 220-volt power on the pontoons. If the bay is calm, anchoring outside in four to eight metres of sand works well and buys a quieter swim. Ashore there is not much beyond a low-key village, which suits a first evening. Walk out onto the cape at dusk; over thirty small coves cut into the limestone, and the light going down behind Brijuni is worth the stroll. Order the brodet at a waterfront table.

Things to do

Walk the Cape Kamenjak coastal path at dusk

Anchor off the marina for a quiet swim

Order brodet at a Medulin waterfront table

Watch the sunset behind the Brijuni islands

Mooring tip

Marina Medulin is the reliable choice in any wind and worth booking ahead in July and August; it holds boats to twenty metres with fuel on site. Anchoring outside on sand at four to eight metres is fine except in a southerly, and keep off the protected seagrass.

Unije
2
Day 2

Medulin → Unije

This is the day for open water. Unije lies twenty miles off to the southeast with nothing to duck behind, so I like to slip the lines by nine and let the maestral fill in behind us through the afternoon. It's the biggest of the Lošinj outer islands and refreshingly plain: no cars, one village stacked above its harbour, olive terraces running down to the rock. Tie stern-to on the village quay with your own anchor for a small fee; there is water on the central berths but no power, so charge up before you arrive. The island's best swim is the sandy cove on the far shore, a lunchtime anchorage rather than an overnight. Walk the track up to the little chapel on the spine for the view, then eat grilled lamb by the water.

Things to do

Swim at the sandy cove across the island

Eat grilled lamb at a quayside konoba

Walk the track to the hilltop chapel

Snorkel the clear rock ledges below the village

Mooring tip

Back stern-to onto the Unije village quay under your own anchor; expect a small charge, water at the central berths, and no shore power. Shelter comes off the western quarter while the southeast stays open, so if a jugo above fifteen knots is forecast, motor six miles over to Mali Lošinj.

Vele Srakane
3
Day 3

Unije → Vele Srakane

Barely an hour of sailing, but a genuine oddity. Vele Srakane covers just over a square kilometre and counts a handful of permanent residents; there are no roads, no shops, no running water, and the whole place is worked as one organic smallholding. There is no proper harbour either, only a couple of rough concrete piers and a lot of reef, so treat it as a daytime stop and nothing more. Anchor off the eastern shore in five to eight metres over sand and weed, and swim in water so clear you can count the anchor chain on the bottom. Wander the single path through the olives if the heat allows. By late afternoon, lift the hook and make for the protected harbour at Mali Lošinj, or double back the six miles to Unije for the night.

Things to do

Anchor off the east shore for swimming

Snorkel the exceptionally clear, reef-lined shallows

Walk the single path through the olive groves

Move on to Mali Lošinj before evening

Mooring tip

Vele Srakane is a daytime anchorage only, with no shelter from the west or northwest and reefs close in, so keep a good lookout on the approach. Plan to overnight five miles south at Marina Mali Lošinj or back at Unije.

Cres
4
Day 4

Vele Srakane → Martinšćica (Cres)

Cres is twelve miles to the northeast, the biggest island in the country and shaped like a long thin splinter of rock. Martinšćica is a working village with a stone quay where you moor stern-to for a modest fee, water on the central berths. Holding in the bay runs three to six metres and it tucks in nicely from the bora, though a southwesterly sends swell straight in. The reason to stop is inland. The north of the island holds the Tramuntana, an old oak and holm forest laced with something like a hundred kilometres of marked trail, and one of Europe's last colonies of griffon vulture nests on the cliffs above Beli. For dinner, book a table and drive over to Konoba Bukaleta at Loznati, where the family raises its own lambs and roasts them on the spit.

Things to do

Hike the Tramuntana forest trails from Beli

See the griffon vultures at the Beli centre

Book Cres lamb at Konoba Bukaleta, Loznati

Swim off the rocks below the village

Mooring tip

Go stern-to at Martinšćica's stone quay on your own anchor; the central berths carry water, and the fee is small. Shelter runs from north through east, but the southwest is exposed, so read the forecast before committing to the night.

Cres
5
Day 5

Martinšćica → Cres Town

Round the top of the island, another fifteen miles, and you slip into one of the safest harbours in the Kvarner, a long bay that shuts out the weather from every quarter. ACI Marina Cres sits right at the town wall with lazy lines, fuel and full services, open the year round; the town quay only takes visitors for the day. Cres wears its Venetian centuries openly. The old core still sits inside its medieval walls, and you come in through the stone gates onto Frane Petrić square. Climb the clock tower for the look down over the masts and red roofs. The fifteenth-century loggia still stands where the town once read out its notices. Eat the island janjetina in a courtyard, and swim from the pebble coves a short walk south of the marina.

Things to do

Climb the sixteenth-century clock tower for the view

Walk the walls and gates onto Frane Petrić square

See the old loggia in the town centre

Swim from the pebble coves south of the marina

Order Cres janjetina in a courtyard konoba

Mooring tip

ACI Marina Cres is the all-weather berth, lazy lines and fuel at the town wall, open all year; the town quay is daytime visitors only. The bay is well shut in from every wind, so this is the place to sit out a bora night if one is brewing.

Rabac
6
Day 6

Cres → Rabac

Point the bow due west and it's fifteen miles back to the Istrian mainland at Rabac. It is a small harbour rather than a big marina, on the south side of the bay, with lazy lines, water and power and enough services for an easy night. The swimming here is the draw: pale pebble beaches strung along the Lungomare, the shelving stone quick to deep water. The real detour is uphill. Labin, the old town on the ridge behind the resort, is ten minutes by taxi or the shuttle bus, and its fourteenth-century walls and narrow lanes make a good late-afternoon wander once the sun drops off the water. Back down at sea level, order scampi buzara at a table over the bay, and pick up a jar of Istrian truffle paste before you leave.

Things to do

Ride up to medieval Labin old town

Walk the Lungomare between the pebble beaches

Order scampi buzara over the bay

Buy Istrian truffle products up in Labin

Mooring tip

Marina Rabac on the south side takes you stern-to with lazy lines and full services. The bay shelters from the north, northeast and west but opens to the south, so it is fine in the usual summer maestral and less so in a southerly blow.

Pula
7
Day 7

Rabac → Pula

The last leg is twenty miles southwest to the base. Most contracts want the boat back by nine on Saturday with fuel topped, tanks pumped and the inventory checked, so leave enough of a margin and do the chores the evening before if you can. The course runs past the mouth of the Raša, a long thin inlet that cuts deep into the coast like a fjord; a final swim off Trget on its western side is the traditional way to close the week. Once the handover is signed off, you are five minutes on foot from the Roman amphitheatre, one of the largest still standing anywhere, and a short walk further to the Temple of Augustus on the old forum. Pula airport is a quarter of an hour by car if you are flying out the same day.

Things to do

Take a last swim off Trget in Raša Bay

Top up fuel and pump out before handover

Walk to the Roman amphitheatre in Pula

See the Temple of Augustus on the forum

Mooring tip

Return into ACI Marina Pula as your charter contract sets out and let the base manager place you; the Saturday handover window is usually eight to nine. If your contract asks for a night-before return, aim to be alongside by late Friday afternoon.

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