Safety Tips in Croatia

If you go to see a football game with Croatia Zagreb, then watch out for the teams fanatics.
They are called the bad blue boys and they are some of the worst hooligans in Europe.
Their grafitti is seen all over zagreb too and sometimes in other parts of the country aswell.
These guys are real nutters and not to be played with and i strongly suggest to stay away from them if they come around as they are worse than any hooligans you will encounter in England.

Most businesses in Croatia do not have credit card machines. Make sure you always have local currency with you (kun). This includes restaurants, shops and even some hotels. Not all places will also take euros either.

A chartered boat cruise can be a great way to see Croatia, but be careful when making your plans. Early in 2008, eight of us (all mid-30s) chartered a yacht for a one-week sail along the Croatian coast in late April. We booked the boat charter through Navicula (www.navicula.hr) - a company we understood to be reputable.

The day of our departure from the U.S. - literally as we boarded our flight in Boston - we received an email from Navicula explaining that our boat had been damaged and they were canceling the charter. So, with 12 hours notice, and several travelers en route from all parts of the US, Navicula canceled our charter and refused to provide alternative accommodations.

Luckily, while on a layover in London, we found a boat and captain (www.lazywinch.com & Captain Paul Scowen) that were able to accommodate us at the last second. Paul saved our trip and we will never be able to thank him enough.

But the story doesn't end there. After returning to the States we discovered Navicula never refunded our money (US $12,500). We have called and emailed dozens of time to no avail. Not even the courtesy of a response. Therefore, we highly recommend that you avoid doing business with Navicula. As an aside – in our desperate attempts to get through to these people, we noticed that they operate numerous vacation rentals, "luxury estates", boat charters, real estate investment, and car rentals in Europe under the Navicula and Tisno Tour names (available via numerous online directory postings published by a person named Natko Prosenikliev).

That said, Croatia is a beautiful country and we cannot speak highly enough of Captain Paul and his First Mate, Tea - the folks from Lazy Winch who came to our rescue. They are completely accommodating, and will cook fabulous meals on board and/or point you in the direction of the best local dining spots ashore. We elected to pick the boat up in the town of Marina and then sail south along the shore, back to Dubrovnik - spending each afternoon and evening on a different island. It was a fantastic way to experience the country.

Getting in and out of the Adriatic along much of Croatia's coast can be a bit tricky with so many rocks and stones under foot.Check my tip on"Essential purchases" about what to put on your feet! And also check my "Warning" tip about sea urchins.

Find a pair of rubber sandals on the markets or in the shops that might help with walking on the rocky shores of the Adriatic and also perhaps avoid some of the sea urchins sticking their spiky spines in your soft tender feet when going into the water. It's not difficult to see them living under the surface against the rocks. Having said this, I still got spikes in my leg when I swam one day while wearing the sandals. To remove the spines from skin it helps to use olive oil to loosen them. "If they are not removed they will become infected" says my travel book tip. I carried my little urchin spikes for a couple of weeks after my return from Croatia and they didn't become infected, they just came out naturally.

Just had a couple of great weeks on Croatian coast. People great, loved it. But phoning my wife 2 weeks in she asked why I was drawing lots of cash in France and Morocco! Turns out one of the two ATM cash machines I used my Visa card in in Dubrovnik must have skimmed my card and pin number then gone international. Watch the stand alone Airport ATMs and the ones in Stradun - Dubrovnik's main street. Can't say which was the problem. Visa reimbursed promptly once I told them but are NZ$7000 down. I was, I thought, alone at the machines so it must be sophisticated. May be best to go into bank branches for cash. Or check bank transactions on line frequently. Used my ordinary 'Plus' system bankcard in other machines with no problem. Visa said it seem to be a problem in Croatia.

Pay special attention to them. These small thorny creatures could ruin your vacation! If you don’t want to pick huge thorns out of your foot or find yourself in the hospital, then put on special shoes or examine sea floor.

Call it ignorance, or call it what you want, but read this tip and don't get screwed like we almost did.

There is a strip of about 5KM between Makarska and Dubrovnik that leaves the country and entered into Bosnia. It is because there is a coast town called Neum that is part of Bosnia Hercegovina. There is a border crossing and they check passports.

We passed through because our rented car had Dubrovnik plates...going one way, but we were checked the other way....so not having the passports and getting caught could have turned our day trip to Dubrovnik into a nightmare.