Day
1: Dione Star is docked at Riva Sette Martiri, a 10 minute walk from St Marcos
square, just at the entrance to the Grand Canal. Spend a day or two here at the
dock exploring this most beautiful city from the best possible vantage point.
Depart Venice late in the evening for a short overnight trip to Day 2:
Porec in Croatia arriving first light for customs and immigration clearance. Porec
is a small village but is home to the world heritage sight, the 6th century Christian
Basilica of Bishop Euphrasius, with some beautiful gold mosaics, and a mosaic
floor dating back to the 3rd century. Day 3-4: Heading south down the Istria
Peninsula past Pula, where the very well preserved amphitheatre started during
the reign of Emperor Claudius in the 1st century dominates the skyline. Past the
peninsular we move into the Bay of Kvarnar and the numerous off shore islands.
It is possible to visit many of them as most have excellent sheltered anchorages
ideal for water sports. Day 5-6: Kornati Islands, most of which are national
park. The islands are very barren with a lunarscape beauty and crystal clear waters
that make swimming irrespirable. Navigating among them can be exciting with one
passage being barely wider than the yacht! Day 7: The next town of any size,
Sibenik, is on the shores of a bay the narrow entrance to which is lined with
artificial caves that hid submarines and torpedo boats during world war two. It
is possible to take an excursion from Sibenik by local boat up river to the magnificent
waterfalls at Krka. The distance from Venice to Sibenik is approximately
200 nautical miles, more than half the distance to Dubrovnik but from Sibenik
south there are more anchorages and more "things to see". Day
8-9: Just a 4 hour sail to the south we come to Trogir, a stunning totally walled
town on it's own little island where we can usually get dock space right by the
walls by a row of little restaurants and coffee shops. From here it is highly
recommended to takes a day trip into Split. Though a major city now, the centre
- Old Split - is fascinating, built within and around the fortified Roman palace
of Emperor Diocletian about 300AD. Much of the palace stands today and is a unique
example of late Roman architecture. Split also has one of the biggest and most
colourful food markets to be seen anywhere. Day 10: Departing Trogir we
head south to the island of Hvar, whose main town, also called Hvar has gained
the nick name of the St Tropez of the Eastern Mediterranean. This historic picturesque
town allows no traffic in its piazza and the coffee shops and restaurants that
surround it offer excellent vantage points for observing the comings and goings
of this busy little harbour. But it is night that this tiny town comes to life
with bands on the dockside and dancing in the street till dawn. Day 11:
On then to Korcula, an island richly covered in vineyards with its own completely
walled town set of a tiny peninsula. Korcula was once the home of rather villainous
pirates who made a good living raiding the Venetian trading ships. This however
came to a sad end when the town was sacked by the said Venetians and became a
part of the expanding realm of Venice. This influence is easy to see in the architecture
of this lovely town. Day 12: Moving on to Mljet we leave towns and bright
lights behind for this beautiful island, a third of which is national park. Here
we can anchor and take shore lines to the trees and the swimming is superb. A
chance too to take the sailing dinghy for a spin. In the early summer the tiny
islands
that make up part of this national park become home to breeding gulls
and the cries of the young and the antics of their feeding are a delight. Day
13-14: From here south we are getting closer to Dubrovnik and the off shore islands
have some lovely holiday homes, both modern and some from an elegant past. The
anchorages are secure and offer an opportunity to use the water toys; water-ski,
wakeboarding, or the always popular "banana" ride. Dione Star can anchor
directly off the old town of Dubrovnik, the walls rising majestically above us.
We can use the tender to go ashore, or head a little further south, just 5 miles,
to a delightful peaceful little village of Cavtat where we can go stern too to
the quay. From here it is a spectacular drive back to Dubrovnik via the precipitous
cliff road, and only a 10 minute drive to the airport. It would be difficult
to try to do this trip, Venice to Dubrovnik, in less than 10 days. 12, or better
14 days, allow time to explore and to use all Dione Star's water toys, and perhaps
most importantly of all to relax and enjoy the yacht and the vacation! (Thanks
to the yacht DIONE STAR for the above itinerary) | 
