May the 6th, 2025 – A very encouraging start to the Pula nautical tourism season has begun. There are already no free berths in the popular coastal Istrian city.
As Morski writes, the very first signs of a promising Pula nautical tourism has begun. Sailors whose ships are permanently moored in Croatian marinas have already arrived to prepare their vessels for the first sailing through Istria’s part of the Adriatic after the winter.
Along with the ship owners themselves, those who are renting out vessels are also appearing in Pula as the season gets gradually underway, according to a report by HRT.
The very first Pula nautical tourism guests for this year have been busy setting off to explore the Adriatic Sea in encouraging numbers from Pula’s Marina Veruda. Among them is Rudolf from Switzerland, who stated briefly and clearly that “the marina is large and well located, and the city [of Pula] is easily accessible on foot”.
“The marina is very pleasant for Slovenian visitors. It’s close to the Slovenian capital city of Ljubljana, logistically well connected, naturally protected and the service here is very, very good. The people here are very kind people,” said Aleš Jelčić, a Slovenian tourist who has been loyal to Pula for 25 years and has his own yacht moored there.
Just how well the Pula nautical tourism is doing even this early on in the year is evidenced by the fact that there are no more vacant berths. This is primarily because faithful guests seem to be very satisfied and are not leaving to go elsewhere, and there is certainly new interest growing for Pula all the time.
“There have been a lot of inquiries. There aren’t too many free berths left, so we’re trying to best distribute them according to people’s needs and provide adequate berths for the dimensions of the vessels,” revealed Iva Predan, receptionist at Marina Veruda in Pula.
Many people come at this time to get their vessels fixed up and set sail for the first time after winter, and some people come to rent vessels. However, it can be said that such people are in the minority for now, meaning that for Pula, boat rentals are modest at the moment.
“We always watch every situation that occurs in the surrounding area with trepidation. Last year, we witnessed some disruptions in charter client bookings, coupled with the problematic characterisation of Croatia as an expensive destination. We hope that we’ve since learned some valuable lessons from that and that the situation will stabilise this year,” said Sean Lisjak, president of the Association of Croatian Marinas.
Those engaged in tourism are still satisfied with the pace at which the Pula nautical tourism season has started. Those in catering and hospitality are also hoping for the best, and sailors seem ready for this summer.
It remains to be seen how Croatia will be perceived by the travellers of the world this year, as mud sticks, and the feeling that Croatia is losing its competitiveness to greed and high prices are certainly doing it no favours.
