Leg 73 of 97 · Passage plan · RYA Yachtmaster standard
Venice to Rovinj
Out of the Venice lagoon and east across the top of the Adriatic to Istria and Rovinj, a Venetian town on a hill crowned by the bell tower of St Euphemia.
07:00 CEST from Venice. 1 hour after sunrise (05:58 CEST), after the rest day in Venice.
Arrive
About 16:23 CEST at Rovinj. In the afternoon, with about 4 hours 5 minutes of daylight in hand (sunset 20:29 CEST).
Tides
Range about 1 m at Venice: the flood runs into the Lido inlet against the yacht at the start. See Tides
Wind
Sea breezes; a bora is the main danger
Boat
35 to 38 ft sailing yacht, 1.9 m draught, 6 kn under sail, 5.5 kn under engine
Crew
Skipper and 3 crew, 2 watches of 2. Croatian courtesy flag ready
Track and waypoints 1 to 3, with ports of refuge as squares.
Go or no-go
Decide at 06:00 CEST. Go only if all of these hold:
No bora forecast, and no wind above force 5.
ACI Rovinj berth confirmed.
Croatian entry steps confirmed with the Rovinj harbour master: see Hazards.
Visibility 3 nm or more.
If the weather is wrong, stay in Venice.
Route and waypoints
Waypoints are planning positions in open water, checked against a 1:10m coastline to be at least 1.5 nm off land except at the harbour ends. Distances and courses are calculated from them. Plot every one on the current chart before use. Courses are true.
#
Waypoint
Latitude
Longitude
Course
Leg nm
Total nm
ETA
Notes
0
Marina Santelena
45°25.6′N
012°22.0′E
07:00 CEST
Depart. Slow speed, no wake.
1
Lido inlet
45°25.6′N
012°24.6′E
091°T
1.8
1.8
07:27 CEST
Out by the San Nicolò channel.
2
Lido approach
45°25.0′N
012°27.0′E
110°T
1.8
3.6
07:49 CEST
Clear of the inlet. Set the course for Istria.
3
Rovinj approach
45°04.8′N
013°36.5′E
112°T
53.0
56.6
15:58 CEST
West of Sv. Katarina island. Croatia.
4
ACI Marina Rovinj
45°04.4′N
013°38.2′E
106°T
1.3
57.8
16:23 CEST
South of the old town. Position approximate. Check on the chart
Tides and time
Venice · Wed 4 Aug · CEST (UTC+2)
LW
05:51
-0.3 m
HW
12:44
0.8 m
LW
18:22
0.1 m
HW
23:54
0.7 m
From the Venezia station.
Rovinj · Wed 4 Aug · CEST (UTC+2)
HW
12:41
0.6 m
From the KOPER station.
Wednesday 4 August 2027. Tides. The northern Adriatic has the largest tides in the Mediterranean: about 0.5 to 1 m between high and low water here. That matters at the canal and river-mouth harbours, where the depth at the entrance changes with the tide, and at the inlets of the Venice lagoon, where the stream runs hard. Wind and air pressure can add as much again.
Rovinj uses the Koper station.
The Lido inlet. Predicted low water at Venice is at about 05:50 CEST and high water at about 12:45 CEST, so a 07:00 departure meets the flood running into the inlet. Allow extra time in the inlet.
Tide times are predictions made for this plan from the TICON-4 harmonic constants (DGFI-TUM) with the Neaps tide predictor, because the official 2027 tables were not yet published when it was written. Tested against the official APDL table for Leixões on 23 July 2026, the predicted times were within 8 minutes and the heights 0.1 to 0.2 m lower. Heights are above lowest astronomical tide. Check every time against the official 2027 table before sailing.
Daylight. Sunrise at Venice 05:58 CEST. Sunset at Rovinj 20:29 CEST.
Weather
Open water for 55 nm.
Bora. Even in summer, a bora can come down off the Istrian and Slovenian hills with little warning.
Forecasts to check
Italian forecasts: Aeronautica Militare Meteomar and gale warnings (avviso di burrasca), meteoam.it. Forecast areas Ionio, Adriatico meridionale and Adriatico centrale. Zone names and issue times: Check the pilot book
Croatian marine forecast: DHMZ Marine Meteorological Centre, Split, meteo.hr, for the North, Central and South Adriatic, with warnings.
Rijeka Radio: weather and safety broadcasts in English and Croatian at 05:30, 12:30, 19:30 and 00:30 UTC on VHF 4, 19, 20, 23, 24, 81 and 85. Split Radio: 05:45, 12:45, 19:45 and 00:45 UTC on VHF 7, 21, 23, 28, 81 and 84.
NAVTEX Split: station Q on 518 kHz in English, at 02:40, 06:40, 10:40, 14:40, 18:40 and 22:40 UTC.
Hazards
Arriving in Croatia from Italy. Croatia has been in the Schengen area since 2023, so there are no passport checks at sea between Italy and Croatia. A foreign yacht still needs the Croatian safety vignette and must pay the sojourn (tourist) tax for the crew, both handled through the harbour master's office or the eNautika portal (enautika.pomorstvo.hr), and must register its crew list. Whether the first stop must be a port of entry, and whether Rovinj is one in 2027, could not be confirmed from an official source. Ask the Rovinj harbour master's branch (+385 52 811 132) before sailing.
Entering the Venice lagoon. The Lido inlet has 2 channels: Treporti (north, 6 m) and San Nicolò (south, 12 m), with the MOSE flood barrier between them. Every canal in the lagoon is a slow-speed zone with no wake, and speed limits are enforced by cameras. When the MOSE gates are raised for a high tide (forecast above about 110 cm, mostly autumn to spring), small craft use the lock on the Treporti side. Whether a yacht must call port control on entering, and the speed of the stream in the inlet, could not be checked. Enter near slack water or with the flood.
Bora (bura). A cold, gusty north-easterly that falls off the mountains. It is strongest and most frequent in winter but can blow in summer, and can start suddenly from a clear, calm sky. Signs are a cap of cloud on the mountains and a short, steep, white-crested sea. In a bora warning, stay in harbour or tuck under the lee of the mainland, never under the lee of an island in a channel.
Rovinj approach. Enter between Sv. Katarina island and the town breakwater. A shoal between the breakwater light and Sv. Katarina is marked by a yellow and black buoy, which must be passed on its north side. From the south, keep close to the marina breakwater.
Rovinj islands. The coast from Sv. Ivan to Barbariga, the 19 islands of the Rovinj archipelago and the mainland within 500 m of the shore are a protected landscape, with a gull colony on the Dvije Sestrice islets.
Ports of refuge
Port
From the route
Use it when
Notes
Venice
Start
Within the first hour
Sant'Elena.
Poreč
8 nm north of Rovinj
Rovinj full
Marina. Check the pilot book
Rovinj
Destination
First choice
ACI Marina Rovinj, VHF 17.
Pilotage
Leaving Venice
Leave Sant'Elena at slow speed, along the Bacino di San Marco to the Lido inlet.
Out by the San Nicolò channel, against the flood, keeping to its edge.
Into Rovinj
Approach from the west, north of the Sv. Ivan na pučini light.
Pass between Sv. Katarina and the town breakwater, north of the yellow and black buoy, or from the south close to the marina breakwater.
Bora forecast mid-crossing. Turn back to Venice if under 20 nm out; otherwise run for the nearest Istrian harbour.
Person overboard. Shout, point, throw the danger buoy, press MOB, DSC distress alert, Mayday on 16.
Before leaving
Forecasts read and logged before the go or no-go time
Italian notices to mariners (Avvisi ai naviganti) and Croatian notices to mariners checked for the route
Waypoints entered and checked against the chart
Ship's log started in UTC
Crew briefing: route, watches, safety gear, MOB, fog
ACI Rovinj berth booked
Croatian vignette and sojourn tax arranged, crew list ready
Croatian courtesy flag ready
Fuel for 11 hours under engine, plus a reserve
Water, food and hot drinks for 12 hours
Lifejackets with crotch straps, jackstays rigged, harnesses
Liferaft, grab bag, flares in date, handheld VHF
Radar, AIS and navigation lights tested
Passports, boat papers and insurance aboard
Sources
Croatia and Schengen: English Wikipedia, Schengen Area; Croatian Interior Ministry FAQ (mup.gov.hr).
Rovinj: aci-marinas.com; English Wikipedia, Rovinj.
Croatian harbour masters: mmpi.gov.hr (Pula, Rijeka, Zadar and Šibenik offices and branches). Vignette: mmpi.gov.hr; enautika.pomorstvo.hr.
Croatian lights: plovput.hr (official list). Radio and NAVTEX: plovput.hr.
ACI marinas: aci-marinas.com.
Tides: predictions from TICON-4 harmonic constants (Hart-Davis, Dettmering and Seitz, DGFI-TUM, 2025, doi 10.17882/109129) with Neaps (openwaters.io). Check against the Instituto Hidrográfico 2027 tables.
Sunrise and sunset: calculated (NOAA method).
Lights: The Lighthouse Directory (Rowlett), ibiblio.org/lighthouse, Portugal pages revised August 2024. Cross-check with the IH List of Lights, volume I.