Skip Dubrovnik and Split, and head to these intriguing Croatian ports instead

Many sea arrivals in the Mediterranean are a slow glide over liquid silk as the sun’s yolk cracks over purple hills, and breezes tease you with hints of thyme and pine. Golden fortifications tilt over the ship’s railings, protecting some old town that slides into a handsome harbour.

But on this morning off Sibenik in Croatia, my arrival on Azamara Pursuit is the most handsome of the lot. I abandon my breakfast in Windows Cafe – my latest indulgence, now we’re in Croatia, is a flaky-pastry bucnica stuffed with pumpkin, cheese and eggs – to race to the deck.

A window view of Sibenik on Croatia’s Dalmation Coast.Credit: iStock

Sibenik out-Mediterraneans the Mediterranean. The approach through islands is glorious. St Nicholas Fort squats on one island like a set from Game of Thrones. Then the ship slips through a channel so narrow I could almost leap ashore.

Behind, a hidden harbour opens up. The blues are so liquid it’s hard to tell where sea ends and sky begins. And yes, there’s an old town. And another fort. And wait – two more forts as well.

And yet the harbour bobs only with yachts at anchor. The cruise quay is quiet. The town hasn’t yet stirred but for a few old men at waterfront cafes. Sibenik is undisturbed by big-ship crowds and raucous jet setters.

I’ve cruised the Mediterranean many times, and previously been to Croatia by both land and sea. And yet somehow, until now, I haven’t noticed Sibenik. It isn’t much noticed by anyone, compared with Croatia’s congested tourist hotspots.

In 2023, Sibenik was visited by 51 cruise ships. If that sounds like a lot, then Dubrovnik welcomed – increasingly reluctantly – 345. Many were considerably larger.

Sibenik old town with St James Cathedral.Credit: iStock

Choose your destinations wisely and you can still find elbow room in the Mediterranean. Pick your cruise line and itinerary wisely too. Azamara has ships small enough to sail into petite places. Azamara Pursuit carries only 702 guests.

Sail mega-ships and you get a party atmosphere, a focus on the on-board experience, and big mainstream ports. Nothing wrong with that: different strokes for different folks, or indeed for the same folks depending on their mood.

Azarama, however, favours tranquil small ships and an ethos that emphasises lingering stays in interesting destinations. No surprise that Azamara Pursuit has carried me somewhere new. Sibenik defies the common conviction that Mediterranean towns are overwhelmed by tourist stampedes.

Sibenik does have visitors, of course. When I walk into town I discover some tourist shops and cafes, although they tend towards the discreet and upmarket. I don’t have to battle my way along street-lengths of pizza joints, however. No queue deters me from popping into the Cathedral of St James, although it’s World Heritage listed. No fashionable flock of Instagrammers blocks my views.

St Nicholas Fortress near Sibenik. Credit: iStock

Sibenik feels like the Croatia I first encountered 20 years ago. Along the waterfront locals jog or walk their dogs. I clamber into an old town festooned not with football jerseys and novelty T-shirts but flapping washing and dog-eared election posters.

On a hilltop, St Michael’s Castle is now only a vast shell, but its ramparts have an angel’s outlook over Sibenik’s sheltered blue bay, brown islands and hazy hinterland. It’s one of the best outlooks I’ve seen on this cruise between Barcelona and Venice, which is saying something considering it has brought me to the French Riviera and Amalfi coast.

I’m not sure whether the military qualities of Sibenik’s forts match their wonderful outlooks. Greeks, Venetians, Hungarians and Ottomans all clattered into Sibenik and stayed a while, which was unfortunate for the Croatians, but good for modern visitors, since a thousand years of architectural styles are squashed together around pretty squares.

The town hall, right across from the cathedral, is Venetian. In Venice, such a piazza would be swamped. In Sibenik, local families slurp ice cream in its cafe in Sunday-ironed shirts. Later, St Lawrence Monastery, lost in a tangle of alleys, is obscurely signposted. I’m only one of five people in its medieval garden of lavender bushes and herb beds, buzzing with bees.

As we sail away – all that blue gorgeousness in reverse – I feel mighty satisfied. Azamara Pursuit is satisfying too: a small-sized cruise ship on a mid-range budget. Azamara also flies under the radar, occupying a premium niche between bigger, brasher ships and smaller, more luxurious ones.

But Azamara Pursuit is down-to-earth, relaxing and very pleasant. The ship is cosy without ever feeling crowded. No on-board razzmatazz and silliness distracts guests from the chief purpose of a good cruise, the destination.

The food is particularly impressive. No foam or fuss, only a never-ending assortment of quality dishes, and one of the best buffets at sea. As the sun plunges into the pink Adriatic Sea, I tuck happily into an excellent white-bean soup followed by mushroom risotto in Tuscan restaurant Aqualina.

Azamara Pursuit is down-to-earth, relaxing and very pleasant.Credit: Michel Verdure

Sibenik has been an eye-opener. I wish we’d all get over Dubrovnik and Split. Wisely, Azamara Pursuit has skipped past both. On some other cruise itineraries, Azamara’s various ships visit other intriguing Croatian ports such as Zadar and Opatija.

I’ve been to both before. Zadar’s old town occupies a time-worn peninsula; sparkling sea semaphores down its Gothic streets. Opatija is quite different, having flourished in the late-19th century as a seaside getaway for the Austro-Hungarian aristocracy. Palace-hotels and pastel villas nestle on hillsides above promenades where stylish Croatians dine on tomato-stuffed swordfish.

This time, we’re hopscotching onwards to Koper in Slovenia. The whole of Slovenia measures annual visitor numbers in the modest millions, or a fifth of the tourists who cram into Venice. Only a fraction of those visit the nation’s tiddly Mediterranean coastline. Many are Italians fleeing the cramped beaches of Italy.

Koper is a delightful place to spend a day.Credit: iStock

Does Koper hold its own against Venice? Of course not, but it’s still a delightful place to spend a day, and far more relaxing. It, too, creaks with history. Much of its old-town architecture is Venetian, and a large Italian community gives it energetic, bilingual appeal.

The historic core is encased in a working port, which gives Koper a lived-in appeal long lost in places such as Venice or Dubrovnik. The schools and grocery shops and backstreet bakeries haven’t been pushed out by garish souvenir stores.

Okay, we all want to see Venice and Dubrovnik, and so you should. But places such as Sibenik and Koper offer an atmosphere they no longer have, and are made for cruising. They have beautiful approaches, things to see, and cafe terraces to share with locals.

They’re small enough that, after a day in town, you can sail away feeling satisfied that you’ve seen all you need to see, and aren’t missing out. Perfect.

The writer was a guest of Azamara Cruises.

THE DETAILS

CRUISE

Azamara Pursuit at sea.

Azamara has several Mediterranean cruises that visit Sibenik. Among them is a nine-night Croatia Intensive Voyage departing October 10, 2024 on Azamara Quest, which sails round-trip from Venice (Chioggia) and costs an average $3860 a person. It also visits other smaller Croatian ports Zadar and Opatija.
Azamara Pursuit will be in Australia from December 20, 2024 when it arrives in Fremantle before sailing to Melbourne, conducting New Zealand voyages, and then departing from Sydney to Singapore in February 2025.
See azamara.com