Can I still drive to Croatia despite COVID-19 or Coronavirus? This question is currently not only a question for many vacationers who want to enjoy the off-season and the golden autumn in Croatia, but also for numerous boat and yacht owners who plan to winter their boat by themselves. Also affected are the charter crews, some of whom have postponed the trip planned for spring until autumn in the hope that the corona virus would have lost its intensity. And here first of all the good news: In fact the infection numbers in Croatia are decreasing, also in the coastal vacation regions, as the statistics show.
Austria: Further quarantine because of the corona virus
And the bad news right after: At least in Austria the government doesn’t seem to care – Croatian travel returnees are still in quarantine, which can only be ended prematurely by a negative COVID 19 test.
Obviously, however, Austria has adapted to the situation: Whoever returns from Croatia is registered at the border, but can then have a corona test carried out in Austria on the same day. The results are communicated at short notice, i.e. usually within 12 hours. And as SeaHelp has learned from well-informed circles, no positive test results have yet been reported from the circle of water sports enthusiasts who have had a PCR test performed in Austria. This preliminary result is based at least on the tests of more than 700 water sports enthusiasts who have had themselves tested in Austria after returning from Croatia. After completion of the SeaHelp survey on this topic, we will report in detail.
Unfortunately at present Croatia returnees, who are resident in Austria, must pay the Corona test from own pocket.
German holiday-makers: Istria and Kvarner region no problem – Vienna already
The situation is different for Germans: Here, there is currently only a partial travel warning, especially the regions of Istria and the Kvarner Bay are excluded from the travel warning. Germans, who planned however with the journey to Croatia still another excursion to Vienna, must probably or badly replan. Also for Austria’s capital Germany issued a travel warning because of up-to-date strongly risen COVID 19 new infections.
No quarantine on return from Istria and Kvarner Bay
Quarantine regulations for German tourists in Croatia differ from state to state, and here too, it has not yet been possible to reach a uniform regulation. In general, however, the following applies: Germans can (as of 18.09.2020) visit Istria and the Kvarner Bay without any problems, without being subject to quarantine restrictions when returning from Croatia.
Charter: Paradise conditions
An advantage that many charter companies are currently taking advantage of in Croatia: they moved the charter boats without further ado from the regions in Dalmatia affected by the German travel warning to the Kvarner Bay or to Istria in order to save at least some of the autumn business. Some charter crews had rebooked to autumn because of the Corona lockdown in Croatia in spring. They can now enjoy free anchor bays and marinas and, as was heard, have the Adriatic almost to themselves. There the danger of a corona virus infection also goes towards zero, because where there are no people, there is no virus. Pure water sports, so to speak.
