Croatia / Zadar

Pakoštane

Pakoštane is a coastal resort area in Zadar, Croatia. Its longest mapped beach stretches about 296 m. The sea averages 24.2 °C in August, its warmest month, and 13.0 °C in February; it is 21 °C or warmer in June–September.

Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.

ZÁPAD SLNKA ZA ŤAŽKÝMI MRAKMI - SUNSET BEHIND HEAVY CLOUDS
Photo: ANDREJ NEUHERZ, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
No lifeguard mapped

OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.

Services in the resort

  • 35Restaurants, cafés & bars
  • 13Public toilets
  • –Showers
  • 9Car parks
  • –Lifeguard stations
  • 50Hotels & guesthouses
  • 7Campsites
  • 6Grocery shops
  • 1Water-sports spots
  • 3Bus stops (1.5 km)
  • 10Cash machines
  • 2Bike rental

Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 19 restaurants, 6 cafés, 9 bars and 1 fast-food outlet. Accommodation: 50 hotels and guesthouses.

Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.

Bathing water quality

The official EU bathing-water site “Punta”, 460 m from the beach centre, was rated Not classified for the 2025 season. It was Excellent in 5 of its 5 classified seasons since 2015.

  1. 2015Excellent
  2. 2016Excellent
  3. 2017Excellent
  4. 2018Excellent
  5. 2019Excellent
  6. 2025Not classified

Source: European Environment Agency, EU Bathing Water Directive assessments · national site profile. Classes are based on four seasons of bacteriological sampling.

Month by month

October at Pakoštane

Sea20.4 °C
Day high19 °C
Night low11 °C
Rain95 mm
Cloud cover51%
Wind3.9 m/s
Daylight11.1 h07:10–18:16

Beach-day index 5.4/10 · Croatia median 4.4

Monthly averages at Pakoštane
MeasureJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Sea °C13.8 °C13.0 °C13.1 °C14.5 °C17.7 °C21.5 °C23.8 °C24.2 °C22.2 °C20.4 °C18.1 °C15.8 °C
High °C8°9°13°17°22°27°30°30°24°19°14°10°
Low °C2°3°5°9°13°18°20°20°15°11°8°4°
Rain mm908975686655405010295129110
Cloud %666158555241282943516463
Wind m/s4.75.14.84.03.73.33.43.33.83.94.64.8
Daylight h9.210.511.813.414.715.515.214.112.611.19.78.9
Record high/low15°/-9°17°/-10°22°/-9°25°/-1°32°/5°36°/9°38°/13°38°/11°34°/8°28°/2°25°/-1°16°/-7°
Beach index2.52.52.72.95.98.79.49.38.25.43.22.6

Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.

When to go

The beach-day index peaks in July–August; July scores 9.4/10 with highs of 30 °C, sea at 23.8 °C and 40 mm of rain.

That matches the median for beaches in Croatia in the same month.

Across the year the sea averages 18.2 °C, cooler than 57% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.

November is the wettest month (129 mm) and July the driest (40 mm); the yearly total is about 970 mm.

Daylight runs from 8.9 hours in December to 15.5 hours in June; in mid-July the sun rises at 05:28 and sets at 20:39 local time.

Day highNight lowSeaRain (mm)
Climate and sea temperature at PakoštaneMonthly averages. Lines: daytime high, night low, sea surface temperature. Bars: rainfall in millimetres.0°5°10°15°20°25°30°35°0 mm75 mm150 mmJanuary: 90 mm rainFebruary: 89 mm rainMarch: 75 mm rainApril: 68 mm rainMay: 66 mm rainJune: 55 mm rainJuly: 40 mm rainAugust: 50 mm rainSeptember: 102 mm rainOctober: 95 mm rainNovember: 129 mm rainDecember: 110 mm rainJanuary: sea 13.8 °CFebruary: sea 13 °CMarch: sea 13.1 °CApril: sea 14.5 °CMay: sea 17.7 °CJune: sea 21.5 °CJuly: sea 23.8 °CAugust: sea 24.2 °CSeptember: sea 22.2 °COctober: sea 20.4 °CNovember: sea 18.1 °CDecember: sea 15.8 °CJanuary: high 8.1 °CFebruary: high 9.1 °CMarch: high 12.7 °CApril: high 17 °CMay: high 21.7 °CJune: high 26.7 °CJuly: high 30.2 °CAugust: high 30.2 °CSeptember: high 24.3 °COctober: high 19.3 °CNovember: high 14.2 °CDecember: high 9.5 °CJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Orientation, sun and shore

JunDecNESW

The shore faces south-south-west (200°). Open water fills about 42% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.

The sun sets over the sea in October–March; in mid-December it goes down at 16:20 local time on a bearing of 238°.

Straight out to the south-south-west the next coast is roughly 200 km away, so waves are mostly wind-driven sea rather than ocean swell.

About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 22 m deep and 31 m at 3 km. Behind the beach the ground is about 18 m above sea level 500 m inland and 0 m at 1.5 km, a flat coastal plain.

Within 1 km, the land is 47% built-up land, 42% tree cover and 8% grassland (satellite land-cover map, 2021): an urban beach. Water makes up 35% of that circle.

  • Built 47%
  • Tree 42%
  • Grass 8%
MonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Sunset over seayesyesyes––––––yesyesyes
Sunrise over sea––––––––––––

Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.

Getting there

Airports with scheduled flights
AirportCodeDistanceDirection
Zadar Airport ZadarZAD24.3 kmnorth-west
Split Saint Jerome Airport SplitSPU75.7 kmsouth-east
Brač Airport Gornji HumacBWK117 kmsouth-east

Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.

Local transport: 3 bus stops within 1.5 km, ferry terminal Pakoštane (310 m) and 9 mapped car parks within 1 km.

4 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 10K residents); within 30 km there are 24 (about 44.2K).

From above

Satellite image of Pakoštane and its surroundings
Satellite view, 2.4 × 1.6 km centred on the beach, 2026-07-30. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026.

Around the beach

Islands in view

  • Sveta Juština 560 m S
  • Veli Školj 690 m S
  • Babuljaš 700 m SW
  • Žavinac Mali 1.9 km SE
  • Žavinac Veli 2.3 km SE

Diving & boat hire

  • Dry Marina Pakoštane 810 m N

Campsites

  • Cuka 250 m W
  • Kozarica 600 m NW
  • Renata-Nina 650 m NW
  • Camp Korina 770 m SE
  • Camp California 790 m W
  • Camp Twins Pakoštane 800 m E

Map and nearby beaches

Loading map…

Open in OpenStreetMap · Directions in Google Maps

Compared with the nearest beaches
BeachDistanceWarmest seaLengthSurface
Pakoštane–24.2 °C296 m–
Plaža Pilatuša1.7 km NW24.2 °C152 m–
Plaža Podvrške10.8 km SE24.2 °C198 m–

Data on this page

  • Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
  • Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 10.2 km away.
  • Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w114379244; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
  • Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
  • Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
  • Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2C_33TWJ_20260730_0_L2A.
  • Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
  • Bathing-water quality: European Environment Agency (site HRBW1-COAST-HR4-4109).
  • Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
  • Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
  • Search popularity: about 590 Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).

Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.