Croatia / Šibenik-Knin
Plava plaža
Plava plaža is a 300 m-long pebble beach facing south-south-east on the Adriatic Sea, 1.6 km south-west of Vodice (Šibenik-Knin, Croatia). The sea averages 24.4 °C in August, its warmest month, and 13.2 °C in February; it is 21 °C or warmer in June–September. Recorded status on Wikidata: Blue Flag beach.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Month by month
October at Plava plaža
Beach-day index 4.4/10 · Croatia median 4.4
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 14.0 °C | 13.2 °C | 13.3 °C | 14.6 °C | 17.7 °C | 21.6 °C | 23.8 °C | 24.4 °C | 22.3 °C | 20.4 °C | 18.2 °C | 15.9 °C |
| High °C | 5° | 6° | 10° | 15° | 20° | 25° | 28° | 28° | 22° | 17° | 11° | 6° |
| Low °C | -2° | -2° | 1° | 5° | 10° | 14° | 16° | 16° | 11° | 7° | 4° | -1° |
| Rain mm | 91 | 86 | 74 | 70 | 69 | 59 | 39 | 52 | 95 | 94 | 125 | 110 |
| Cloud % | 66 | 61 | 58 | 55 | 52 | 41 | 28 | 29 | 43 | 51 | 64 | 63 |
| Wind m/s | 4.0 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.8 | 4.0 |
| Daylight h | 9.3 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.2 | 14.1 | 12.6 | 11.1 | 9.7 | 9.0 |
| Record high/low | 15°/-17° | 16°/-15° | 20°/-17° | 24°/-5° | 29°/0° | 34°/5° | 37°/9° | 38°/7° | 33°/2° | 27°/-3° | 24°/-6° | 14°/-15° |
| Beach index | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 5.0 | 8.5 | 9.4 | 9.3 | 7.3 | 4.4 | 3.4 | 2.8 |
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 28 °C, sea at 23.8 °C and 39 mm of rain.
That matches the median for beaches in Croatia in the same month.
Across the year the sea averages 18.3 °C, cooler than 56% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
November is the wettest month (125 mm) and July the driest (39 mm); the yearly total is about 960 mm.
Daylight runs from 9.0 hours in December to 15.4 hours in June; in mid-July the sun rises at 05:27 and sets at 20:37 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces south-south-east (165°). Open water fills about 50% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
The sun sets over the sea in November–February; in mid-December it goes down at 16:20 local time on a bearing of 238°.
Sunrise is over the sea in September–April.
Straight out to the south-south-east 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 15 m deep and 22 m at 3 km. Behind the beach the ground is about 20 m above sea level 500 m inland and 75 m at 1.5 km.
Within 1 km, the land is 50% built-up land, 22% grassland and 16% shrubland (satellite land-cover map, 2021): an urban beach. Water makes up 49% of that circle.
- Built 50%
- Grass 22%
- Shrub 16%
- Tree 11%
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.
Bathing water quality
The official EU bathing-water site “Plava Plaža Sredina”, 80 m from the beach centre, was rated Excellent for the 2025 season. It was Excellent in 11 of its 11 classified seasons since 2015.
- 2015Excellent
- 2016Excellent
- 2017Excellent
- 2018Excellent
- 2019Excellent
- 2020Excellent
- 2021Excellent
- 2022Excellent
- 2023Excellent
- 2024Excellent
- 2025Excellent
Source: European Environment Agency, EU Bathing Water Directive assessments · national site profile. Classes are based on four seasons of bacteriological sampling.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- 59Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 4Public toilets
- –Showers
- 2Drinking water
- 14Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 54Hotels & guesthouses
- 3Campsites
- 2Grocery shops
- 1Water-sports spots
- 2Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 6Cash machines
- 1Viewpoints
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 39 restaurants, 4 cafés and 16 bars. Accommodation: 54 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.
Around the beach
Attractions & museums
- Aquarium and Museum of Maritime Tradition attraction 700 m NE
Nature
- Parc National De Krka, Croatia nature reserve 890 m NE
Islands in view
- Logorun 1.8 km SW
- Tribunj 1.8 km W
- Lukovnik 2.1 km W
Diving & boat hire
- Rent a boat Jagrc 540 m E
Campsites
- Podice 180 m NE
- Vodice 280 m NE
- Camping Srdarev 290 m N
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Split Saint Jerome Airport Split | SPU | 49.0 km | south-east |
| Zadar Airport Zadar | ZAD | 50.5 km | north-west |
| Brač Airport Gornji Humac | BWK | 90.2 km | south-east |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 2 bus stops within 1.5 km, ferry terminal Vodice (650 m) and 14 mapped car parks within 1 km.
3 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 10.7K residents); within 30 km there are 15 (about 56.5K).
Map and nearby beaches
Loading map…
Open in OpenStreetMap · Directions in Google Maps
| Beach | Distance | Warmest sea | Length | Surface |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plava plaža | – | 24.4 °C | 300 m | Pebble |
| Vodice | 1.1 km NE | 24.4 °C | 641 m | Pebble |
| Plaža Podvrške | 17.3 km NW | 24.2 °C | 198 m | – |
- Vodice1.1 km NECompare
- Plaža Podvrške17.3 km NWCompare
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 16.8 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w176972942; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Water body, status and length: Wikidata (CC0).
- 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 HRBWC-COAST-HR4-3121).
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 480 Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.