Croatia / Zadar
Plaža Pilatuša
Plaža Pilatuša is a 152 m-long beach facing south-south-west, 1.8 km west of Pakoštane (Zadar, Croatia). 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.
Month by month
October at Plaža Pilatuša
Beach-day index 5.4/10 · Croatia median 4.4
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 13.8 °C | 13.0 °C | 13.1 °C | 14.5 °C | 17.7 °C | 21.5 °C | 23.8 °C | 24.2 °C | 22.2 °C | 20.4 °C | 18.1 °C | 15.8 °C |
| High °C | 8° | 9° | 13° | 17° | 22° | 27° | 30° | 30° | 24° | 19° | 14° | 10° |
| Low °C | 2° | 3° | 5° | 9° | 13° | 18° | 20° | 20° | 15° | 11° | 8° | 4° |
| Rain mm | 90 | 89 | 75 | 68 | 66 | 55 | 40 | 50 | 102 | 95 | 129 | 110 |
| Cloud % | 66 | 61 | 58 | 55 | 52 | 41 | 28 | 29 | 43 | 51 | 64 | 63 |
| Wind m/s | 4.7 | 5.1 | 4.8 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 4.6 | 4.8 |
| Daylight h | 9.2 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.1 | 12.6 | 11.1 | 9.7 | 8.9 |
| Record high/low | 15°/-9° | 17°/-10° | 22°/-9° | 25°/-1° | 32°/5° | 36°/9° | 38°/13° | 38°/11° | 34°/8° | 28°/2° | 25°/-1° | 16°/-7° |
| Beach index | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 5.9 | 8.7 | 9.4 | 9.3 | 8.2 | 5.4 | 3.2 | 2.6 |
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.
Orientation, sun and shore
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 16:21 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 30 m at 3 km. Behind the beach the ground is about 17 m above sea level 500 m inland and 34 m at 1.5 km.
Within 1 km, the land is 91% tree cover, 5% grassland and 3% built-up land (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a largely natural setting. Water makes up 46% of that circle.
- Tree 91%
- Grass 5%
- Built 3%
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 “Pilatuša Madona”, 50 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 marks nudism here as “yes”.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Photos
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- 3Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 17Public toilets
- –Showers
- 3Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 9Hotels & guesthouses
- 3Campsites
- 1Grocery shops
- 2Cash machines
- 1Viewpoints
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 1 restaurant, 1 café and 1 bar. Accommodation: 9 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
Viewpoints
- Kostelj 940 m E
Islands in view
- Babuljaš 1.4 km SE
- Oštarije 1.6 km W
- Veli Školj 1.8 km SE
- Sveta Juština 2.0 km SE
Campsites
- Camp California 760 m SE
- Renata-Nina 910 m E
- Kozarica 940 m SE
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zadar Airport Zadar | ZAD | 22.9 km | north-west |
| Split Saint Jerome Airport Split | SPU | 77.4 km | south-east |
| Brač Airport Gornji Humac | BWK | 119 km | south-east |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 3 mapped car parks within 1 km.
6 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 11.5K residents); within 30 km there are 24 (about 44.2K).
Map
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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 12.0 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w1086881257; 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 HRBWC-COAST-HR4-4107).
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 6.6K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.