An article about holidaying on Hvar Island is winner of this year’s The Guardian’s Readers’ writing competition: summer holidays.

Subtitled as “Dana Smith thought she had a cove on the island of Hvar, Croatia, to herself – until a naked woman emerged from a cave“, the article was published in travel supplement of last week’s Guardian.

Read the whole article here + click to see large photo of the article

From next summer’s swimming season, Šibenik will get the brand new city beach  – Beach Banj (aka gradska plaza Banj) – a modern beach covering the area of 12000 m2, located just few minutes walk from the Sibenik city centre.

The proposal for new city beach also includes promenade, restaurants and bars, changing rooms, showers, a playground, a beach / sandy volleyball court, a basketball court, a skateboarding ground and a free climbling wall.

The beach vistors will also enjoy a views over the old city and the dome of Cathedral Sveti Jakov (included in UNESCO heritage list)

At the nighttime, the beach will turn into an open air cinema as well as stage for concerts and similar events.

The new Sibenik beach is planned to be functional by Summer 2012.

See more photos of future beach in Sibenik here + check other Beaches in Croatia

This supercool beach club (sunbeds £24pp, cabanas from £31pp) on Croatia’s trendiest island is about scene, rather than sand — you step straight from its graceful bathing deck into the turquoise waters of Amfora Bay. The pure-white 1930s colonnade, shaded by scented pine stands, was built so the jet set had somewhere to strut while soaking up the stunning views of the surrounding Adriatic isles.

These days, Kevin Spacey and Giorgio Armani help ensure that the vibe remains ultra-glam. Sunbathe, swim, book a seafront massage or nibble sushi on the muslin-draped teak terrace. It’s like a tiny slice of St Tropez without the sleaze. Best for: stars, star-spotters. Details: the sleek, sophisticated Adriana (00 385 21 750200, suncanihvar.com), a pleasant stroll away from the beach club, has doubles from £180, B&B. The most convenient airport is Split: airlines flying there include Jet2 (0871 226 1737, jet2.com) and EasyJet (easyjet.com). Hvar is a two-hour, £4 ferry ride (jadrolinija.hr).

See which other hottest European beaches for 2010 are recommended – read the whole article + More info: About Hvar Island,  Map and timetables of all ferries to Hvar , other hotels on Hvar Island , about Adriatic Sea, about other Croatian Islands

Apart from seaside beaches, blue flags are fluttering on seven continental beaches this year: the Aquacity beach near Varaždin and beaches of the sports and recreational centre Jarun in Zagreb.

The criteria for awarding the Blue Flag for beaches are high water quality, the regular measurement of the water quality and availability of data about it, the existence of rules of conduct and educational programs, the safety of swimmers and insurance of measures aimed at preventing or reacting to cases of ecological disasters. The beaches also need to have access to drinking water, and at least one beach within a city or municipality needs to ensure access to the beach and sanitation facilities for the disabled.

The criteria for awarding the Blue Flag to marinas have been specially devised, and they include protection of the environment, high-level development and facilities, educational programs and sanitation facilities.

The Blue Flag Programme is owned and run by the Copenhagen-based independent non-profit organisation Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE).

In yesterday’s article in The Mirror, titled ‘Go to Croatia for sunshine beaches and cheap prices’, the author writes about holidaying in Dalmatian coastal resort of Baska Voda and at Island of Brac.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

I’m standing at Vidova Gora, the highest point on the Croatian island of Brac, looking down on a world that seems to have turned Wedgwood blue. Distant horizons merge into a hazy blue sky that blurs into a lazy blue sea.
Far below is the seaside resort of Bol and the stunningly beautiful beach of Zlatni Rat… I wake to a wonderful sight from my window, a tumble of white stone houses with terracotta roofs, to my right are the Biokovo Mountains, to my left the Adriatic Sea… Read the whole article here + check other Beaches in Croatia

In the travel section of Saturday’s The Guardian, in the article ‘Europe’s best beach cabins for less then £50 a night’ , two cottages from Croatia are featured, while the main photo of the article features pebble beach Pupnatska Luka located at the south shores of Korcula Island. This is an excerpt from the article:

• Vesna’s Cottage, Lapad, Dubrovnik:  On the lush Lapad peninsula, 3km north-west of Dubrovnik, this enchanting little cottage is nestled within a walled garden, surrounded by caper bushes and shaded by towering bamboo. Inside, vases overflowing with jasmine cuttings from the garden offset the cottage’s contemporary turquoise and emerald walls. Owners Vesna, a local mountaineering expert, and Maro, an artist and scuba-diving instructor (blueplanet-diving.com), live next door. The cottage has air-conditioning and Wi-Fi, but as it’s metres from Dubrovnik’s port, with swimming beaches only a walk away, you probably won’t be spending much time indoors: 00385 20 356 078, vesna-cottage.com. From €175pp pw, based on four sharing. Nearest airport: Dubrovnik.
• Veli Rat, Dugi Otok island, Croatia:  Unlike some lighthouses, Veli Rat isn’t completely isolated, idyllic though that may sound. Instead of a pricey private speedboat ride to get there, guests can hop on a local ferry from Ryanair’s Croatian hub at Zadar, 60 miles north of Split. The two apartments below the lighthouse tower are basic, but the setting is sublime, with wide ocean views from the deserted pebbly beach. Walkers can take in the two nearby national parks. And bring a snorkel: there’s plenty to see, shipwreck included, in the crystal clear waters off Dugi island: 00385 12 415 611, adriatica.net. From €255pp pw based on four sharing. Nearest airport: Zadar.

Read the whole article here

According to published report, the Adriatic Sea in Croatia meets the rigid criteria of the Provision on quality standards of the sea and is of high quality and suitable for swimming.

The Programme that began 12 years ago  was conducted by authorised laboratories and included 890 examination points.

The final results shows that about 1.3 % of the sea is moderately polluted , while none is assessed as highly polluted sea.

To read detailed info about quality ofthe sea in Croatia, download the 20 page .pdf document/ report here + read more about Beaches in Croatia

The baroque town of Varaždin, popular for its rich cultural facilities and a unique atmosphere, has supplemented its tourist assets with another one – the Varaždin Sea, a sport & recreation center including two lakes and the Aquacity Beach, which was awarded within the Croatian National Tourist Board’s campaign for the tidiest continental beach.

The Sport & Recreation Center Aquacity has facilities for divers and yachtsmen on the big lake, while fishermen can enjoy themselves on the small lake. The center also includes six tennis courts and three courts under a balloon for tennis in wintertime. In addition to tennis courts, the center has courts for other sports such as football, handball, beach volley, etc.

The level of development and facilities of the beach are confirmed by the fact that it has flown the International Blue Flag for six consecutive years. The beach is also suitable for disabled people and offers  many facilities.

A separate part of the swimming area is intended for non-swimmers and there are also special playgrounds for children. The catering facilities are also a common reason for visitors to come thanks to a rich gastro offer and the magnificent nature and landscaping, making Aquacity a popular excursion estination for both the residents of Varaždin and visitors alike.

Read more about other Croatian Beaches

Medveja Beach is located in bay of Medveja  – a small fishermen’s village on Opatija Riviera, situated at the foot of Ucka Nature Park, in vicinity of Lovran and Opatija.

The Opatija-based company Hemingway Bar has been granted a 10-year concession for this pebble beach, which should be transformed into the best-equipped beach in the Adriatic. The concession covers around 50 thousand square meters, the sea part accounting for 31 000, and the land part accounting for the rest. The onshore concession includes two catering facilities – a bar and a pizzeria with a terrace.

The Medveja Beach will be renovated and divided into several parts as early as summer 2008. One section will be intended for swimming and open to everyone, another section will be provided for children, and a part of the beach will
offer onshore and offshore sporting options.

In addition, a part of the area will offer luxurious accommodation options – small houses with baldachins, big screen TVs and special service. Food from the restaurant will be delivered across the beach, and Internet access and laptops available on the beach, a first in Croatia. In addition, the beach will offer massage and beauty treatments, aerobics and beach parties.

The complete renovation works of the beach are expected to be completed by the summer of 2009, when beach will employ about 100 people.

The Hemingway Bar Company has bars in Zagreb , Rijeka and Opatija.

More info about Kvarner + Primorsko Goranska County Tourist Board site : www.kvarner.hr

The Environmental Policy Centre of the Yale University released a report with a global list of 149 countries ranked by environmental performance, according to the Environmental Performance Index (EPI).

On the list Croatia is ranked at the 20th place with index of 84.6 out of 100 points.

The best ranked country is Switzerland (95.5 points), followed by Sweeden, Norway, Finland and Cosarica. The worst ranked countries are Mali (44.3), Mauritania (44.2), Sierra Leone (40.0), Angola (39.5) and Niger (39.1)

The EPI index measures emission of carbon and sulfur, water purity and conservation practices.

Under the title ” The 53 Places to Go in 2008“, in its travel supplement , New York Times writes about where to go in 2008 and at 11th place (see above image) recommends Hvar as “the St. Tropez of Croatia“

” What’s on your travel itinerary in the new year? From a new luxury hotel in Laos (where you can take in the view of ancient temples from a chaise lounge by the infinity pool) to the waterfront night clubs of Hvar (the St. Tropez of Croatia) to Death Valley (where recent heavy rains have some flower bloggers speculating on a dazzling spring bloom next year), the travel choices for global nomads have never been more varied. ” writes NY Times in the very introduction of the article..

With accompanied photo of Komiza Beach (btw – Komiza is a place on the Island of Vis – not Hvar), Hvar is described in the following passage :

” As Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast has become a new Riviera, Hvar has become its St.-Tropez: a tiny village that fills with yachts and international partyers over the summer. While the waterfront Carpe Diem (www.carpe-diem-hvar.com) remains the island’s night-life center, narrow stone alleys are lined with chic cocktail lounges and hotel terraces, including the rooftop pool at the new Adriana hotel, Croatia’s first Leading Small Hotels of the World member (www.suncanihvar.com/adriana).”

Link to the article + More info about Dalmatia and other Islands of Croatia

Under the statement “A plague of invasive algae is testing countries’ willingness to work together to save their marine heritage and tourist industries”, Bojana Stanišić writes :

“The pristine waters of the Adriatic have long been the boast of the countries with coastlines alongside it. Azure in colour and much cleaner than the adjoining Mediterranean, they are a major draw for the growing numbers of foreigners holidaying in Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro and more recently, Albania. With the decline of heavy industry in all, these waters constitute a precious economic asset.

Now they face a new danger. Year by year, an insidious green underwater predator is making its stealthy advance, disturbing the marine environment as it does so and turning pristine sandy and rocky seabeds into thick carpets of waving green fronds.

The state of the once clear waters around the Ligurian island of Elba is a stark warning of what the Adriatic may expect. Formerly home to beds of dazzling coral and molluscs, they were a paradise for divers. “Today, no one goes there for diving,” Professor Francesco Cinelli, a marine biologist at the University of Pisa, laments, peering into the water at the village of Marina di Pisa. “The seabed is covered by a green carpet”, he explains.

Professor Cinelli is talking about Caulerpa Racemosa, an invasive algae that has spread like wildfire in the Mediterranean, and now threatens to do the same in the Adriatic.” … read the rest of the article

This year Croatian police officers will again be joined by their colleagues from other European countries in maintaining safety.

After the excellent results of last year’s cooperation with their Hungarian colleagues, whose joint safety improvement project on Croatian beaches won top marks, cooperation has this year been established with police officers from six European countries: Hungary, France, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia and the German Federal State of Bavaria.

The arrival of four police officers is expected from each of the countries, to be deployed in areas with the highest concentrations of tourists from their respective countries.

So it is expected that the Austrian police officers will make their way to Opatija, while the other European police officers will head out to areas across all of Dalmatia. Their roles will be above all that of interpreters, given that the Croatian legislative framework does not give then wide authorities, but that will be enough for tourists from their countries to feel safer.

Besides on beaches, the European colleagues will join their Croatian colleagues in daily tours of highways and the coastal area in the recently established mobile units.

The project is the only one of its kind in Europe made by joining efforts of the Ministry of the Interior of Croatia, the Croatian National Tourism Board and the Ministry of the Sea, Tourism, Transport and Development of Croatia.

The club community of popular night clubs Aquarius, Papaya and  Kalypso, all located at Zrce Beach, Island of Pag are delighted with this news, as previous years there were some problems between autorities and party goers as local authorities wanted parties to switch off music at 3.30 am.

According to the recent changes in law, all clubs that are located out of the populated areas can work 24/7 in period between 01.06 and 01.10.

Well done Kalmeta !!!

In its seductive introduction to the article about “your perfect stretch of sand” , Sunday Times says:

… Close your eyes and think of your best ever summer holiday…Whatever your idea of the perfect beach, you’ll find it here. We’ve scoured the coastlines of Europe and the UK to find 20 of the best beach holidays. So what on earth are you waiting for?

Baska Voda beach resort is introduced to Sunday Times’s readers with following text:

Baska Voda – Croatia:  The southern Dalmatian coast is dotted with delightful shingle and pebble strands that look out at the limpid Adriatic Sea. But despite the intense competition in this area, the Blue Flag Baska Voda beach — which sits in the lee of the pink-hued Biokovo mountains — is one of the undoubted hot spots. The Krka National Park and the islands of Hvar — with its cool harbourside bars and superb architecture — and Brac are all within easy reach.

The article also recommends  Aparthotel Milenij, as the best place to stay (http://www.hotel-milenij.com/), located just a few yards from the beach and a five-minute walk from the old fishing village of Baska Voda itself.