Whether it be big or small, investment in Croatia with the help of European Union funds continues to keep the country's offer competitive.

As Morski writes on the 17th of November, 2018, in one port area in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, the biggest investment cycle so far has begun. ​​Of the massive 150 million kuna investment, as much as 60 million kuna are the projects of the County Port Authority of Crikvenica, and works in Jadranovo, Crikvenica and Selce will begin next week, according to HRT Radio Rijeka.

The project's contractors are Crikvenica Construction and Rijeka BSK Commerce. The completion of the port extension has been announced in Crikvenica for eighteen months time, that in Selce will be done in five years, and in Jadranovo, the expected time limit is one year, with the overall desire for it to be completed before next summer.

Speaking generally, investment in Croatia is a hugely important step in continually improving the country's already rich offer, and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County has not launched such a large investment cycle in its coastal area ever, County Prefect Zlatko Komadin said. This year, 40 million kuna's worth of works began, while the rest of the investment cycle is expected to reach 150 million kuna in the next two years. Along the coast in the Crikvenica area, there also will be works on the ports of Unije, Susak, and Cres. The views of places and cities are changing, which is already evident in Njivice (Krk) and in Novi Vinodolski, and such changes will soon also be seen in Crikvenica, noted the prefect. Komadina also pointed out that they have withdrawn most possible European Union incentives for the upcoming works.

Nada Milošević stressed that as much as 101 million kuna is coming from EU funds. "The Ministry's contingency has been extended until February the 29th next year, so we're planning to run two more projects in addition to the Crikvenica project, involving Rab and Purpurela ports, part of the fishing port and the extension of the Baška port," said Milošević.

The director of ŽLU Crikvenica, Mario Kružić, announced that in Crikvenica, the existing pier will be extended by another sixty metres, and a new western breakwater of 130 metres in length will be built to protect the port from waves. Two existing gates will be built in Selce on Polača and Stari mul, which will be 100 metres longer. In Jadranovo, the plans are the construction of a new promenade of about 400 metres in length, and in Perčin port, the communal berths will be renovated, and in the concessioned area, nautical berths will be constructed. The plan also boasts an 80-metre deep breakwater pontoon, as well as the construction of two piers at lengths of sixty metres.

Work should begin next week, and Crikvenica's administration has asked tourists and citizens alike for their patience, as heavy machinery will be moving through the city streets.

Want to keep up with more news on investment in Croatia, EU funds and other big projects? Make sure to follow our business page for much more.

Click here for the original article by Neva Funcic for HRT Radio Rijeka

The weather in Croatia and along the Adriatic can be a little bit, well, all over the place. The calm, deep blue sea is a distant memory on some days as Mother Nature whips up the waves in a way many tourists who are dedicated to visiting only during the summer months have never seen or imagined possible in Croatia. 

We recently reported on the highest waves being recorded since 2004 near Palagruža, Croatia's most remote lighthouse island. We also touched on the story of two surfers who must have had someone watching over them as they somehow managed to survive the wild Adriatic near Umag in Istria, one of them, a Slovenian national, miraculously surviving 24 hours at sea and arriving to call for help at a cafe in Trieste, Italy.

It seems the records just keep being broken by the waves as yet more are recorded during this typically unstable period for the weather in Croatia, the highest wave having been recorded near Sveti Andrija near Dubrovnik.

As Morski writes on the 1st of November, 2018, the Croatian Hydrographic Institute has recorded yet more record waves at their stations in Rovinj, Split, Ploče, and Dubrovnik. The highest, as mentioned, was recorded near the islet of Sv. Andrija, with a peak height of 9.03 metres. While it might appear out of the ordinary at first, such a huge wave being measured near this islet is not that unusual of a phenomenon for the extreme south of Dalmatia. Back in 1988, a wave actually covered the height of the crane that was once place there, once again at an impressive height of eleven metres.

The nine-metre elevated concrete bridges typical of such lighthouse islets were met with waves of exactly that height on several occasions. In one case, according to the testimony of one lighthouse keeper, a boat was lifted up by the sea before being totally destroyed.

These waves are otherwise the highest waves of the last decade, with the Croatian Hydrographic Institute reporting that the maximum wave height measured in Rovinj was eight metres, Split measured a wave of over 3 metres in height, and the station in Dubrovnik (near the islet of Sveti Andrija), the maximum recorded wave height was 9.03 metres.

The aforementioned institute stated that all of this collected and processed data will contribute to increasing the overall degree of safety of navigation in these areas, as well as lead to the creation of updated safety recommendations. This information provides the preconditions for the safe transport of people and goods to the Croatian part of the Adriatic, the management of the sea and underwater resources, and to the defense and the preservation of the environment.

Want to keep up with news on the weather in Croatia? Make sure to follow our news page.

What could have very easily been a potentially devastating story of two Croatian and Slovenian surfers who decided to take to the extremely rough and dangerous waves on the Adriatic sea a few days ago have miraculously been found safe and well. While one of the surfers, a Croatian citizen, managed to somehow reach the shore in Croatia, his Slovenian counterpart went missing, only to have managed, rather incredulously, to have survived the high seas and end up on the shore not too far from Trieste, Italy.

As we reported yesterday, the waves recorded in certain parts of the Adriatic, more specifically around Palagruža, Croatia's most remote lighthouse island, were the highest they have been since back in 2004, reaching over seven metres in height, and when the news broke that a search for the missing surfer had begun, nobody could have imagined a happy ending. Incredibly, a happy ending came.

As Index writes on the 31st of October, 2018, the alarming story of the two missing people, Croatian and Slovenian surfers, broke yesterday. As stated, things looked far from promising that afternoon, when the two surfers disappeared in the stormy sea near Umag in Istria. Almost immediately,  the search began, which was largely limited due to dangerous weather conditions wreaking havoc on both the Croatian and the Italian sides of the Adriatic sea.

Despite the fact that the situation looked dire, that very same day, after several hours of searching, the Croatian surfer was found. He managed to battle the waves, and swim to the shore, saving himself.

The search for the Slovenian surfer, 47-year-old Goran Jablanov, had to be cut short due to darkness and terrible weather conditions out at sea. The search continued yesterday morning, but ended with no results, leaving everyone naturally expecting the worst. In the afternoon, however, some truly incredible news arrived from Italy. The Slovenian surfer, after more than 24 hours stuck in the stormy sea, managed to get to the shore not far from Trieste.

During these incomprehensible 24 hours spent in a stormy sea, he managed to cover about forty kilometres, according to a report from the Italian portal Il Piccolo, which brings about some new details about the rescue of this amazingly lucky Slovenian surfer.

As the Slovenian media also writes, the surfer came out of the sea himself, arriving on the beach of Costa dei Barbari, which is located about twenty kilometres from Trieste. He simply went into a nearby cafe and called for help there. He was quickly hospitalised, but was given the okay and released that same night.

''Lucky'' doesn't quite do this situation justice!

The weather in Croatia is typically viewed as sunny, dry and calm, and even impossibly hot by most who visit in the summer months.

But just what happens when bura, jugo, and all other types of Adriatic winds decide to strike the coast? Conditions get suddenly worse, and a once calm, deep blue Adriatic sea becomes like something from the mid-Atlantic Ocean, sometimes even causing damage to the shoreline and to buildings. The sometimes dramatic turn of the weather in Croatia can therefore be a rather strange thing to witness for those who simply assume that because of the country's geographical position, that the warm summer climate is a constant one.

There are many types of winds in Croatia, all have their own sources, come from different directions, and typically occur at different times of year, and of course, we have articles dedicated to three of the main ones, click here, here, and here if you'd like to read more about them.

Palagruža is a location most people visiting the country have never heard of, it is Croatia's most remote lighthouse island, and when the wind blows and the sea becomes stormy, viewing Mother Nature's power from here is quite the experience indeed.

As Morski writes on the 30th of October, 2018, according to data taken from the State Meteorological Institute, at 20:00 last night, conditions on the sea worsened drastically and massive waves with a height of seven metres were recorded, meaning that the waves last night were the highest since back in 2004 according to that measuring station's records.

Palagruža's lighthouse keeper Vojislav Šain told Dalmacija Danas that Palagruža is completely cut off from the world, but that he doesn't particularly care about that because he has naturally become accustomed to living in such isolation on this extremely remote Croatian island.

He continued by saying that the waves were very high, but that it didn't actually rain much, and that storms from the Italian coast were moving ever closer.

Want to find out more about potentially dangerous conditions on the Adriatic and just what to watch out for when sailing in Croatia? Click here and follow Total Croatia Sailing.

Click here for the original article by Dalmacija Danas

Zlarin aims to put the environment first!

From fish to eels and loggerhead turtles, Šibenik's underwater camera continues to arouse curiosity among marine life.

September 17, 2018 — It was supposed to be a relatively harmless study. Select a 100-meter stretch of shoreline, clean it up and document the various items found.

The early results suggest a problem far grander than plastic bottle caps and grocery bags.

She's back, and as cute as ever.

The value of the transaction is estimated at approximately 21 million euro, which allegedly includes 7.5 million euro of debt.

The safe could be hiding millions in gold.