The verdict is in and the result is excellent. The European Environment Agency just published a report on the quality of bathing water in Europe in 2014 and Croatia was one of only six nations rated excellent. Congratulations!

This link tells you more about the criteria, how the quality of the water has evolved over the years and links to governmental resources but naturally you want to know which are the cleanest beaches in Croatia.

This interactive map rates every single beach in Croatia: islands, coast, inland. Nearly all get the coveted blue icon for excellent water quality but there are a few exceptions. The green icon signifies “good” water; yellow means “sufficient” and red means “poor”. To save you time, I’ll point them out here:

• Istrian beaches are  excellent except for one small site near Medulin: AC Stupice which is rated “poor”
• In Rijeka, Kantrida – Rekreacijski centar 3. Maj and Kantrida Zapad in the south are rated “good”. In between is Kantrida istok whose water is rated as “sufficient”
• In Opatija, Hotel Kristal and KupaliÅ¡te Slatina are rated “good”
• Skradin on the Krka river is rated as “sufficient”
•  Ciovo across from Trogir at Duhanska Stanica is rated as “good”
• Split beaches are excellent but  further north in Kastela, Stari and Kambelovac are rated as “good” while Gomilica Torac is “sufficient”. Gomilica Kamp and Sucurac are “poor”.
• On the Makarska Riviera, the beach near Hotel Nimfa is rated as “good”
• On Korcula Island, the beach water at Prigradica is rated as “good” (probably because of the ferries)
• Ploce on the coast has water rated as “good” on the north side and “sufficient” on the south side (again probably because of the ferries)
• Polace on Mljet Island has “good” bathing water (also because of boats)
• Dubrovnik beaches are excellent but north of Dubrovnik, the beach at Mali Zaton is rated as “good”

So what are Croatia’s best beaches? Find out!