The Adriatic spans from the Balkan to the Apennine peninsula. The Adriatic Sea got it's name from an ancient port of the same name. The part belonging to the Republic of Croatia is the east coast, which extends all the way from Prevlaka in the south to cape Savudrija in the west, including all islands, islets and cliffs along the coast, and the archipelago of Palagruza (the number of islands, islets and cliffs is more than 1700). This is a unique area in Europe for cruising and enjoying the underwater world.

Climate At the Adriatic, climate is mediterranean, with mild rainy winters, and hot dry summers. The air temperature changes depending on the area. Thus, summer temperatures in July will be about 34°C in the northern part, while in the southern part it will rise upto 38°C. In the winter, the coldest temperatures are noticed in the northern Adriatic (up to -16°C), while they will not have exceeded 6°C in the southern part.

Winds The Adriatic region is challenging forecast region, mainly because it is surrounded by complex mountainous topography. There are number of indentified localized winds but bora, sirocco and north-western wind blow most often.

• Bora Bora is a dry and cold wind blowing in bursts from the north-northeast to the east-northeast direction. Bora may be associated with stormy weather, with wind reaching 100 knots or more. The direction in which the wind blows is mostly influenced by the configuration of the shore. The strength of bora is explained by the existence of warm air over the surface of the sea, and a cold layer of air above mountain ranges in the littoral, which cause a strong streaming due to equating of the pressure. Cold air tends to fill the void, which occurs due to the rising of the warm air from the sea surface.
• Sirocco Sirocco is a warm and moist wind which blows from the east-southeast to south-southwest direction.Sirocco brings high waves and rain. This wind is a characteristic for the southern Adriatic, where it blows longer and stronger than in the northern part. In the summer, it usually blows for couple of days, and in the winter it can last for couple of weeks. The signs of the oncoming sirocco are the calmness of the sea, weak changeable winds, and dimness of the horizon, the increase of the temperature and moisture, and the gradual decrease of the pressure.
• Landward Breeze The landward breeze is a daily, thermic wind blowing from the direction of the northwest, and arises as the land and the sea heat at a different rate. It occurs from the spring to the autumn, and during the day, it often changes the direction. The landward breeze blows more in the southern Adriatic than in the northern Adriatic.
• Stiff Breeze The stiff breeze is a wind opposite of the landward breeze. It blows during the night from the direction of the north, north-east in the northern Adriatic, and in the southern Adriatic, from the east or south-east. It's at its peak before the dawn, and subsides over the night.

Waves Waves occur primarily as the consequence of wind blowing over the water surface. Their intensity depends on the configuration and the exposure of the coast. Hence mixing of the surface layer with water from the deep is enabled, and the interaction between the atmosphere and the sea. We distinguish the crest and the trough of a wave. The length of the wave is the distance between two troughs. Most often, heights of waves in the Adriatic are between 0.5 and 1.5 meters, and they very rarely exceed 5 meters.

Tides In the Adriatic, the high and low tides have relatively small amplitudes. In the southern part, the difference is rarely above 0.4 meter, while in the northern part it is somewhat bigger, up to 1 meter in Istria and the Gulf of Trieste. In some narrow channels and bays, the high tide can grow considerably during a strong sirocco. That phenomenon is characteristic for big and deep bays of the southern Adriatic. The tides are of a mixed type, which means that their rhythm is semidiurnal during the new and the full moon, and of a daily type during the first and the last quarter. Their amplitudes are very irregular.

Currents Sea currents occur under the influence of winds, the difference in pressure, temperature, and the differences in salinity. With respect to the direction, they can be horizontal or vertical. There are also bottom currents which happen as the consequence of water circulating from warmer areas to colder ones, during which the surface layer gets cold and descends towards the seabed. Currents are weakly observable in the Adriatic. The speed of currents changes in particular areas, but it also depends on time periods. The average speed of currents is about 0.5 knots, but they can also rise up to 4 knots.