If you’re dreaming of swimming in salty turquoise waters on your summer holidays in Europe, you’re not alone. You could be swimming in the Aegean Sea, sunbathing on a French beach or living the sweet life on the rocky shores of Sicily, but in between your daydreams, have you ever stopped to think about just how clean the water is?
Croatia, a tiny Balkan nation on the Adriatic Sea, claims to have the cleanest coastal waters in all of Europe, according to a new report by the European Commission and the European Environment Agency.
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The study, which used data for 2023, looked at all 27 European Union member states, as well as Switzerland and Albania, and gave Croatia the highest score. Of the 894 water bodies tested in Croatia, almost all (an astonishing 99.1%) were found to have excellent water quality.
The country’s commitment to valuing natural beauty and prioritizing environmental health is not new: In a similar report last year, Croatia received an equally impressive score of 96 percent.
Bordering Slovenia to the north and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the south, Croatia has more than 1,700 miles of mainland coastline and another 2,500 miles thanks to the more than 1,000 islands and islets in the Adriatic Sea. The Adriatic Sea, which is about 120 miles wide, separates Italy from the Balkan Peninsula and is known for its relatively calm, clear waters.
If swimming and sailing in Croatia’s amazingly clean waters is one of your summer dreams, head there now. Croatia may not yet be a popular European summer destination compared to countries like Greece and Italy, but it’s one of Europe’s top beach-lovers, attracting nearly 50 million people to its shores every year. Let’s hope they all help keep the ocean clean.
