A 530-metre breakwater, 170 municipal and 198 nautical-tourism berths are officially described. But the environmental decision, permits, funding and procurement are still outstanding.
The application describes a port landscape with two functions
On 25 August 2026, the Municipality of Pakoštane applied for a full environmental impact assessment for expansion of the public port and construction of a nautical-tourism port. The environment ministry published the procedural information on 1 September.
The current version includes 170 municipal or public berths and 198 nautical-tourism berths: 368 in total across a project area of about 9.5 hectares. These figures describe the application, not berths already approved or available for booking.
The public section is more than a harbour for local boats
Alongside berths for local boats, the public section is to provide operating areas for scheduled services, fishing vessels, yachts and other ships. The nautical-tourism section is functionally separate, although both basins are assessed in one project.
The split does not yet show who will receive a berth, how allocation will work or what prices will apply. Operator, concession, reservation system and actual availability for residents are not decided in the current environmental procedure.
A 530-metre breakwater substantially changes the old project outline
The plan includes a roughly 530-metre southern main breakwater, an approximately 160-metre access pier between the eastern and western basins, a straightened western breakwater of about 110 metres and five modular floating pontoons. A semicircular section of the main breakwater is intended as a bathing area.
Both basins are to be deepened to at least three metres below reference level. The documents specify about 33,520 cubic metres of excavation and connections for water, wastewater, electricity and telecommunications. Material handling and conditions form part of the environmental assessment.
The positive nature screening is not a building permit
A preliminary screening concluded on 2 December 2025 that the project is acceptable for the ecological network. That decision is valid for four years, but replaces neither the full environmental decision nor location and building permits.
The next procedural step provides for public display of the environmental study for at least thirty days. Comments, conditions and a final environmental decision can follow only afterwards. The display had not been published by the editorial deadline.
The 2022 procedure ended through withdrawal, not rejection
An environmental procedure for the port was already under way in 2022. The municipality withdrew its application in May 2024 and the ministry closed the procedure in June. A finding of environmental unacceptability was not the reason.
The previous version must still not be mixed with the current one. It proposed 171 municipal and 199 nautical berths and a main breakwater about 290 metres long. The new application reduces the total to 368 but extends the main breakwater to roughly 530 metres.
€25 million and 2028–2032 are planning figures
The official Pakoštane Destination Management Plan 2025–2029 lists the marina with an estimated total value of €25 million and a target period of 2028–2032. EU funds are named as a possible source.
This is neither approved funding nor a financing contract. The same plan states that the feasibility and cost-benefit analysis, main design, location permit and building permit are still missing. The 2028–2032 period is therefore a strategic corridor, not a guaranteed construction schedule.
What is established today—and what nobody can reserve
The technical scale, the May 2026 environmental study, the application and the positive preliminary nature screening are documented. The final environmental decision, permits, property and concession issues, funding, procurement and construction contract remain open.
This is a seriously developed new project stage, but not a construction site or opening date. Anyone seeking a future berth can derive neither entitlement nor reservability from the figure of 368 today.
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- Environmental impact assessment – current proceduresCroatian environment ministry · checked 26 September 2026Official status and EIA procedure
- Information on the impact-assessment application – Pakoštane portCroatian environment ministry · 1 September 2026; checked 26 September 2026368 berths, area, breakwaters, pontoons, dredging, infrastructure, application and study
- Decision on acceptability for the ecological networkCroatian environment ministry · 2 December 2025; checked 26 September 2026Preliminary nature decision, precise area and four-year validity
- Decision closing the earlier procedureCroatian environment ministry · 14 June 2024; checked 26 September 2026Closure after withdrawal of the municipal application
- Information on the earlier 2022 port projectCroatian environment ministry · 27 October 2022; checked 26 September 2026Old capacity and dimensions for version comparison only
- Plan upravljanja destinacijom Pakoštane 2025.–2029.Municipality of Pakoštane · 2025; checked 26 September 2026Strategic cost estimate, target period, possible funding and outstanding project and approval stages
