Sailing in Croatia is always beautiful, and every month, every different season, has something special about it. June is for many of our guests a favourite month to spend a week (or two 😊) of sailing in Split archipelago, especially if they seek for more bearable summer temperatures without too much crowd. And although with weather you can never be sure, and even the typically very hot and sunny summer months can have a rainy and a windy day, still the average June temperatures in Dalmatia are around 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit). Statistically, 20 degrees is the lowest average temperature at night, and 27 degrees is the highest average temperature in daytime, and there are on average only 5 days with rain. Just to make it clear, for people in Split, a rainy day means an hour or less of summer showers a day. Everything more than that we call a weather disaster. With around 300 hours of sunshine, June days are sunny, sea is warm and inviting, and the feeling in the air is of a full blossoming summer.
For people, however, June is just a peek into the holiday life. It is divided in two different parts where the feeling in the air shifts sometime around the 20th, when the school is over, diplomas are ceremoniously handed, and the local people in towns pack their children and send them to the islands to spend school holidays with grandparents.
Much later in my life I discovered that you can swim even before the school finishes, and the sea gets warm much earlier than our parents used to tell us. But all through my school years, the last day of school was finally the time when we could play freely all day long, wear shorts and flip flops, and go swimming whenever we wanted. And there is something special about that ‘season opening’ jump into the sea. No matter how old we get, for us it will always symbolise some other, carefree time, when it meant that we can forget about school, tasks, obligations, about too much clothes and lastly –shoes. For us it has always been and it will always be a jump into something new, like the beginning of a new year.
June also has a special psychological meaning to us since days keep getting longer and longer and with every ray of sunshine you feel more optimism in the air. It all culminates on the first day of summer, when daylight is on until 9pm and it seems that nature around you would burst from so much comprised energy.
That abundance of life is felt in food also; just visit a local open market where people sell their homegrown vegetables, like spinach, artichokes, zucchini, peppers… and heavenly tomatoes. The smell and the colour of a ripe June tomato on a market stall will make you want to eat it right away. No spices or salad dressings are needed, proving that a tomato is more a fruit than a vegetable. Just bite and close your eyes while it melts in your mouth. And don’t skip tasting the best fruit ever- huge and crispy sweet cherries (the best ones locally are from Kastela or Tugare).
While walking around in Split and on the islands, don’t forget to include a visit to fish markets. Nice weather throughout spring brings fish from deeper waters closer to the surface, so the result is much more fish found daily in local fishermen’s nets. Try cooking it on the boat, or choose daily fresh fish on offer in restaurants.
The average sea temperature in June in Split is 22-23 degrees Celsius (72-73 degrees Fahrenheit), so it is perfectly pleasant and not too warm as in July and August. Apart from being a place for swimming, relaxing, and having fun, jumping into sea is the best way to refresh and, in a way, restart your body and mind during a hot sunny day. And in June you’ll get exactly that- a perfect ratio between air and sea temperature, and hot sun rays softened by gentle breeze. As for winds, they are one of the main reasons why sailors love coming here in June. It is normally calm at night and during the day it is windy just enough to get you from one place to another with your sails up.
And lastly, if you want to save some money, choose the earliest possible week, since the prices are quite dependant on part of the season.
To conclude, June is for many people a favourite summer month to sail in Croatia due to a perfect combination of pleasant temperatures, long sunny days and favourable winds. If you want to avoid crowds and save some money, aim for early June and get your summer going with the most relaxing and interesting holiday you can imagine!