Novalja · Stara Novalja
Hyper-local readings for the Novalja and Stara Novalja stretch of Pag: sea temperature, air, wind, waves, UV and a seven-day forecast. Updated daily. The closed Stara Novalja bay has its own quirks, and we cover those too.
Refreshing. A few seconds of "ah!" then fine.
clear, 0% cloud
Right now
High UV (sunscreen, hat, shade midday).
Humid: feels warmer than the temp says.
No rain expected.
Sea temperature
Daily minimum and maximum sea surface temperatures from the Open-Meteo marine model. The shaded band shows each day's range; the line traces the daily high.
Today: 17 to 18°C · Refreshing. A few seconds of "ah!" then fine.
Seven days ahead
Daily highs and lows for air, sea, waves and wind. Combined with the live conditions above, this is enough to pick a swim day from a hike day.
Local microclimate
Two bays sit minutes apart on the north-west of Pag, but they open in opposite directions, and they react to the same wind in opposite ways. The marine readings on this page are for Novalja bay, where most beachgoers head.
A long inlet running south from Planjka beach down to Novalja town. Opens to the south.
South wind (jugo) → warmer water. Surface currents follow the wind, bringing warm Adriatic water straight into the bay. The classic Mediterranean pattern.
North wind (bura) → cooler and choppier. Same direction as the bay's mouth.
A small, sheltered pocket on the other side of Pag's headland. Opens to the north.
South wind → colder bay water. Pag's headland blocks the south, so the warm surface water gets pushed OUT and cooler water replaces it.
North wind → warmer bay water. The opposite of what you'd guess. If you want a warm bay swim, hope for a north breeze.
Practical: the live readings on this page apply to Novalja bay (Planjka, Babe, town). If you're swimming in Stara Novalja bay itself, expect roughly 1 to 2°C warmer with a north wind and 1 to 2°C cooler with a south wind compared to what's shown above.
Plan your day
Plain-language read of the numbers above, translated into "is it a swim day, a hike day, or a stay-on-the-terrace day?"
Refreshing. A few seconds of "ah!" then fine.
Glassy calm, like a lake.
Light N breeze. The umbrellas barely move.
Stara Novalja sits on the lee side of the island, sheltered from north-east bura winds. Most summer days are calm; if it does blow, the bay stays swimmable.
High UV (sunscreen, hat, shade midday).
Pag has very little summer cloud cover, so the UV peaks midday. Plan beach time before 11 AM or after 4 PM, or use a parasol.
When to visit
Typical Adriatic patterns around Pag. The sea lags air temperature by about a month, so September swims often feel warmer than May ones, even when the air is the same.
Spring swim tip
In May and early June, head straight to Planjka beach and stay close to the shore. The shallow water there warms up faster than the open sea, often a couple of degrees warmer than the readings on this page suggest. Walk out a few metres into the deeper part and you'll feel the difference instantly.
Why: shallow water has less mass to heat up, and the sandy bottom near Planjka holds the day's sun. Mid-summer the whole bay catches up and it stops mattering. In spring, though, the warmest swim of the day is usually within a stride of the beach.
FAQ
The questions guests actually ask before booking, answered with today's data and seasonal context.
Right now the sea is 18°C in Novalja bay (the inlet that runs from Novalja town up to Planjka beach). Today's range is 17°C to 18°C, from Open-Meteo's marine model. Stara Novalja bay (the separate, north-opening pocket on the other side of the headland) can run 1 to 2°C warmer or cooler depending on wind direction (see below).
The Adriatic around Pag warms up steadily from May through September. Late July and August are the warmest, when the sea typically sits between 24°C and 27°C. June and September are still very swimmable (21 to 24°C). October cools down quickly. May and early June are refreshing rather than warm, usually 17 to 20°C.
Pag has a Mediterranean climate: long, hot, dry summers and mild winters. From June to September, expect daytime highs of 27 to 32°C, low humidity, and very little rain. The signature wind is the bura (cool, strong, from the north-east). Uncommon in summer but worth checking before a sailing day.
Stara Novalja sits in a sheltered bay on the lee side of the island, so wave conditions are usually mild, often under 0.3 m. The bay protects against the open Adriatic chop, which makes it good for swimming, SUP, and families with kids. The neighbouring Planjka beach (800 m away) faces the same protected stretch of water.
Today the sun rises at 05:30 and sets at 20:23 (Europe/Zagreb time). Mid-summer brings ~15 hours of daylight; mid-winter ~9 hours.
Open-Meteo snaps the marine query to its nearest model grid cell. For us that is roughly 44.54° N, 14.875° E, inside Novalja bay (the south-opening inlet with Planjka and Babe beaches). Surface weather is a blend of national services for the same area. The values are accurate for Novalja bay; Stara Novalja bay on the other side of the headland has its own microclimate (see the section above). Data is rebuilt daily.
Counterintuitive but real: most of the Adriatic warms up with a south wind because surface currents bring warm southern water along the coast. Stara Novalja bay, however, opens to the north, and Pag's headland blocks the south. South wind pushes the bay's warm surface water OUT and cooler water replaces it. North wind (bura) does the opposite: it nudges water back into the bay and the temperature creeps up. The neighbouring Novalja bay (where Planjka beach sits, at the head of the inlet running up from Novalja town) opens to the south, so it follows the normal pattern: warmer with the south, cooler with the north.
Guests
Verified Airbnb reviews from 2017 to 2025, on our previous listings. About these reviews →
Very nice hosts — they greeted us every day with a smile and were so accommodating with all our questions. The apartment is near the beach, in a quiet part of town. We used the kitchen and terrace a lot for our meals. Everything was in perfect order. Thank you.
A wonderful holiday has come to an end! It was a beautiful stay with such attentive hosts (Miroslav and family) who always had an ear for us, no matter what we asked. He even handled the communication for us when booking a trial dive for my granddaughter. As helpful as anyone could hope for. If we ever come back to Croatia, we already know where we'll be staying 😉 Happy to come back any time — we really enjoyed our time here. Thank you for the lovely stay 🙏
A lovely place to stay. Especially if you're heading to Sonus festival!
Stay where the sea is two minutes away
Two family apartments in a Dalmatian garden. Same bay, same readings, checked daily by the people who live in it.