Погода: Макарска, апрель

April here is a shoulder month in the strict sense: easier than summer on both temperature and crowds, and not yet open. Regulars warn that it is not beach weather - our row gives 19.8C air over a 15.7C sea - that many restaurants wait for May, and, most usefully, that the boats are on a winter timetable. The fast catamaran down to Dubrovnik does not start until May, the Ancona crossing skips the first twenty days of the month, and the island services run a reduced pattern. So an April itinerary has to be built from what is actually sailing. Weather is decent at 45.4mm across 5.6 days and 11.1 hours of sun. The record: 12.9C nights, humidity 70 percent and a 19.3 kph wind.

Croatia's forum describes January on the Dalmatian coast, Makarska included, as milder than the interior but still genuinely capable of freezing overnight, with the bura wind making a cold day feel considerably colder through windchill. Coastal snow is rare but does happen occasionally, and posters described the swing as wide - anywhere from around -5C on a bad night to an unusually mild 15C on a good day. Expect wet and windy stretches mixed with clear ones rather than a single consistent pattern for the whole month.

Forum posters call July genuinely hot, regularly above 30C, with the back half of the month singled out as the point where any hiking should shift to early morning or evening to avoid the worst heat. Swimming, by contrast, gets called glorious this time of year. July counts as peak season, though posters note the first half is somewhat more manageable than the crush of full August - one repeat visitor specifically contrasted a pleasant June trip against a July return that felt noticeably hotter and busier. For anyone finding the heat oppressive, posters suggest shifting to shaded activities like nearby caves and forest walks during the hottest midday hours.