Currently, in 21. century, we are facing many challenges, one of which is the establishment of sustainable economic development. Nautical tourism as one of the initiator of valorization of the Croatian coast also faces the challenges of sustainable development. In order for nautical tourism to bring benefits in the future, both at the national and local level, it is necessary to adopt a quality strategy for sustainable development of nautical tourism that will improve the quality of domestic nautical tourism in the Mediterranean environment. The most crucial factor of nautical tourism is certainly the port of nautical tourism, or marina, where the activity of renting a boat takes place, but there are many other activities related to the port of nautical tourism such as boat repair and maintenance services, hotels, shops , various catering facilities and much more. In order not to jeopardize the possibility of future generations enjoying the benefits of nautical tourism ports, when managing marinas and when planning the design of new ones, it is necessary to keep in the mind the concept of sustainable development, primarily related to the protection of natural and cultural heritage.