Nautical tourism is marked by the travel of tourists by waterways for rest and recreation and their consent to marinas and harbors. In the tourist market, nautical tourism occupies a significant place in the development of tourism in general, mainly due to the use of natural resources. Over the last twenty years, in Croatia and on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, it is developing in the right direction. In the Republic of Croatia nautical tourism has not developed at the same speed as in other countries, but Croatia has the ideal conditions to become the leading nautical country or destination. The most important advantages are the indented coast, the attractiveness of the coast and the island, the clear sea and the geographical position, but despite that, Croatian nautical tourism lags behind other tourist countries and has not yet taken on a significant market place in the Mediterranean. Another important factor for the development of nautical tourism is the material base, resources and material construction, which implies the construction of new facilities and the expansion of existing, modernization and adaptation. Many economic tourism development experts believe that nautical tourism is only in the early phase and that it is insufficiently represented in tourism science. The aim of the work is to explain nautical tourism, its kind and economic significance, which represents the consumption of tourists in the places they visit.