The paper describes nautical ports, especially marinas, the market opportunities (the trends) in this sector and future challenges. The nautical sector has a turnover of about €28 billion, and in 2014 it provided employment to at least 200 000 people. The most important groups within nautical tourism are nautical ports, especially marinas, then charter and cruising. The development of nautical ports is strictly related with their infrastructure. In order for the nautical sector to sustain, it must work on improvement of the provision of quality services and a diverse and creative offer. One of the goals of achieving sustainable development of Croatia, the Maritime Development and Integral Maritime Policy Strategy of the Republic of Croatia for the Period 2014 - 2020 has been developed. This document deals with various issues of improving nautical tourism. The nautical sector is on the rise and there are not many rough problems affecting the sector, but places need to be found to improve services. There are many current nautical activities in Croatia, such as diving, kiteboarding, kayaking, canoeing or windsurfing. Croatia is a desirable nautical destination that attracts an increasingly rich clientele from year to year, which is ready to spend a lot of resources for personal demands. In the future, it is necessary to invest more in innovation, the use of new materials, new production techniques, new technologies, and as it seems, the growing demand in the nautical tourism market is going in that direction.