Increasing demand for cruises attracts growing interest in this type of nautical tourism. The popularity of cruises is due to an increase in demand for active holidays, and they offer the best value for money compared to other forms of holiday. The development of cruises in coastal Croatia is due to the indented coastline, the development of towns along the coast, the preservation of the Adriatic Sea, and the long maritime tradition. In this paper, the emphasis is placed on sea cruises in coastal Croatia. The aim of the work is to identify, on the basis of available data and development so far, the direction and speed of the cruise market, and the possibilities for further development. The theoretical part of the work defines the concept of nautical tourism, the concept and types of cruises, and describes the supply and demand for cruises. The effects of the cruise market in coastal Croatia are analyzes, SWOT analysis is performed and possibilities for further development are described. The last part analyses four selected destinations where a cruise is present in order to compare natural resources, primary and secondary offers, and ways of promoting this type of travel. It was found that Croatia has much more potential for developing the cruise market. The greatest potential is the development of primary capacities such as ports and ships, and the promotion of destinations should be raised to a higher level. Development is encouraged by the development of cruise development strategies for each destination, but their implementation is deficient.