I am planning a trip to Croatia in September and will be travelling from Zagreb to Dubrovnik and returning through Zagreb. I am interested in spending 3 or 4 nights on an island with a nice beach and perhaps ferry service to other islands for day trips. My mainland itinerary is pretty much settled, but I am in information overload as far as the selection of an island goes. Also, can anyone reassure me that it is still warm enough to enjoy the beach in mid or late September? Thanks.

I was in Dubrovnik in the second week of Sept. last year - the water was great, it was still pretty warm. As for islands - this year I'm going to Hvar. It's centrally located - plenty of islands nearby for day trips. The island itself has plenty to explore also.

Had major problems posting since I returned from Croatia two weeks ago. Trying this before I waste any more time.

O.K. we seem to be working tonight.
What do you want in a nice beach? The major drawback for me was that most beaches are either pebble or rock. In the space of two weeks we found two sandy beaches but the amount of shade was negligible- another problem.At the end of the day some of our best swimming trips were to v. small islands just for the purpose of swimming. e.g. Lokrum off Dubrovnik and Marinkovac off Hvar.Both of these had ample shade but no sandy beach but each was rather nice,. Lokrum has a ruined monastery and you can walk right around the island which gives you great views of Dubrovnik and a cafe(not the restaurant)with home made bread .Marinkovac had a restaurant where the boat stops with a fantastic looking menu and other restaurants also. Again there was enough shade but there were loads of cigarette butts everywhere so your towel was stinking afterwards.
The sandy beaches Lumbarda on Korcula, and the Lopar peninsula on Rab were lovely in that the sand was clean and the water very clear.

We were in Croatia last year in late September / early October and it was beautiful. There was a beautiful babypowder sandy beach that we went to that in the town of Zuljana. It is close to Ston and Mali Ston on the Peljezak penninsula close to Dubrovnik. It isn't an island, but it was beautiful. I think my wife and I were the only two tourist in town.

We also were in Hvar, and that has some beautiful beaches, but they were rocky. We both loved it there.