Venue and Travel

The MSW ‘09 will be held at the Amfora Beach Resort in Hvar (Island of Hvar), Croatia. For information on how to travel to Hvar, please proceed to www.izor.hr/msw09.

To check if you need to apply for a VISA to enter Croatia, please visit:

http://www.mvpei.hr/MVP.asp?pcpid=1615&dmid=SELECT%20A%20COUNTRY#pocdrz

Hvar and the its marine environment

The Island of Hvar is the largest and the sunniest on Croatian island and one of the most beautiful of the world. It is located part of the central Dalmatian archipelago with an area of 299.6 sq km (length 68.2 km, width up to 10.5 km) and a population of 11,459 inhabitants.

The Island of Hvar is famous for its pleasant Mediterranean climate. The island is characterized by gentle winters, warm summers and many hours of sunshine (2,718 hours a year). An average air temperature in the winter months is 9.1°C and in summer in July 24.8°C with maximum of 37°C.

The island was populated already in the prehistoric times and later inhabited by the Illyrians, Greeks, Romans and Croatians. The island is almost entirely surrounded by the the seagrass Posidonia oceanica. Please visit http://www.tzhvar.hr/en/ortho/?lang=en to see an aerial view of P. oceanica upper limit.

The archipelago of Pakleni Islands is in the front of the Town of Hvar. In the crystal clear sea there are some of the most beautiful P. oceanica meadows. Among other organisms, these meadows inhabits 103 epiphytic taxa of algae on the leaves and 121 taxa on the rhizomes.

Cymodocea nodosa and Zostera noltii are also present this area. Cymodocea nodosa is growing in almost every cove but Zostera noltii is rare.

Coralligenous bottoms are the most interesting diving sites. Some of the best diving sites with gorgonians are in the front of the Town of Hvar.