Best Beaches Near Kotor
Where to swim around the Bay of Kotor, how long each option takes, and what fits into a few hours ashore.
By Miloš Stanković · Published 2026-09-07 · Last verified 2026-09-08 · Editorial policy
Kotor is not a beach town in the usual sense. Water is everywhere, but the places worth swimming in sit outside the Old Town, none of them a short walk from the walls. That is the first thing to know about the best beaches near Kotor: getting there is part of the plan.
There are two ways to reach it. One is by road — north along the bay towards Perast, or west over to the Luštica peninsula and the open sea. The other is by boat, out to coves with no road to them at all. If you came off a cruise ship, the hours you have ashore settle which makes sense.
The short answer
Start with the clock.
- Less than two hours: Stay in town. The trip out and back uses most of the window.
- Around three hours: A group boat trip with a swim stop fits this gap. It leaves on a published schedule and returns to the quay you left from.
- Four hours or more: Enough for an afternoon at Bajova Kula, or a private boat trip with several stops.
- Swimming for nothing: Orahovac is free and public year-round. From 1 September, so is the Chedi Luštica Bay beach.
- By road or by boat: Everything going north shares one coastal road, which slows in summer. Boats leave from the Old Town waterfront and reach water you cannot drive to.
Quick comparison
| Option | Best for | Access | Time needed | Cruise-friendly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bajova Kula Beach | An afternoon at a beach | Car, bus or water taxi | 2–4h | With four hours or more free |
| Orahovac Beach | Free swimming in cold, clear water | Car, bus or water taxi | 2–4h | With four hours or more free |
| Chedi Luštica Bay Beach | A polished beach day, free from 1 September | Car via Tivat and Radovići | Half day | Only with a full day ashore |
| Blue Cave group boat tour | Sightseeing with a swim | Boat from Kotor | 3h | Yes, set departures |
| Full Boka Bay private boat tour | Several stops at your own pace | Private boat from Kotor | 4h | Yes, with a long stop |
| Mussels lunch and wine tasting | Swimming and a long lunch | Speedboat from Kotor | 4h | Yes, with a long stop |
| Perast and Our Lady of the Rocks | History and time on the water | Boat from Kotor | 1.5–3h | Yes, the shortest trip here |
| Hidden beaches boat tour | Quiet coves and snorkelling | Private boat from Kotor | Flexible | Only with an agreed return time |
Departure and return times shift with the season. Confirm both with the operator before you book.
Bajova Kula: the best choice for a beach afternoon
Bajova Kula is the beach most people have in mind when they look for somewhere to swim near Kotor. It sits on the coast road towards Perast, in a small cove closed in by green hillside, and the water is among the clearest in the bay.
It is a pebble beach. A beach club takes up most of it, with sunbeds, showers and a restaurant above the water, and a smaller free stretch is left for a towel. Mountain springs feed this part of the bay, so the water stays cooler than it does closer to town, which in August is the appeal.
Two hours in the water is plenty; it is the travel either side that turns Bajova Kula into an afternoon. A water taxi from Kotor skips the parking. Facilities, access and cost are kept current on the Bajova Kula Beach page.
Orahovac: the free alternative next door
A few hundred metres further up the same coast road, Orahovac does the opposite of a beach club. It is a village — stone houses on the slope, a few konobas at the water — and the swimming is free, public and unmanaged: pebble shore, concrete platforms, ladders straight into deep water.
What sets it apart is underground. Freshwater springs feed the seabed along this stretch, so the sea stays colder and clearer than anywhere nearer Kotor, which in August is the whole point. Bring a towel, shade and water, because there is nothing here to rent. Access notes are on the Orahovac Beach page.
The Chedi Luštica Bay: free from 1 September
The one beach worth timing a trip around sits outside the bay altogether, on the Luštica peninsula, reached by road through Tivat and Radovići. It faces the open Adriatic rather than the sheltered inner bay: bluer water, and a resort standard of upkeep you will not find on the coast road.
Through summer it runs as a club — EUR 150 per person including sunbeds and service, free for Luštica Bay residents. From 1 September that flips: access is free to everyone, but the sunbeds and umbrellas come off the beach for the season. Which makes early September the moment for it, with the sea at its warmest and the crowds gone. Not a cruise-window option, but with a car and an unhurried day it is the most polished swim in the area. Details on the Chedi Luštica Bay Beach page.
Swimming by boat
Some of the best water in the bay has no road to it. Boats leave from the Old Town waterfront for the Blue Cave and a line of small coves, and most of these trips put a swim stop in the middle of the sightseeing. With one free afternoon, that combination beats choosing between the two.
Three kinds are worth telling apart. A group trip runs to a set duration and a published departure. A private trip costs more, with route and return time agreed with the skipper before you leave the quay. And some are built around the water itself: snorkelling trips spend the time in coves instead of at landmarks, from June to September.
The full range sits on the Boat & Sea Escapes page.
Three hours: a boat trip with a swim
Three hours from the Kotor waterfront, with morning, midday and afternoon departures, a swim stop at the cave, a licensed English-speaking skipper and shade on board.
What about Perast?
Perast comes up in almost every conversation about beaches near Kotor, mostly because the coast-road beaches are on the way there. It is a row of stone palaces along the water with two small islands offshore, and people swim from the waterfront rocks, but there is no beach and no facilities. Go for the buildings and the view back down the bay — and for both in one trip, the Perast and Our Lady of the Rocks boat tour runs from Kotor as a group or private departure.
If you arrived by cruise ship
Work backwards from the all-aboard time on your ticket, not the ship's departure. Take off getting ashore, the walk back to the gangway and the queues at both ends. What is left is your afternoon.
Keep a buffer inside that, and use the one your ship or operator recommends. Summer traffic on the coast road affects road trips more than boat trips. No independent excursion can promise you will be back in time, so if the margin looks thin, stay closer to town.
Before you swim
- Pebbles, not sand: water shoes make getting in and out easier at every beach in the bay.
- Sun: natural shade is limited until the hillsides help late in the day.
- Facilities: range from a full beach club to nothing at all.
- Cash: useful for sunbeds and small restaurants.
- Accessibility: paths down to the bay beaches are steep and uneven, so check ahead if you need step-free access.
Questions travellers ask
Is there a beach in Kotor itself?
Not one with facilities. The spots people use sit outside the Old Town, along the bay shoreline. The nearest beach with sunbeds and a restaurant is Bajova Kula.
What is the best beach near Kotor for cruise passengers?
It depends on your time ashore. With four hours or more, Bajova Kula. With around three, a group boat trip with a swim stop.
Is there a free beach near Kotor?
Yes. Orahovac, on the coast road towards Perast, is free public swimming with no ticket and no club. From 1 September the Chedi Luštica Bay beach is free too, minus the sunbeds.
Are beaches around Kotor sandy?
No. They are pebble, which is why water shoes come up so often here.
Short on time, stay near the Old Town or book something with a published departure and return. With an afternoon, aim for Bajova Kula, or Orahovac if you would rather swim than rent a sunbed. If what you want is the water and the view of the bay from it, take a boat.