Kotor Beaches

Kotor has very little sand. The town sits at the head of a 28-kilometre fjord-shaped bay, and the shoreline is overwhelmingly rock, concrete platforms and short pebble coves rather than the long beach strips most visitors imagine when they think of the Adriatic. What it does have is consistently warm, flat-calm water from late May through October, sheltered from open-sea waves by the narrow Verige strait that closes the bay's mouth.

Within walking distance of the Old Town the swim options are concentrated on two spots: the bolted-ladder platforms below the city walls (free, public, busy by mid-morning) and the small pebble coves at Muo across the water, reachable on foot in 20 minutes around the harbour or by a quick water taxi. Both fill up early in July and August.

For something longer, the bay road north toward Perast runs through Dobrota, a string of small pebble and concrete coves with cafés, restaurants and rented sun loungers at €8 to €15 per pair per day. South of town the same pattern continues through Prčanj and Stoliv, each village offering a handful of swim spots backed by the road. Locals tend to drive five to ten minutes out for a quieter cove than the in-town options.

True beaches with sand and length require an excursion. The boat run to the Lustica peninsula leaves Kotor marina mid-morning and lands at Žanjic, long pebble, two seasonal restaurants, with a Blue Cave swim stop on the way. A group seat costs €25 to €45; private speedboats from €120 for a half-day, six people. By road, Jaz beach near Budva is 25 to 35 minutes south for the closest open-sea sand. Inside the bay there are no lifeguards on most stretches; water shoes earn their keep on the rocky entries.