Bay of Kotor Cruise from Kotor: Leaving from Under the Walls

Plenty of people first hear of Kotor because a cruise ship stops there. The town sits in the innermost corner of the Bay of Kotor, where the water runs out and the mountain begins: the old town is squeezed against the slopes of Mount Lovćen, a fortification wall four and a half kilometres long zigzags up the rock behind it, and the fortress of St John looks down from the top. The whole ensemble went onto the UNESCO list in 1979, just after an earthquake had wrecked half the town.

That is also why a private boat trip from here opens so well. The boat pulls away from the quay, swings round, and the old town and the wall climbing the cliff fit into a single frame — an angle you simply cannot get from the shore, because there is no room to step back. You hire the whole boat with a skipper: three hours from Kotor start at €580 per boat, a full day at €830.

Where boats go from Kotor

Most routes work their way anticlockwise round the bay. The first stretch follows Dobrota, a village of sea captains strung out along seven kilometres of shoreline. The houses face the water and roughly every other one has its own stone jetty; in the 18th century Dobrota ran a merchant fleet of its own, and its wealth came in by sea rather than by road.

After that come Orahovac, Ljuta, where a river spills straight into the bay, and then Perast: sixteen palaces, seventeen churches, not a single set of traffic lights and no vehicles in the historic centre. The two islands offshore are the reason every boat in the bay heads this way. Off Orahovac and Ljuta there are also oyster and mussel farms out on the water; see Oysters and mussels in the Bay of Kotor.

St George’s Island is a genuine island of rock, with a 12th-century Benedictine abbey and Perast’s sea captains buried under the cypresses. Nobody is allowed ashore, so boats circle it instead.

Our Lady of the Rocks (Gospa od Škrpjela) is artificial. For five centuries, sailors home from a voyage dropped a stone onto the submerged reef, and old ships were scuttled on top, until an island grew. The church walls carry around two thousand silver plaques engraved with ships, each one paid for by someone who came through a storm. Also on display is an embroidery that Jacinta Kunić-Mijović is said to have worked on for twenty-five years while waiting for her sailor, stitching in gold thread and her own hair. The hair is dark where she began and grey where she finished, and you can see the change.

A full day takes you further. Risan has Roman mosaics from the 2nd century; the Verige strait, just over 300 metres wide at its narrowest, is where a chain was once stretched across the water to keep enemy ships out; then comes Herceg Novi, and right at the mouth of the bay the fortress island of Mamula. It was built by the Austrians in 1853, served as an Italian prison camp in the Second World War and is now a hotel — a change that splits local opinion down the middle. Only hotel guests may land, so you see it from the water.

If the sea is calm enough, boats also call at the Blue Cave (Plava špilja). Since 2026 motor vessels have not been allowed inside the grotto, so the boat waits at the entrance and you go in by kayak or swim in from the boat. Sunlight enters through the water below the arch and lights the whole cave up blue. How it works in detail is in the Blue Cave.

How much a boat from Kotor costs

The price is for the whole boat, and nobody else comes aboard. Starting prices from Kotor:

• from €580 — three hours
• from €830 — a full day
• from €315 an hour — a fast motorboat

Boats based in Kotor take between 8 and 14 guests. The skipper and fuel for the route are usually included; lunch ashore and harbour fees in other marinas are paid separately. Nearly everyone brings their own food and drink, and that is perfectly normal.

Split ten ways, a three-hour trip at €580 comes to €58 each — a little more than a seat on the group ship around the bay, which starts at €53, runs in season only and comes with a Russian-speaking guide only. With eleven people aboard the two cost the same. The exact figure for your date and numbers comes from the company that owns the boat.

Which boat to choose

The choice changes the whole day, so it is worth making on purpose.

A broad motorboat or a catamaran gives you a big deck and shade, and it barely heels. It suits families with children and groups where not everyone is at ease on the water. This is a day for the view and a long lunch, not for sailing.

A sailing yacht is narrower and quieter. You feel it lean and pick up speed, and on the open stretches it is worth putting the sails up. The cockpit is smaller, but you sit closer to the water.

A fast motorboat is hired by the hour. Take one when the point is to reach the islands and get back, not to potter.

Boats, prices and free dates are all on the yacht charter page.

Before you go

Departure time and stops are agreed with the company when you book. Most trips leave in the morning and come back by lunchtime or in the evening, depending on the route. Bring passports for everyone aboard: companies usually ask for them to register the trip. On deck, wear pale non-slip soles or go barefoot — black soles leave marks.

Swimming happens at anchor, and every boat has a ladder. In July and August the bay warms up to 25–26 °C, but underwater springs rise here and there and you can swim into a cold patch without warning. That is normal, and it is not a current.

If you are coming from Budva, Kotor is 22 kilometres away, about half an hour by car; from Tivat airport it is 7 kilometres, around fifteen minutes. Old Kotor is car-free, so drivers use the paid car parks outside the walls, which fill up early in summer. Expect anything from €0.90 an hour at the outer car parks to €4.80 right by the walls. How parking works across the country is explained in parking in Montenegro.

Best time for a boat trip from Kotor

The season runs from May to October, with most trips between mid-May and the end of September; in winter there are almost none. July and August bring the warmest water, but they also bring the cruise ships, and the inner bay gets busy — an early start keeps you ahead of the crowds. June and September are quieter. October is still possible, though how far you go depends on the swell at the mouth of the bay.

Other ways onto the water

Boats from Tivat reach the same islands, but they start nearer the middle of the bay and cost less — see the cruise from Tivat. With eight or more people it is worth comparing a catamaran: the deck is wider and it does not heel. Everything else is listed under things to do.

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Prices are indicative starting prices for the whole boat, checked in September 2026. The exact figure for your date is set by the company that owns the boat; booking and payment are made directly with them.