A birthday on a yacht in Montenegro

What separates a celebration from an ordinary trip is capacity, not price. A group of ten or twelve needs a twelve-guest catamaran rather than a motor boat — from €780 for four hours for the whole vessel: there is room for everyone to sit at once instead of in shifts.

Which vessel to take

Up to nine guests — a motor boat from €390 for three hours; for up to seven, from €355. Fast, gets into narrow coves, but the deck is small: you will not all gather round a table.

Up to twelve — a catamaran from €780 for four hours; if there are no more than eight of you, from €520. Two hulls, a wide deck, a net between the hulls and shade. It barely rolls, which matters when people are eating and drinking aboard.

A sailing yacht for up to eight guests costs from €390 for three to four hours. Quieter and prettier, but with less deck space than a catamaran of the same capacity.

A full day on a large motor yacht runs from €3,495 for eight hours. A different budget and a different format.

What the price covers is in what a yacht charter costs.

What it works out at per head

A twelve-guest catamaran from €780 is €65 per person for four hours. For comparison, dinner with fish and wine at a promenade restaurant runs €60–100 for two, so the sums are in the same range. Worth remembering when the figure for the vessel looks large.

What you can bring

Most boats allow your own food and drink — but that is not a universal rule, and it is worth settling in one sentence at booking. The cake comes from shore: there is nowhere to store it aboard and in the heat it will not survive four hours without a fridge.

Music is available almost everywhere, though volume is restricted in marinas and close to shore; at anchor in a cove there is more latitude.

Things to confirm in advance: your own drinks, the cake, music, decorations and what time you come back.

When to set out

Two good windows. Midday — from eleven, when the water has warmed and swimming happens by itself. Evening — an hour and a half before sunset: the wind drops, the light turns warm, and the party ends at dusk rather than under a blazing sun.

The evening format is covered separately in sunset on a yacht.

Where to go

There is no point going far: the time is better spent at anchor than under way. From Tivat and Kotor, into the bay towards the islets off Perast; from Budva, along the coast to the islets off Petrovac; from Herceg Novi, to the Luštica coves.

The places are covered in coves with no road.

What to keep in mind

Book ahead. In July and August vessels for twelve go earlier than the rest, simply because there are fewer of them.

The weather decides. In a swell the trip is moved or refunded — settle those terms at booking, especially if the date is tied to an actual birthday and cannot shift.

Light-soled shoes or bare feet: dark rubber marks the deck, and every operator asks for this.

The boats, with prices and free dates, are on the yacht charter page, or by town: Tivat, Kotor, Budva.

Prices are indicative “from” figures, per vessel, checked in September 2026. Rules on bringing your own drinks and on music differ by company. Services are provided by independent companies; booking and payment happen directly with them.