Blue Cave, Montenegro: how to get inside and when to go

You reach the Blue Cave (Plava špilja) only by water, and since 2026 you go inside only without an engine. Motor vessels are no longer allowed into the grotto: the boat or yacht waits at the mouth, and you carry on by kayak, on a SUP board or by swimming from the boat. A group boat from Herceg Novi costs from €30 per person; from the beaches of Luštica it is €5–10. There is no entry fee for the cave itself.

The Blue Cave is a sea grotto on the Luštica peninsula, close to the entrance of the Bay of Kotor and roughly 10 kilometres by water from Herceg Novi, the town fifteen minutes from the Croatian border. The roof is about nine metres high, the water three to four metres deep and clear to the bottom. It is only worth the trip in calm weather.

Why the water glows blue

There is no lighting. Part of the entrance lies below the waterline, so sunlight travels through the sea, bounces off the pale floor and fills the vault with an even blue glow. The effect is strongest in the middle of the day, from about eleven to three, while the sun is high.

On an overcast day the cave is simply grey — worth bearing in mind when you plan.

What changed in 2026

Since May 2026 motor vessels have been banned from entering the grotto. Speedboats and yachts stop at the entrance, and the only way in is without an engine: a kayak, a stand-up paddleboard, or swimming from the boat.

Older write-ups that describe a boat nosing its way into the cave are out of date. If someone offers to take you inside by speedboat, ask before you pay what that will actually involve. Swimming happens at the mouth of the grotto, close to the boat.

How to get there

By water only. No road leads to the grotto; the shore is sheer cliff.

Group boat trips leave from Herceg Novi, Tivat and Luštica. From Herceg Novi the trip takes two to three hours with a swimming stop and costs from €30 per person. From the Luštica beaches — Žanjice and Mirište — the grotto is ten minutes away, at €5–10 per person.

A private boat for your group. The Blue Cave features on full-day routes that leave the bay: the yacht runs down the Bay of Kotor, passes Mamula and stops at the mouth of the grotto. A full day from Tivat costs from €650 for the whole vessel, from Kotor from €830. Herceg Novi is closest, and four hours is enough from there — from €415 per vessel. Ask when booking whether there is a kayak or SUP aboard. What the bay route looks like is in the cruise from Tivat; the boats themselves, with prices and free dates, are on the yacht charter page.

As an add-on to the ship excursion. The grotto run is paid separately, at €5–10 per person, on top of Bay of Kotor by ship, which costs from €53 per person and runs in season. The company behind the ship works only with Russian-speaking guides — if that rules it out for you, a private boat for your own group is the alternative.

When it works and when it does not

In a swell boats do not approach the grotto, and nobody goes in by kayak, let alone swimming. That is about safety, not the skipper’s mood.

• Best: June to September, in the morning or the middle of the day, in flat calm.
• Unlikely: in a southerly wind with swell — most often in the afternoon and in the shoulder season.

If a trip is called off because of the sea, it is usually rescheduled or refunded — check the terms with the company when you book.

What else is nearby

Mamula island — an Austrian fortress of 1853 on bare rock at the mouth of the bay. An Italian camp in the Second World War, a hotel today. Landing is closed to anyone who is not a guest, so you see it from the water.

Žanjice beach — reachable by road as well, and boats to the cave leave from here. The cove with no road is neighbouring Dobreč, which you can only reach from the sea.

Herceg Novi — the nearest town and the departure point for most boats. See Herceg Novi. From Dubrovnik it is about 50 km: an hour by road plus the border, where summer queues run from half an hour to two or three hours.

What to bring

Swimwear, a towel and sunscreen — there is little shade on a boat. Inside the grotto it is cooler than outside. Bring a mask: the water is clear and you can see the whole bottom.

Pale-soled shoes if you are going on a yacht: dark soles leave marks on the deck.

How people usually combine it

The Blue Cave is almost never a trip on its own — it is part of a day on the water. A full day from Tivat with swimming stops, the islands off Perast and a stop at the grotto costs from €650 for a vessel for your group, which comes to roughly €80–110 a head with six to eight aboard.

The group alternative is Bay of Kotor by ship, from €53 with hotel pick-up. All formats are under things to do.

How chartering works in general — vessel types, what is included, who is at the helm — is in a day on a boat.

Prices checked in September 2026: group boats per person, charters “from” per whole vessel. Whether you can get to the grotto depends on the weather. Services are provided by independent companies; booking and payment happen directly with them.