Lake Skadar by Speedboat: Monasteries and the Delta

Lake Skadar is one of the largest in the Balkans and nothing like the sea, which is twenty kilometres and one mountain range away. From 370 to 530 square kilometres of water, depending on the season; two thirds belong to Montenegro and the rest to Albania. It is a national park: beds of water lilies, channels through reeds, around 280 bird species and one of the few colonies in Europe of the Dalmatian pelican, the symbol of the park.

But the main thing on the lake is not the birds. It is the islands, each with an Orthodox monastery on it, and the only way to reach them is by water. A speedboat with a skipper is hired whole, for your own party: from €265 for a short route, from €505 for a long one. There is a skipper rather than a guide on board; the group excursion to the lake has a guide, but only a Russian-speaking one, and it runs in season only.

What stands on the islands

Beška is a convent on the island of the same name. Two churches: St George’s, built at the end of the 14th century by Đurađ II Balšić, and the Virgin’s, raised in 1438/39 by Jelena Balšić, daughter of Prince Lazar who fell at Kosovo. She is buried here. The monastery lay in ruins for nearly two hundred years and was only restored in the nineties; nuns live there now.

Moračnik is a 15th-century monastery for monks, with a square defensive tower unlike anything else on the lake. The island is tiny and the monastery takes up most of it.

Starčeva Gorica (Starčevo monastery) dates from 1376–1378, the oldest of the monasteries from the Balšić era, named after the elder Makarije who settled here. It ran a scriptorium copying books for the whole of Zeta. Today the monks make herbal liqueurs, and by prior arrangement the boat stops for a tasting.

Kom, 15th century, sits in the northern part of the lake near the mouth of the Morača. You approach it through the delta, which is the most beautiful stretch of the whole trip.

Vranjina, 13th century, is the oldest monastery on the lake and stands on a large island now joined to the shore.

The Morača delta and Lesendro fortress

The Morača enters the lake through a wide delta, splitting into dozens of channels. Reeds stand twice the height of a person, the channel narrows to a few metres, and the boat moves almost silently — speed is out of the question here. This is where the birds concentrate: herons, cormorants, pelicans.

At the mouth of the delta stands Lesendro fortress, a small fort on a rock in open water, strengthened by Petar II Njegoš and captured by the Ottomans in 1843. The railway line to Bar now runs past it, close enough that the train practically brushes the wall.

Nearby is Grmožur, the prison island. The Ottomans built a fortress here in 1843, and from 1878, under Nikola I, it served as a Montenegrin prison — bare rock in the middle of the lake, with nowhere to escape to. Landing is not part of the trip; the boat circles it.

The routes

Departure is from the marina at Plavnica on the northern shore, about an hour’s drive from the coast. Several scenarios:

• The south. Across the widest part of the lake, past the Albanian water border, to Beška, Moračnik and Starčeva Gorica — landing, or circling the islands.
• The north and the delta. The mouth of the Morača, the monasteries of Vranjina and Kom, the birds, then Lesendro and Grmožur.
• The Crnojević river. Up the winding river to the village of Rijeka Crnojevića — the one photographed from the famous viewpoint above the bend — with lunch at a traditional restaurant on the bank. The village and the viewpoint are covered in Lake Skadar and the Crnojević river.
• Malo Blato. Through the narrow Karatun channel into a separate reservoir. One of the remotest corners of the lake.

The longer routes include lunch in the fishing village of Raduš, on a terrace at a local fisherman’s house: carp soup, fried carp, seasonal vegetables, home-baked bread and cheese. It is a house rather than a restaurant, and that is rather the point.

Swimming in open water is part of every option; water-skiing is available on request.

What it costs

Prices are per boat, up to 6–8 people including the skipper:

• from €265 — short route
• from €505 — long route, with the delta and lunch

Included: boat, skipper, fuel, berth and cleaning. Not included: food, berths elsewhere, and the transfer from the coast to the marina. For six people the short trip comes to under €45 each. The exact figure for your route and date is quoted by the company running the trip.

National park entry is €5 per person, free for children under 15; check when booking whether it is included.

The boats

Two craft of 150 hp, top speed up to 80 km/h, carrying 6–8 people including the skipper. Lengths of 7.2 and 6.5 metres. Both have a sun awning, a swimming ladder, a freshwater shower, a sunbathing area, a table, navigation and music.

The speed is not for racing but for distance: the lake is big, and on a slow boat the southern monasteries would take a whole day of travelling alone.

Practicalities

Bring passports for every guest, sunscreen, hats, swimwear, towels and a camera. Monasteries require covered shoulders and knees, and no shorts for men; for women a headscarf is welcome but not required. A scarf or sarong in the bag sorts it out, and it is easy to forget when you set off in a speedboat.

The lake is warmer than the sea in summer, around 26–28 °C, and soft. The shallows are weedy in places, but the boat anchors for swimming where the water is clear.

The form below opens the booking; the route is selected within it.

When to go

May to October. May and June bring the lily bloom and the greenest landscape. July and August are hottest, the water level drops and some channels get too shallow. September and October are for the birds: migration starts and the delta fills up beyond anything seen in summer.

Nearby

People also fish this lake, which is a separate format with a six a.m. start: fishing on Lake Skadar. If you would rather have salt water, compare with the cruise from Tivat or from Kotor. Everything else is listed under things to do; group tours with prices are under tours in Montenegro.

The marina at Plavnica is easiest to reach by car, your own or a hired one — twenty minutes from Podgorica, about an hour from Budva over the mountain road. What to expect on a road like that is covered in driving rules and fines.

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Prices checked in September 2026.