GUIDE · BOKA FROM THE SEA · BLUE CAVE
The most beautiful way to get to know the Bay of Kotor is from the water. From the Herceg Novi riviera a boat takes you to hidden coves, to the blue light inside the cave and to places you cannot reach from land. Here is what a calm afternoon at sea is like.
DEPARTURE FROM THE RIVIERA
Boat trips leave from the harbours and marinas along the Herceg Novi riviera, right at the entrance to the bay. It is a good starting point: the sea is calmer here, and the loveliest coves along Lustica are only a short ride away. Half a day on the water is just enough to see the most important things, without rushing. The boat follows the coast, stops for a swim, then carries on, and the whole time you see Boka from an angle few people ever do.
The boats are mostly smaller and open, with an awning for shade. You do not need much: a swimsuit, a towel, a sun hat, a little water and a camera. A morning departure brings the calmest sea and empty coves, while an afternoon one leads straight into the golden light before sunset. The pace is relaxed, the swimming stops are frequent, and the crew knows every cove by name. At our house we are glad to help arrange a small outing, the way the day settles.
THE BLUE CAVE AND THE COVES
The main star of the trip is the Blue Cave on the Lustica peninsula. When the sun hits the right angle, the water in the cave glows an unreal shade of blue, and the light passes through it as through glass. The boat enters or stops before the opening, and a swim in that blue light stays in your memory longer than anything else. From there you usually continue on to the nearby beaches and coves: Zanjice invites a longer pause in the shelter, while Rose, an old fishing village at the tip of Lustica, offers quiet and the odd tavern right by the water.
Near the very exit from the bay there are traces of another time. In the cliffs along the shore there still stand submarine tunnels from the Yugoslav era, today quiet and overgrown by the sea. Boats often slow down right here, so you can feel how important this narrow entrance to the bay has always been. And if you return towards evening, that last stretch across the bay, as the sun drops behind the hills and the sea grows calm, is the loveliest moment of the whole day.
HISTORY AT THE ENTRANCE TO BOKA
A longer trip into the heart of Boka
For those with more time, the boat goes deeper into the bay: to Our Lady of the Rocks near Perast, an artificial island that fishermen built up over centuries, and to the stone streets of Perast itself with its baroque churches and a view of the Verige strait.
See the experiences →Dinner after the sea
When the boat returns and the salt dries on your skin, there is nothing better than sitting down at a table by the sea. Fresh fish and seafood, the way the Marovic family has been preparing them since 1995, with a warm family welcome and a view of the very sea you sailed on.
See the restaurant →Stay the night by the water
Spend more than a single day in Boka. The seaside apartments give you time for the sea in the morning, an outing in the afternoon and a quiet dinner, with no rush and no packing of suitcases.
See the apartments →