Everything around Kotor revolves around the sea – and the calm, blue waters of the bay dominate the entire town and surrounding area, so it’s no surprise that there are a lot of options for a boat trip in Kotor Bay.
We wanted to do a boat trip from Kotor of some sort and see the bay and its surrounding areas from the water as soon as we arrived.
Walking by the harbour and towards the Old Town, you’ll find loads of people on the streets handing out leaflets for various boat trips in Kotor Bay, so there’s certainly no shortage of them.
We decided on the ‘Miki Travel’ tour, purely because the lady operating it seemed more convincing than the rest – and her boat was due to leave at a time that was most convenient for us.
We paid for the tickets (with a reduced rate for the children) and returned half an hour later ready to set sail.
The boat was big enough to seat about 40 people – and it seemed pretty much sold out, but we were still able to sit together comfortably as we headed off out on the boat in to Kotor Bay.
The scenery of this region is nothing short of breathtaking – and all the more so from the peace and quiet of the water.
Being out on the boat, with the sea breeze in our faces, was a welcome relief from the intense heat of the summer sun.
The first port of call on our boat trip Kotor Bay was the small, man-made island of ‘Our Lady on the Rocks’.
We stopped here for about 20-minutes, which was long enough to look around the little island, take some photos, use the toilet and, if you wanted to pay an extra Euro, look inside the church / museum on the island.
We didn’t do that, it didn’t really seem worthwhile and the man selling tickets on the door wasn’t exactly welcoming – yelling at several of the boat tour passengers for not wearing a t-shirt on the island (presumably out of respect for its religious nature).
After this stop, we were back on the boat and off over to the small town of Perast, where we could stop for lunch and a swim on the beach.
There were several restaurants, a museum and some gift shops here but we’d brought a packed lunch with us so headed straight for the beach – about a 5-minute walk from where the boat dropped us off.
The beach at Perast is unusual, in that’s it’s incredibly small and little more than a concrete shelf with some adjacent gravel and a wooden decking belonging to the beach-side bar and restaurant.
It was packed, to the extent that there was nowhere to sit other than physically in the water – but in fact that was fine, it was so hot and the water so clear and inviting, it was actually the best place to be anyway.
The beach may be small but it’s more than made up for by the stunning water and scenery all around. A small, shallow area with crystal clear water drops away in to the deep after a few metres, making for an amazing swimming, snorkelling and diving area.
Swim just 10 or 20 metres out away from the beach and below you are loads of colourful fish. The water is so clear you can see all the way to the bottom regardless of how deep it gets.
We had the choice of either leaving with the boat after an hour, or hanging around here for another couple of hours and catching a late-afternoon boat back to Kotor.
There was no doubt about the choice – just an hour here was nowhere near long enough so we stayed the rest of the afternoon enjoying the incredible scenery around us: the clear blue skies, the glorious, hot sunshine and the cooling, clear as glass waters, before heading back to the harbour wall where, sure enough, the boat arrived as planned to take us back to Kotor.
There were fewer people on board for the journey back and we managed to get the prime position up on the front deck of the boat for the enjoyable journey back to the Old Town.
In total, the trip cost us about €60 for two adults and three children and it was money extremely well spent.
If you’re staying in or visiting Kotor, you’re missing out if you don’t venture out on to the water one way or another, and this boat tour was definitely worth the money. About £50 or so for memories and photos that we’ll look back on very happily for many years to come!
Finding the Miki Travel Boat Trip, Kotor Bay
- We found this Kotor boat excursion simply walking along the harbour wall opposite the entrance to the Old Town, close to where the cruise ships dock. The boat was called ‘Ankicka’ and the sign on the harbour-side was labelled ‘Miki Travel Boat Tours’.
- Their website can be found here: http://www.montenegro-boatexcursions.me/