Montenegro · Boka Kotorska
Yacht Charter Bay of Kotor
Twenty-eight kilometres of drowned canyon entered through a strait three hundred metres wide.
People call it a fjord and it is not one: no glacier cut it. The Boka is a drowned river canyon, and the difference matters to anyone arriving by sea, because a fjord opens straight off the ocean while this closes behind you in stages. You come in past Herceg Novi, squeeze through a gap three hundred metres across, and find a second bay behind the first with a walled town at the end of it. Nothing else in the Mediterranean is entered this way.
The way in, bend by bend
The outer bay is wide and ordinary enough that the first-time crew wonders what the fuss is. Then the walls close to either side at Verige, where the two halves of the Boka meet through a channel three hundred and forty metres wide. It was chained across in wartime — a real chain, on floats, from shore to shore — because anything that held Verige held everything behind it.
Through the narrows the inner bay opens and the mountains stand up: Orjen to the west, Lovćen ahead, both over seventeen hundred metres and both dropping more or less straight into flat water. The whole passage from the open Adriatic to the quay at Kotor takes about ninety minutes and it is the reason to charter here.
Risan, Perast, and the water between them
Risan on the north shore is the oldest settlement in the bay and the one almost everybody passes. It has a Roman villa with floor mosaics from the second century, and one of them shows Hypnos, the god of sleep — the only depiction of him found anywhere in situ. It is ten minutes off the route and takes twenty to see.
Perast, four kilometres on, is the baroque town with the two islets in front of it, and the anchorage there is the calmest night most weeks will have. The bay holds no swell at all: whatever the Adriatic is doing, inside Verige the water is flat.
Where the boat lies, and what the season does
Porto Montenegro at Tivat is the practical base — built on a Yugoslav navy yard, it is the best-equipped marina on this coast and has the depth for large yachts. Kotor takes boats on the town quay under the walls, which is the better address and the busier one.
The bay is a weather trap in the good sense and the bad: it is flat when the outside is not, and it is airless in August at the head of it. June and September are the months that suit it, and the water stays warm into October because it is shallow and enclosed.
Practical notes
- Verige, the strait between the outer and inner bays, is three hundred and forty metres wide and was chained in wartime
- Ninety minutes from the open Adriatic to the quay at Kotor, and the water is flat the whole way
- Porto Montenegro at Tivat has the depth and the services for large yachts; Kotor takes boats on the town quay
- Risan on the north shore has second-century floor mosaics, including the only Hypnos found in place
- August is airless at the head of the bay; June and September are the months that suit it
Reached from: Dubrovnik, Tivat and the Croatian coast
Where to dine
A table by the water
Galion
KotorAcross the water from the walls, with the old town lit on the other side of the creek after dark.
Conte
PerastOn the waterfront below the campanile, with the two islets in front and the boat to them from the same steps.
Stari Mlini
LjutaIn a stone watermill where a river comes out of the mountain, with the trout kept in the millrace.
What to do
Anchorages & excursions
The Verige strait
Three hundred and forty metres between the outer and inner bays, chained shore to shore in wartime.
Risan
The oldest settlement in the bay, with second-century floor mosaics including the only Hypnos found in place.
Porto Montenegro
Built on a Yugoslav navy yard at Tivat, and the marina on this coast with the depth for large yachts.
The run to Kotor
Ninety minutes from the open Adriatic, flat the whole way, with Orjen and Lovćen standing up on either side.
The fleet
Yachts available for the Bay of Kotor
Vessels that operate here, from flagship motor yachts to smaller crewed boats. Every rate is quoted on enquiry.
Good to know
Questions we are asked about the Bay of Kotor
- Is the Bay of Kotor really a fjord?
- No. A fjord is cut by a glacier; the Boka is a river canyon that the sea flooded. It is called a fjord everywhere because it looks like one, and the distinction is worth knowing because it explains the shape — a fjord opens off the ocean, whereas this closes behind you through a strait three hundred metres wide.
- Where should the boat be based?
- Porto Montenegro at Tivat for anything large: it was built on a naval yard, it has the depth, and the airport is fifteen minutes away. Kotor's town quay is under the walls and is the better place to be, and correspondingly harder to get into in season.
- When is the bay at its best?
- June and September. The water is warm into October because the bay is shallow and enclosed, and the same enclosure makes August still and heavy at the inner end. What the bay always gives you is flat water, whatever the open Adriatic is doing.
- What does a yacht charter in the Bay of Kotor cost?
- It depends on the yacht, the season and the crew, so we quote on enquiry rather than publish a figure that would be wrong for most weeks. Tell us your dates and party size.
Destinations
Nearby destinations
Charter here
Enquire about a charter in the Bay of Kotor
Tell us your dates and how many of you there are, and we will come back with the right yacht and a full quotation.