Four hours in the Bay of Kotor covers the ferries, oysters from Kamenari and a loop around the island of Our Lady of the Rocks. Six hours adds Kotor with a short stop. Eight hours is the full day: the old town, swimming, lunch in front of the fjords, paddleboards along Dobrota and the run home through the islands. Below is the hour-by-hour breakdown with the actual stops, and the things that fit into none of the three.
What fits into four hours
Out of Porto Montenegro to the ferry crossing, then deeper into the bay. The first stop is a practical one: at Kamenari the oysters are ordered and brought out to the boat. After that comes the loop around Our Lady of the Rocks, the man-made island with the church that appears on every postcard of the bay, and an anchor stop off Morinj where people swim in cold water with both islands in view.
Four hours splits two other ways. Instead of the island loop you can moor at Perast and spend an hour on the waterfront under the bell tower. Or you can land on the island itself and see the museum.
All three do not fit in one outing, so the choice is made in advance. It is the first thing we ask about when a date is booked.
What six hours adds
Everything above plus Kotor. The boat runs to the far end of the bay, holds a short mooring by the town and turns back. There is time to walk the waterfront and reach the city gates; there is no time to climb to the fortress.
The other version of six hours is a mooring at Prčanj and the walk up to the cathedral. Prčanj sits halfway to Kotor, carries a fraction of the crowds, and looks across at the same wall of mountains.
The gap between four hours and six costs €200, and it is the best-value step in the price list: the first four hours work out at roughly €650 each, the fifth and sixth at a hundred. The full arithmetic, including the per-person figures, is in our breakdown of yacht charter prices in Montenegro.
Eight hours: the full day inside the bay
The order changes here. Kotor comes first, before the cruise-ship crowds fill it, and the oysters and prawns are collected on the way. Then swimming, lunch with the fjords in front of you, and paddleboards through the coves of Dobrota along the shore, a narrow strip of quiet water where swell almost never reaches.
The way home runs back through the islands, reaching Our Lady of the Rocks in the afternoon when the light has softened and the tour boats have thinned out. How busy those stops are depends on the month, which our season breakdown sets out. The last stop is a swim off Stradioti island. By that hour the water there is the warmest it gets all day, and most guests go in then rather than in the morning. Our older account of the same route tells it from the captain's side.
Kamenari oysters: how it actually works
Kamenari is the narrow point of the bay where the ferries cross and the oyster farms sit. The order goes in from the water: the captain calls the farm, gives a number, and a few minutes later the oysters come out to the boat. Prawns work the same way.
The point is not novelty, it is price and freshness. The restaurant markup disappears and the shells are opened on deck. It is the one stop on the route where food comes to the guest rather than the other way round, which makes it worth planning rather than leaving to chance. There is more about it in our older piece on oysters and prawns.
What fits into none of the three
The Blue Cave. It lies in the opposite direction, west at the mouth of the bay, and the grotto has to be reached between 11:00 and 12:00 while the light still enters it. Combining it with Kotor in one day is not possible, and we say so before the booking rather than out on the water. The western day is covered separately in the Blue Cave and its light window.
Budva and Sveti Stefan also sit outside a day inside the bay. Reaching them means running down the coast, which is a matter of twenty-four hours or more.
Where to eat along the route
Several places along the eastern route take guests arriving by boat. Duraševići sits opposite Stradioti and has its own pontoon, so mooring takes minutes. Stari Mlini and Bigovo are further out, for a longer day.
The alternative to going ashore is the grill on board. Fish and prawns cook at the stern while the boat lies at anchor, and lunch overlaps with swimming instead of costing an hour of transit and a table.
Dates, prices by duration and the stops on the route from Tivat are on our Tivat yacht rental page. Tell us how many hours you want on the water and we will say which of the three versions gives you the most for them.
Frequently asked questions
Six. Four hours covers the inner bay with the islands and Perast, and Kotor only fits into that without stepping ashore. Six hours buys a short mooring and time on land; eight hours gives you a proper walk through the old town.
No. They are two routes in opposite directions from Tivat. The Blue Cave sits west, at the mouth of the bay, and has to be reached between 11:00 and 12:00. Kotor and Perast lie east, deeper inside the bay.
Yes. At Kamenari the order goes in from the water and the farm brings it out to the boat. The same works for prawns. It costs less than a restaurant, and it is the one stop on the route where the food comes to you.
On the four-hour run, off Morinj at anchor near the islands. The eight-hour version adds a swim off Stradioti island on the way home, when the water there is at its warmest. Between stops the paddleboards and masks are out.
