We’d heard that of all the beaches along the Budva Riviera, Jaz Beach is the best beach near Kotor and Budva – the one favoured by Montenegro residents as it’s more picturesque and quieter than the other beaches closer to Budva or Kotor.
So we had to check it out and are pleased to report that it’s absolutely true – this is the best of all the beaches we visited near Kotor in Montenegro and it was a real pleasure to spend the day here.
There’s a huge car park right next to Jaz Beach, for which you pay £3 for the full day parking at Jaz Beach.
When we got to the main beach, it was absolutely packed – hundreds of people and tightly-packed rows of sun loungers all just centimetres from each other and no space to set up if you didn’t want to pay the daily rental fee.
There is an inflatable aqua park here that looks a lot of fun, along with options for renting jet-skis, parasailing and pedalo hire.
Numerous busy beach bars and restaurants pumped out booming music and it felt nothing like the “quieter, emptier” beach we were promised!
However, If you want a quieter stretch of beach, ignore all this and head to your left (as you face the sea), walking along the plastic board-walks on the stones and then on the long wooden board-walk that stretches all the way to the very far end of the beach (towards the direction of Budva).
Here, the crowds thinned out to almost nothing. There were no sun loungers and the stony beach turned as close to sandy as you’re likely to find around Montenegro (i.e. some sand mixed with small shingle that’s easier to lay and walk on than the large pebbles of the main beach area).
We had all the space we needed to spread out and relax. Further along to the left is a small beach bar / restaurant and some very clean and modern public toilets.
The sea water here was the clearest and blueist of any other beach we visited in Montenegro. Behind us, lush, empty green hillsides (though the ominous sight of some construction cranes perhaps signal what’s coming over the coming years ahead for Montenegro’s largely unspoiled coastline – i.e. tourism development as the country becomes increasingly popular).
In the sea, you have a choice of swimming areas – either flat shingle underfoot or large rocky areas that are perfect for exploring with a snorkel.
Tons of fish and underwater wildlife to occupy you for hours (though when swimming near the rocks, we’d definitely recommend swimming shoes as there are lots of sea urchins, as there are on most rocky parts of Montenegro’s beaches).
We could immediately see why they say Jaz Beach is the choice of the locals – definitely our favourite and the best beach near Kotor or Budva for sure, just 20-minutes’ drive or so from where we stayed in Kotor Bay, easy to access, plenty of easy parking and – as long as you head left away from the crowded area, a peaceful, unspoiled and naturally beautiful stretch of beach that was a joy to visit!
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