Tivat — Where Superyachts Meet Mountain Trails
Tivat is the newer, glossier face of the Bay of Kotor — a town built around a marina that attracts superyachts worth more than some country's GDP. Porto Montenegro transformed a former naval shipyard into a luxury waterfront, and the restaurants and boutiques followed. But step 200 metres from the marina and Tivat is still a working Montenegrin town of 13,000 people with local bakeries, fish markets, and old men playing chess on the waterfront.
For drivers coming from Podgorica, Tivat is about 1 hour 45 minutes via the scenic Lovćen route or around 1 hour 20 minutes through the Sozina tunnel and coast road. The town also has its own airport (TIV) which handles charter flights and seasonal low-cost carriers, making it an alternative arrival point for the Bay of Kotor.
Beaches
Tivat has 17 beaches along 3 km of coastline. The best ones:
- Plavi Horizonti (Blue Horizons): white sand and shallow, clear water on the Luštica peninsula — the best family beach on the bay
- Przno Beach on Sveti Marko Island: a former resort island now reclaimed by nature, accessible by small boat from Tivat harbour
Porto Montenegro
The 450-berth marina complex is the centrepiece of modern Tivat — yacht chandlers, designer boutiques, waterfront restaurants, a pool club, and a Naval Heritage Collection housed in the old arsenale. Even if superyachts are not your thing, the boardwalk is one of the best sunset walks on the bay.
Beyond the Marina
St. Michael Archangel
10th-century monastery ruins on the Prevlaka peninsula at the tip of the bay. Archaeological work is ongoing, and the setting — surrounded by water on three sides — is hauntingly beautiful.
Church of Sveti Antun Padovanski
Built in 1734 on a hillside above the town, this church holds religious paintings and offers sweeping views over the bay and the mountains of Lovćen behind.
The Maritime Museum in Kotor, just a 10-minute drive along the bay, charts the region's seafaring history from Venetian traders to Napoleonic battles.