The Bay of Kotor looks like a fjord, hides a Cold War submarine base along its shore, and holds an island that took five centuries of sailors to build – a speedboat tour from Kotor covers all three in about three hours.
An island built stone by stone
Our Lady of the Rocks, just off the town of Perast, isn't a natural islet – it's artificial, built up gradually since 1452, when legend holds that two fishermen brothers found an icon of the Virgin Mary on a rock breaking the surface of the bay. From then on, sailors returning from successful voyages laid a stone on the spot, and over centuries the islet grew large enough to support a church. That church, rebuilt in 1630 and decorated inside with 68 baroque frescoes by local 17th-century painter Tripo Kokolja and more than 2,500 silver votive plaques donated by local families, still stands today. The tradition hasn't stopped either – every 22 July, at sunset, boats from Perast circle the island three times in a ceremony called fašinada, still throwing stones into the water to keep it going.
A cave that turns the water blue
Further along the tour, the Blue Cave gets its name from what happens to the light inside it: sunlight bouncing off the pale limestone seabed and shallow white sand turns the enclosed water a striking, almost electric blue, and it's a regular stop for swimming partway through the route.
A submarine base hidden in plain sight
Less expected is the third stop – a Cold War-era submarine base built into the coastline in the 1970s by the Yugoslav Navy, one of several hidden installations around the Bay of Kotor designed to shelter naval vessels from aerial surveillance. Its tunnel entrances were disguised with rock-shaped camouflage, convincing enough from the air to pass as an ordinary stretch of cliff. It was abandoned after Yugoslavia's navy was disbanded in 1992, and is now accessible only by water, exactly the way this tour reaches it.
Booking
The speedboat tour from Kotor covers all three stops in about three hours, with a live guide or audio guide depending on group size and a stop for swimming at the Blue Cave. It's a well-reviewed, frequently sold-out option, so book a day or two ahead. Want a longer day out instead? Lovćen National Park and Cetinje covers a completely different side of Montenegro, up in the mountains above the bay.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
A speedboat route through the bay taking in the Blue Cave, the artificial island of Our Lady of the Rocks off Perast, and a hidden Cold War-era submarine base built into the shoreline.
Image: Brian Dell via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)