Tivat

About Tivat

Tivat sits directly across the water from Kotor, on the southern side of the Bay of Kotor where the bay widens into its largest, most open basin. Once a quiet naval town, it has grown into one of Montenegro's most cosmopolitan stretches of coast, anchored by the Porto Montenegro marina and backed by the green slopes of Vrmac and the Luštica peninsula. Because Tivat Airport sits just a few minutes from the seafront, this is the first corner of Montenegro most visitors ever see — and a natural base for exploring the rest of the bay. Its palm-lined promenade, easy cafés and wide-open water give Tivat a calmer, more spacious feel than the dense medieval streets of Kotor a short hop across the bay.

Getting to Tivat by boat

By road, Tivat is roughly 40 minutes from Kotor — the route loops the long way around the bay, through the Verige strait and the coastal villages, often crawling behind tour buses. By water it becomes a short, scenic crossing straight over the open bay. A private boat transfer can collect you on the Kotor waterfront and drop you at the Porto Montenegro marina or any Tivat pier in a fraction of the time. Travellers landing at Tivat Airport often take the same route in reverse: rather than sit in road traffic, a few minutes' walk to the water terminal puts them on the bay and into Kotor by sea. You can see every route, transit time and docking point on our private boat transfers page.

Things to do in Tivat

Tivat rewards a slower pace. Walk the Porto Montenegro boardwalk past the superyachts, swim at Plavi Horizonti — one of the few genuinely sandy beaches on the bay — or take the short hop to the Island of Flowers (Ostrvo cvijeća) with its old monastery. The town's dining runs from polished marina restaurants to family konobas grilling the morning's Adriatic catch. Tivat is also the best jumping-off point for the Luštica peninsula, the open-sea beaches near the mouth of the bay, and the islands beyond. Most visitors find a day or two here the easiest, most relaxed way to settle into the rhythm of the Montenegrin coast.

Porto Montenegro & the waterfront

The heart of modern Tivat is Porto Montenegro, the superyacht marina built on the site of the former Arsenal naval base. Even without a yacht of your own it is worth an afternoon — a waterfront of promenades, designer boutiques, the Naval Heritage Collection and the Regent hotel's sea-facing terraces. Read more on our dedicated Porto Montenegro guide.