Čanj, the bay of the Pearl Coast

North of Sutomore, the coast road looks down on a bay closed in by green mountains, with hotels and houses on the shore and a long beach. That’s Čanj, and to me it’s what Sutomore would be with the volume turned down. You come here to swim, to eat fish and to catch the boat to the most famous beach on the Bar Riviera.

A secluded bay

The Bar tourist board describes it as a resort in an isolated bay, with hotel complexes and holiday homes backing onto a long beach of «pearl sand». Besides the big beaches at Čanj and Sutomore, it says, there are plenty of small coves hidden among the pines, and wild beaches where Mediterranean nature is untouched. Čanj belongs to the municipality of Bar and had just 153 residents in the preliminary 2023 census, so out of season it’s a very small place.

The Pearl Coast

The village beach is called Biserna obala, the Pearl Coast, and its listing describes a lovely pebble beach of 1,200 metres and 55,000 m²; the bay’s overview page says 1,100 metres. The national tourist board counts it among Bar’s most popular beaches, alongside Kraljeva, Crvena, Veliki pijesak and Utjeha, and among the riviera’s family beaches.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Čanj for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.

Queen’s Beach

Close by, in Pećin bay between Petrovac and Sutomore, is Kraljičina plaža. The Bar tourist board says that, for many, it’s the most beautiful beach on the Montenegrin coast and one of the finest in the Adriatic. It’s hidden away behind hills and sheer rocks, so you can only get there by sea, and it has a jetty for the boats that bring bathers. It owes its name to Queen Milena Petrović, whose favourite holiday spot it was. The listing adds that it has the facilities you need and very clean water. Water taxis from Bar also run tours of the beaches you can only reach by boat, this one included.

Maljevik and the coast towards Sutomore

Between Čanj and Sutomore lies Maljevik, a 330-metre pebble beach where, according to the tourist board, the water is so clean that the sea life is especially rich. That’s my choice for a mask and snorkel. There’s a full comparison in beaches in Bar.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Čanj on GetYourGuide.

Getting there and where to stay

Čanj is on the coast road between Sutomore and Petrovac. The nearest railway station is Sutomore’s, on ZPCG’s line between Bar and Podgorica, about 4 km as the crow flies (OpenStreetMap), but from a bay this tucked away I’d want a car to get around the riviera, and remember that Montenegrins drive on the right. The national tourist board makes a point of saying that the Bar Riviera offers accommodation and sunbeds at reasonable prices, and that holds here too.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Čanj for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.