Velika plaža, thirteen kilometres of sand down to the Bojana

If you’ve been missing a proper sandy beach in Montenegro, the kind you can walk barefoot without watching your step, the answer lies in the south. Velika plaža in Ulcinj tops the national list for length, with 13 km of fine sand curving gently down to the mouth of the Bojana. There are no cliffs and no stone village behind it; just space, wind and water that stays shallow for a long way out.

Thirteen kilometres of sand

The Ulcinj tourist board describes it in detail. It’s about 13 km long and around 50 metres wide on average, sweeping from north-west to south-east from Porta Milena bay to the mouth of the Bojana. It starts 4 km from the centre of Ulcinj. The sand is greyish-white with grains of 0.1 to 0.5 mm, and the seabed is the same, so you can wade out a long way. The national tourist board calls it the longest sandy beach on the Adriatic. The Ulcinj tourist board credits its sand with easing rheumatism, sciatica and back problems, and recommends seeing it at sunset, when sea, sand and sky merge into a single colour.

A beach in sections

You don’t do a beach like this end to end, you pick a section, and locals count them by the kilometre from Porta Milena. At km 3 there’s Adriatica, with a pine wood where you can park in the shade, and MCM on the way to Ada Bojana, with a restaurant, playground and parking. At km 6 comes Copacabana, around 900 metres long with some 500 parasols and guarded parking. At km 10 there’s D’olcinium, the country’s first kitesurfing club, founded in 2008. The Ulcinj tourist board also lists Safari, Tropicana, which bills itself as the first private beach in Montenegro, and others such as Tampico, Toni Grill, Ivana, Mojito and Coco. At the far end is Ada Bojana, with its naturist beach and fish restaurants.

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The wind, its other reason for being

The maestral, blowing onshore almost daily from May to September, makes this the country’s top kitesurfing beach, according to the national tourist board. With no trees or rocks on the sand and hundreds of metres of shallow water, it’s one of the safest places to learn. Several schools hire out kit and have camping areas, bars and parking; a basic course takes eight to ten hours and costs €150 to €400. It’s all in kitesurfing in Montenegro.

Behind the beach

Since the 1979 earthquake, the Ulcinj tourist board says, the town has spread towards the beach and Štoj has filled up with large modern houses for rent. MONSTAT’s preliminary 2023 census found 1,335 people living in Donji Štoj and 8,036 dwellings, more than six per resident. The Ulcinj tourist board’s list puts two four-star hotels right on the beach, Hotel Otrant and Azul Beach Resort, and three three-star ones in Štoj, Zan, Biser and Imperial; I run through them by area in hotels in Ulcinj. Between the town and the beach lie the Ulcinj salt pans, and the national tourist board notes stone-curlews and bee-eaters in the surrounding fields.

If you are short on time, see the best tours in Velika plaža and pick one that fits your day.

Before you lay out your towel

With this much beach and this much wind, a couple of things are worth knowing. Follow the flags and the lifeguards, as the Foreign Office advises, and keep an eye out for jet skis coming in too close; for an emergency at sea, call 129. With children I’d settle well away from where the kites launch. As for cost, the national tourist board’s undated figure is roughly ten euros a day for a pair of sunbeds and a parasol in Ulcinj. Several concessions have their own parking, shaded by pines at Adriatica or guarded round the clock at Copacabana.

When and how

The swimming season in Ulcinj runs from May to October, according to its tourist board. Without a car it’s hard to hop between sections, as the beach is so long, and Montenegro drives on the right. June or September would be my choice, with the wind already or still blowing and there are fewer people than in August. If you’re weighing it against others nearby, I compare them in Ulcinj beaches.

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