Velika plaža (Long Beach)

Getting there

Take the road from Ulcinj towards Ada Bojana; it runs the length of the beach behind the sand, the bathing areas are signposted from it, and MCM marks the third kilometre. Driving times from the middle of the beach, without traffic:

• Ulcinj centre: 9 km, about 17 minutes.
• Bar: 39 km, about 55 minutes.
• Podgorica Airport: 80 km, about 1 h 50 min.
• Tivat Airport: 94 km, about 2 h 15 min.

The town parking zones in Ulcinj charge €0.90 per hour in zone I in summer (1 June-1 October), or €9 for a day ticket, daily 07:00-23:00. The lots at the beach are outside the town zones.

The beach

The sand is fine, the beach flat and wide, and the seabed is sand too, which is why it is counted among the sandy, family beaches of the coast. An older count gives about a dozen equipped bathing areas; today there are many more concessions, and the Blue Flag list alone names 11 flagged areas and six in the pilot phase. Sunsets over the sea are the other thing the beach is known for.

Free or paid

Every public bathing area must keep half of its length free of beach furniture and mark it as such; on the furnished half one umbrella with two loungers takes at least 8 m². Hotel bathing areas may furnish their whole surface, with at least 10 m² per set, or 15 m² at five-star hotels. Every 20 m there must be a free passage to the sea at least 1 m wide, and a free strip at least 3 m wide runs along the waterline (1 m on areas under 500 m²). So you can always spread a towel on the free half for nothing; the loungers on the other half are paid. Under the current rule the loungers and umbrellas on leased areas are free after 17:00 until closing only for citizens of Montenegro showing an ID card; in earlier years that free period applied to everyone. Lifeguards: at least one per 50 m of shore in July and August and one per 100 m in the other months of the bathing season.

Kitesurfing and windsurfing

Kiting is allowed only at the designated kite locations, a separate type of site in the beach atlas: a stretch of shore with no beach furniture and its own sea area, separated from the swimmers, marked at sea by alternating red and yellow buoys, with a licensed lifeguard and a bilingual sign naming the operator, the hours and the allowed activities. Look for the buoys and the sign; launching among swimmers is not allowed. Safari has a kitesurf school, and Ada Bojana at the far end is the kite and windsurf centre of the coast.

Blue Flag

The Blue Flag has flown on 11 bathing areas of Velika plaža: Toni Gril (10E), Miami (10F), Evropa (10G), Saranda (10H), White Beach (10I), Hills (10N), MCM Beach (10O), Cabo Beach (10R), Havana (10R1), Barbossa (10V) and Copacabana (10W). Six more are in the pilot phase: Sparta, Royal, Marbuena, Scorpios, Olea and Barbossa 1. The flag belongs to each concession, not to the whole 13 km.

Named bathing areas

Several bathing areas carry names that people use as if they were beaches. Tropicana was the first private beach in Montenegro and held the flag from 2003 to 2012; Safari was built in eco style with a kitesurf school and was flagged up to 2018; MCM at the third kilometre has held the flag and has a playground and parking. Mojito beach, atlas code 10J in the centre of the beach, is the only pet-friendly bathing area in Ulcinj.

Nearby

• Ada Bojana: about 3 km of sand on the river island at the far end, a naturist beach and the kite centre.
• Mala plaža, the town beach under the Ulcinj Old Town, with Ženska plaža between them.
• Ulcinj: the town, the Old Town, buses and the border with Albania.

Questions

Is Velika plaža free?

Half of every public bathing area is free of loungers by rule and costs nothing; the loungers on the other half are paid, and under the current rule they are free after 17:00 for citizens of Montenegro with an ID card.

Is it good for children?

Fine sand on the shore and on the seabed, and the managed areas have lifeguards in season.

Can I bring a dog?

Only to Mojito beach (10J).

Where can you kitesurf?

Only at the marked kite locations with red and yellow buoys and a sign, away from the swimmers.