Ženska plaža (Women's Beach)
Stony · Ulcinj
Photo: Alexkom000 · CC BY 4.0
- Type
- Stony
- Crowds
- Low
Ženska plaža (Women's Beach) is a rocky cove with a cave in the pine wood east of Ulcinj, between Hotel Albatros and the former Hotel Galeb. It is open to women only. The national rulebook on sea bathing areas names the Women's Beach as the one bathing area reserved for women, and the custom goes back decades, which is how the cove got its name. A sulphur mineral spring rises in the shallows, and local tradition links the water with the treatment of female infertility.
Naturist area
The official naturist area on the Borova šuma (Pine Forest) shore east of Ulcinj is bathing area 6D, named Borova šuma-Ženska plaža: 60 m of shore drawn at the cove of the Women's Beach itself, the fourth of the five Borova šuma areas. The rules for naturist areas allow entry to naturists only, and on the Women's Beach to women only. A small bar may operate at the southern end of the cove. The Borova šuma shore is rock and concrete, with sandy gravel in places.
Who may use it
Women only. Under Montenegro's rules for sea bathing areas, entry to a naturist bathing area is for naturists only and, on the Women's Beach, for women only. Privacy screens may be put up on a bathing area of this kind. The bathing season on the coast runs from May to October, when the bathing water is tested. Nude bathing here is a custom rather than a general naturist rule: women hoping to conceive traditionally bathe nude at dawn.
The spring
What makes the beach known is a sulphur mineral spring in the water, not mud. Mihajlo Pupin wrote about the sulphur springs here in 1911. The link with fertility is tradition, not a medical claim.
Getting there
The cove is about 500 m, 6 minutes on foot, from the car park above the Borova šuma shore, on the road east of the town towards the Albatros hotel. The path runs through the pine wood along the shore. The beach is rock with a cave.
Nearby
- Mala plaža, the town beach under the Old Town walls, to the north-west.
- Velika plaža, the long sand beach, to the south-east.
- Valdanos, the pebble bay with the old olive grove, north-west of the town.
Questions
Can men visit Ženska plaža?
No. The bathing-area rulebook reserves the Women's Beach for women.
Is it a nudist beach?
It is the women-only beach, where bathing nude is a custom. The designated naturist bathing area 6D is drawn at this cove and follows the same rule.
What is in the water?
A sulphur mineral spring rises in the shallows. There is no mud here; the mud beach of the coast is Blatna plaža in Igalo.
Sources
Morsko dobro, The Beaches of Montenegro (brochure), p. 115 · Morsko dobro, beach catalogue: Ulcinj · Tourist Organisation Ulcinj: Ženska plaža (ME) · Tourist Organisation Ulcinj: Ladies' beach (EN) · Tourist Organisation Ulcinj: Rocky beaches · NTO Montenegro, Healing beaches · NTO Montenegro, Beautiful beaches of Montenegro · Blue Flag Montenegro, flagged bathing areas by season · Programme of temporary facilities in the coastal zone 2024-2028, amendments Feb 2025: Ulcinj, text · Programme of temporary facilities in the coastal zone 2024-2028, amendments Feb 2025: Ulcinj, map sheet 2 · Morsko dobro, public call 0206-1026/1 (28 Feb 2025), nudist bathing areas · Rulebook on bathing areas at sea (Sl. list CG 23/19, 76/19) · JP Morsko dobro, bathing water monitoring (season May-October) · National Tourism Organisation of Montenegro, Nudist beaches · OpenStreetMap, Ženska plaža (way 182023374) · OpenStreetMap, car park above the Borova šuma shore (way 371665447) · Routes computed with OSRM on OpenStreetMap data (ODbL)
