Blue Cave (Plava špilja)

Key facts

The light is the point of the visit. When the sun stands high, around midday, the water inside glows a deep blue, which is why tours time their stop for the middle of the day. Calcite formations line the walls, and the cave has two openings to the sea. Its floor area is about 300 m²; there is no official survey, so treat the figure as approximate.

Getting there

• Boat tours: speedboat and group tours from Kotor cross the bay and round the Luštica peninsula to the cave, usually combining it with Mamula, the submarine tunnels, Perast and Our Lady of the Rocks. Prices depend on the operator and the length of the tour; the boat tours hub lists the operators.
• Kayak and SUP: the cave is a day-tour destination for stand-up paddleboards, and under the 2026 rule paddle craft are the only ones allowed inside. See the kayaking hub.
• From land: there is no path and no access road. A 2018 municipal assembly decision concerned an access road to the cave, but the cave is still reached only from the sea.

Tickets and prices

There is no ticket and no entry fee for the cave itself, and no official tariff. The cost is the boat tour or the kayak or SUP rental, set by each operator and depending on the length of the trip and the stops it includes. Tours leave from Kotor; the boat tours hub has the operators.

Rules and protection

The rulebook on navigation safety, reporting and maritime traffic management (Pravilnik o sigurnosti plovidbe, izvještavanju i upravljanju pomorskim saobraćajem, Sl. list CG 69/2026), published on 20 May 2026 and in force since 21 May 2026, sets the rules in Article 63. Only craft without a motor or propeller, such as kayaks, sandolinas and similar, may enter the cave. Motor craft and water-jet craft, including jet skis and scooters, may move and stay only outside it, more than 20 m from the entrance, and within a 20 m radius of the entrances only craft without a motor may sail or anchor. Official service vessels are the exception. The stated aims are protecting human life, above all swimmers, protecting the natural setting and preventing pollution of the sea.

Speedboat owners asked for an urgent amendment within days of the rule taking effect. In June 2026 the Ministry of Maritime Affairs confirmed it would keep the ban: a vessel found inside the cave area is removed from traffic at once and may be banned from operating, and enforcement uses patrols, AIS and VTMS monitoring and drones.

Legal protection of the cave itself is newer than the boat rule. Until its entry in the Register of Speleological Objects the cave had none. In September 2024 the municipal assembly asked that the coast from Cape Arza to Cape Kočište be protected and that boat traffic be controlled more strictly. In summer 2025 people with hammers damaged formations inside the cave. In November 2025 the municipality asked the Environmental Protection Agency for a protection study, expected to take three to five months and to cover the cave and the sea around it.

Do not touch or break the formations. The cave is a registered speleological object, and the damage done in 2025 is what set the protection process going.

Nearby

Tours that stop at the cave also call at Mamula island, with its Austro-Hungarian fort, and at the submarine tunnels on the Luštica shore. The nearest beach with a page on this site is Žanjice, on the Luštica peninsula; the town of Herceg Novi faces the peninsula across the mouth of the bay.

Questions

When is the water bluest?

Around noon, when the sun is highest. Tours plan their stop at the cave for the middle of the day.

Can boats still go into the Blue Cave?

Only craft without a motor, such as kayaks, sandolinas and SUP boards, since the rule took effect on 21 May 2026. Motor boats must stay more than 20 m from the entrance.

Can you swim in it?

Tours have long included a swim in the cave. The 2026 rule governs craft, not swimmers, and one of its stated aims is to protect swimmers from propellers. Whether your tour includes a swim from the boat outside the 20 m line depends on the operator and the sea state, and the skipper decides, so ask when booking.