Lakes of Montenegro

The lakes at a glance

Elevations, sizes and depths come from the register of waters and the statistical yearbook; the national parks and the tourist boards supply access and the rest. Lakes with their own page are linked by name; the others link to the park, mountain, town or trail page that covers the visit. A dash means no measured figure.

The coast and Lake Skadar

Nikšić: the reservoirs of the karst field

Durmitor and Sinjajevina

Piva: Maglić and Bioč

Moračke planine: Lukavica

Bjelasica

Prokletije, Visitor and Plav

Kuči mountains: Žijovo

Pljevlja and Rožaje

Lake Skadar and Lake Šas

Lake Skadar is 44 km long with a maximum depth of 44 m and an average of about 5 m; about two thirds of it lie in Montenegro and the rest in Albania. It has been a national park since 1983, a Ramsar wetland since 1995 and an Important Bird Area since 1989, with 281 recorded bird species including the Dalmatian pelican. The lake drains to the Adriatic through the Bojana, and the drowned valley of Rijeka Crnojevića runs into it. Licensed boats leave from four piers, Vranjina, Virpazar, Rijeka Crnojevića and Plavnica; fees, trails and the visitor centres are on the park page, and the lookouts above the shore on the Skadar Lake viewpoints page.

The only other lowland lake is Šasko jezero near Ulcinj, a karst cryptodepression in the Ulcinj field about 16 km from the mouth of the Bojana: 3.6 km², up to 8 m deep at the Begovo oko spring that feeds it from the lake bed, with a canal to the Bojana and the ruins of the old town of Šas above the shore. It lies between the two most important waterbird areas of the country, Skadar and the Bojana delta with the Ulcinj salt pans, and is itself an important bird habitat.

Glacial lakes of the mountains

Durmitor has 18 glacial lakes, called gorske oči, mountain eyes. The Black Lake, 3 km south-west of Žabljak, is the largest: 0.52 km², 49.1 m deep, two basins joined by a strait that can dry out in late summer, with underground drainage to both the Tara and the Piva. Zminje jezero lies in conifer forest at about 1,520 m, a walk from the Black Lake via Barno jezero; Jablan jezero at 1,791 m, under Crvena greda, is on the same easy Three Lakes loop of 8.93 km. Vražje jezero is on the Jezerska plateau about 12 km from Žabljak on the old Nikšić road, up to 11 m deep, visible from Savin kuk, with Riblje jezero less than 600 m away. Below the Sedlo pass the Jezera loop (6.2 km, about 3 hours, easy) links Suva lokva, Modro, Srablje and Valovito jezero, and Zeleni vir at 1,820 m lies on the Sedlo route up Bobotov kuk. On the Plužine side, the two Škrčka jezera sit 800 m below Bobotov kuk with the park hut Škrka between them, open mid-June to the end of September with your own sleeping bag; the larger lake drains over the Skakala into the seasonal Sušičko jezero in the Sušica valley, which dries out in summer. Zabojsko jezero on Sinjajevina, in the Mojkovac part of the park, is 18.8 m deep and reached by about 8 km of gravel road from Dobrilovina, by 4x4 or on foot.

On Bjelasica, Biogradsko jezero (0.23 km², 1,094 m, 12.1 m deep) is the largest of six lakes in the national park, ringed by a flat walking loop. Higher on the same ridge, Pešića jezero (1,837 m, 8.4 m deep) sits between Crna glava, Zekova glava and Belil; it is reached on foot from katun Vranjak, from the top of the Kolašin 1600 chairlift, or by car on the road past Dolovi Lalevića to a signposted turn-off. Veliko and Malo Šiško, Veliko and Malo Ursulovačko and Ševarine are the park's smaller lakes, the Ursulovačko pair just north of Crna glava.

In Prokletije, Plavsko jezero at Plav, 1.99 km² at 906 m and 9.1 m deep, is the largest glacial lake in the country and the source of the Lim; it lies outside the national park. Hridsko jezero, the highest lake on this page with a measured elevation, at 1,970 m, is a special nature reserve inside the park: 33,000-36,000 m² as the level varies, about 5 m deep, reached from Plav by 12.8 km of road to Babino polje and then about an hour on foot on an easy trail. Visitorsko jezero, about 5 km north-west of Plav below the Visitor summit at 1,735 m, is small and shallow, with a grassy island covering almost a third of its surface. Ropojansko jezero at the end of the Ropojana valley above Gusinje, on the Albanian border, often dries out in summer.

Outside the national parks, in the Kuči mountains east of Podgorica, Bukumirsko jezero (1,440 m, 16.8 m deep) is the start of the marked Žijovo trail and home to the endemic Montenegrin alpine newt; the detour from the Korita panoramic circuit is 25 km each way, mostly paved, with the last kilometre or so unpaved. Rikavačko jezero (1,313 m, 0.118 km²), with its east shore 250 m from the Albanian border, needs an SUV or 4x4 for 16 km of unpaved road from the circuit; the two can be joined in a loop of about 50 km. On Lukavica in the Moračke planine, Kapetanovo jezero (1,678 m) is 37 m deep, with marked trails from Gradačka poljana (20 km) and Zagarački katun (5.5 km) and the smaller Manito jezero 1.2 km to the south-east. Between Maglić and Volujak in Piva nature park, the heart-shaped Trnovačko jezero (1,517 m, 9.2 m deep) is reached only on foot, and the Via Dinarica enters Montenegro here; the two Stabanjska jezera under Bioč lie about 4 km from Stabna village (the park brochure gives 4.5 km).

Reservoirs: Piva, Nikšić and Otilovići

The third kind is man-made. Piva Lake is the reservoir behind the Mratinje dam in Plužine municipality: about 13.2 km², up to about 188 m deep, with a water level that swings between 595 and 675 m, as much as 90 m, as the power plant draws it down. The M3 road from Plužine runs along it and crosses the top of the dam, so most people see it from the car; the Piva nature park runs lake cruises and rents kayaks from Plužine. Piva Monastery was moved out of the future lakebed stone by stone between 1970 and 1982 before the water rose.

The karst field around Nikšić holds the reservoirs of the Perućica hydro scheme. Krupac (620 m), 6.5 km by road from the town, has a sandy beach by the north end of its 1.5 km dam and water up to 28 °C in summer; the town calls it the Nikšić sea, and Lake Fest, a rock festival, is held below the dam each year. Slano jezero (621 m) has an indented shore of islands and peninsulas with the limestone island Viža in the middle, up to 20,000 migratory birds at times, and a via ferrata. The Vrtac retention basin beside them holds water only briefly because the ground is permeable. Liverovići in Župa (0.93 km², 45 m deep, dam finished in 1957) is used for fishing and summer swimming, Grahovsko jezero on the Risan-Nikšić road is popular with campers, and about 4 of the 33 km² of Bilećko jezero on the Trebišnjica lie on the Montenegrin side. In the north, Otilovići backs the Ćehotina up for more than 9 km behind a 59 m arch dam near Pljevlja; the Ćehotina meanders page covers the visit.

Boats, swimming and fishing

The national parks rent boats on three lakes: a rowing boat on the Black Lake costs €10 an hour (launching your own €5), on Biogradsko jezero €10 an hour with kayaks at €3 single or €5 double, and on Lake Skadar park kayaks cost €3 or €5 an hour or €20 a day. Licensed boat tours on Skadar leave from Vranjina, Virpazar, Rijeka Crnojevića and Plavnica, often with a swimming stop, and the park's equipped beaches are Pješačac, Pelinovo and Murići. The Black Lake reaches 20 °C in summer and is suitable for swimming from the shore; the park sets no rule on it. Around Nikšić, Krupac is the swimming lake, with a sandy beach and water up to 28 °C, and licensed instructors run kayak, SUP and packraft trips on the Nikšić lakes and the Zeta; the kayak club on Krupac dates from the 1970s. Liverovići and Bilećko jezero are also used for summer swimming. Operators and departure points are on the boat tours and kayaking pages.

Fishing: on the Black Lake a daily permit costs €20 from the duty ranger, May to October, 14:00-19:00 every day except Monday, one rod with artificial lures, maximum four trout of at least 25 cm. Biogradsko jezero: €20 a day, five trout of at least 25 cm. Lake Skadar: €5 a day, €20 for seven days, €100 a year (€50 for pensioners and students), from the park office at Vranjina; carp, bleak and eel are the usual catch. Plavsko jezero gave the largest huchen ever recorded in Montenegro, 41.5 kg; fishing on the lake is closed from 1 October to 1 April, and huchen must be released until 1 April 2029. Kapetanovo jezero and Biogradsko jezero are the fly-fishing waters for native and brook trout; Zabojsko jezero holds rainbow trout. Permits for the Nikšić lakes (day, month and season) come from the angling club SRK Nikšić. Seasons, sizes and permits for every water are on the fishing page.

Which lake for what, and getting there

• Birds and boats: Lake Skadar, from Virpazar or Vranjina; April to June for the most species, winter for the largest flocks. Slano jezero and Šasko jezero also draw large numbers of birds.
• An easy family walk: the loop round the Black Lake, 3 km from Žabljak, or the flat loop round Biogradsko jezero; both have boats for hire.
• A swim without the coast: Krupac, 6.5 km by road from Nikšić, sandy beach and water up to 28 °C.
• A mountain lake with a walk-in: Hridsko jezero, about an hour on foot from Babino polje above Plav, Zminje jezero through the forest from the Black Lake, or the Jezera loop below Sedlo.
• A high lake you can drive to: Bukumirsko jezero, 25 km off the Korita panoramic circuit; Zabojsko jezero by 4x4 from Dobrilovina.
• A night by the water: the park hut Škrka between the Škrčka jezera under Bobotov kuk, mid-June to the end of September, sleeping bag needed.
• A lakeside town: Plav, on the shore of Plavsko jezero at the foot of Prokletije.
• A canyon drive: Piva Lake along the M3 from Plužine, with the dam at the end.

By car from Podgorica: Žabljak 123.4 km, about 2 h 39, with the Black Lake 3 km on; Plav 131.1 km, about 2 h 28. From Kolašin to the Biogradsko jezero car park: 21.7 km, about 38 minutes. Times are free-flow estimates on OpenStreetMap data, without traffic or queues. The Korita circuit and the roads to Bukumirsko and Rikavačko have no petrol station and are not suitable for campers of 7 m or more; the best months are May to October.