Rafting in Montenegro

Where rafting is done

On the Tara, and only there: by law rafting is allowed only on rivers or sections designated for it by the municipality or the protected-area manager, and the Tara canyon is where the operators are. Other rivers are paddled by kayak, not raft; see kayaking. The choice is therefore between two sides of one canyon. The Žabljak side holds the upper, longer routes past the Ljutica mouth, the Đurđevića Tara bridge, the Tepački bukovi rapids, Bajlovića sige and the Draga waterfalls. The Plužine side has the lower 18 km, run in rubber boats and in traditional wooden rafts, and counts as the municipality's main tourist product.

How to choose

• Half a day: Splavište to Žugića luka, 14 km and 3-4 hours on the water, the shortest route and the one for families.
• A full day: Splavište to Radovan luka, 24 km and 5-6 hours, or the 18 km Brštanovica run from the Plužine side.
• Two or three days: the whole canyon from Splavište to Šćepan Polje, 60 km with 10-11 hours of paddling in total.
• Wild water: April and May. Calm, warm water: July to mid-September, still no warmer than 15 °C.

Season: when to go

The season runs from April to October. April and May bring the strongest water; from 1 July to 15 September the level suits rafting best and the window counts as the safest. The law allows rafting all year, and winter trips run in January on water of about 5-6 °C. Whatever the month, each route has a person responsible for safety who closes it when the water is too high or too low.

Children and age

From 7 by law. Under-18s need written parental consent and over-65s sign a separate risk statement; everyone signs a risk statement before departure. The 14 km route is the one to start with.

What a trip is like

Everyone on board wears a helmet, a neoprene suit, neoprene shoes and a life jacket and holds a paddle; the law requires the kit, so every operator provides it. Only a holder of the national raft-leader certificate or an IRF licence steers, commercial operators need state approval and insurance, and a wooden raft carries a crew of two and at most 10 guests. Alcohol is banned on board. The emergency number is 112.

A red flag at the put-in means the route is suspended that day because of the water level.

Montenegro or Bosnia: Šćepan Polje and the Drina

Every multi-day trip and the Plužine one-day run end at Šćepan Polje, on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the Tara meets the Piva and the two become the Drina. Ask the operator which bank the camp and the take-out are on, and carry your passport.

Fees and prices

No personal permit is needed; approvals, insurance and licences are the operator's. Durmitor National Park charges €5 per person per day for entry, free under 15. A one-day trip costs about €70 and two days from €90; the price range and the operator lists are on the Tara page.

Why the Tara

The canyon lies within Durmitor National Park, on the World Heritage list since 1980, and the whole Tara basin is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. In 2005 the Government cancelled a dam that would have flooded part of the canyon, after a UNESCO and IUCN mission. The park itself, its lakes, trails and fees, is on the Durmitor page.

Getting there

Žabljak is 123 km from Podgorica via Nikšić; Plužine 109 km, about 2 h 20, and Šćepan Polje lies in Plužine municipality on the Bosnian border. No scheduled bus serves the put-ins, so agree the meeting point and the transfer with the operator.

Nearby and combined with

The zip lines at the Đurđevića Tara bridge (1,050 m and 824 m, about 150 m above the canyon, no advance booking needed) cross the canyon at a landmark the boats pass. The Ćurevac loop above the canyon is 17.74 km with 340 m of climb. Kayakers run the same river, and an international kayak festival is held on the Tara, Piva and Komarnica in September; see kayaking and SUP and canyoning.