In the past, I have not been a big fan of vacationing on huge cruise ships. A few friends and I watched from the shore of Glacier Bay as cruise ship after cruise ship made their way up the large fjord. We were happy experiencing the wilderness of one of the America’s most magnificent national parks on a more personal scale. Just us and the grizzly bears. Could the Bays of Kotor change that feeling?
Another time, I stayed at a hotel in Kusadsi for almost a week a few years ago. Every day brought several behemoths to dock at the waterfront. Buses lined up for the inevitable bus pilgrimage to nearby Ephesus. And then, at sunset, the giant ships would set sail into the sunset for their next day’s destination – Bodrum, Mykonos, Santorini, Istanbul. Again, I was happy to be staying behind. This year, I bit the bullet joining a cruise taking in the Adriatic and western Mediterranean. The cruise turned out very enjoyable. The highlight, the slow entry into the wondrous fjord system making up the Bocche di Cattaro, known locally as the Boka Kotorska or simply, the Magic of Kotor.
THE CRUISE
We chose for our cruise, the Oceania Riviera, a ship and a line recommended by friends. This cruise included a lot of people from different American universities participating in an alumni cruise. That was another reason for going on this voyage, but the itinerary also sounded enticing. Trieste – the brochure mentioned Venice, but the ship, while not the 3000 to 5000 passenger behemoths seen on some lines still carried 1200 and was too big for the Venice port – was the starting point. Down the east coast of the Adriatic, around Italy and finish in Barcelona. Some of the stops we had some familiarity with while others were new. Trieste seemed a good place to begin the journey from. Serving as the main port for the old Austro-Hungarian empire through the 19th century up until World War 1, its roots Hapsburg era still obvious poking through an Italian overlay.
BOKA KOTORSKI
Our second stop for the cruise was Kotor. Kotor is turning out to be a very popular substitute for nearby Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik has a much larger dock for visiting cruise ships. The old city is an excellent place for a visit.
Stunning as the old city state of Ragusa is, Kotor is even more magical. A smaller walled city placed in one of the most beautiful settings of any port in the Mediterranean. Kotor also sees its share of cruise traffic. The city municipality boasted of only a little over 10,000. Only 961 live directly within the walls of the old city – Stari grad. The Stari grad is included as part of two UNESCO World Heritage Sites – Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor and Venetian Works of Defense between 16th and 17th centuries: Stato da Terra – western Stato da Mar.
The bays of and around Kotor also served as one the three main bases for the Austro-Hungarian fleet before and during World War 1. The Austrian Fifth Fleet sortied from the bays with pre-dreadnaught battleships, light cruisers and submarines – both Austrian and German U-boats. The main naval base is where Porto Montenegro, a superyacht marina, is located in nearby Tivat.
BASIC GEOGRAPHY
Kotor lies hemmed in at the end of a system of bays, narrow passages and a long fjord. Mountains rise over 5,000 feet above the waterways giving the area and added natural magnificence to the historical and cultural. The whole bay-fjord system forms a ria. Rias are former river valleys which become partially inundated by the sea. They feature very indented and irregular coastlines. The geographic term comes from Galicia where much of the Atlantic coastline features many rias. Rijeka Dubrovčka – north of Dubrovnik – and Lim – in western Istria – are other ria examples found along the Adriatic Coast. The Kotor ria formed from a river now gone when the sea invaded the valley. The river dropped down from the Orjen mountains to the immediate north.
Several bays unite through a series of narrow channels. The mouth of the system forms between the Prevlaka peninsula and Punta Oštro on the north with the Luštica Peninsula forms the eastern boundary of the mouth. This peninsula curls around forming the south border of the next two bays – Hercegnovski Zaliv and Tivatski Zaliv. Two more bays are separated by the Verige Narrows, the Risanski and Kotorski Zaliv.
A quick word about climate. The Bays of Kotor, like most of Dalmatia, are very hot in the summer. Hot and crowded. Reserve ahead if you must – you must on a cruise ship, anyway – or better, come in shoulder season.
So now with basic geography established, let us cruise the Boka.
MOUTH
Our ship entered the mouth of the Boka early in the morning. We were coming south from Split and enjoyed a slight bump to the seas. The night before, we enjoyed dinner with a bottle of wine, so we were a bit slow. I am an early riser, a result of many years having my first patient arriving at 0730. Noticing the bumping had quieted, and the ship slowed down, I went up top to the espresso bar to get a doble and talk football with the barista, a Lazio aficionado. Then I noted we were definitely off the open ocean heading already into Tivat Bay. We already passed through the mouth, so I paid more attention on the way out.
if you come in, then you have to go out
Heading out through the mouth, cloudy weather was just beginning to give way to rain. A university alumni get-together occurred at the same time the ship left for the open sea. Lucky for me, the get-together happened in the bow of the ship with plenty of windows. While I was talking and enjoying a libation, I noticed the mouth and Austrian forts set out to defend. Excusing myself briefly, I did manage to snap a couple of pictures to make up for missing them in the morning.
The ship passed Mamula Island on the left – port – with Fort Arza further on the mainland of the Luštica Peninsula forming two of the three forts. On our right, at the absolute end of land on Punta Oštro, the walls of the fort right along the sea stood out. This is the only fort of the Boka standing in Croatia, the Punta being Croatia’s most southernmost point.
HERCEG NOVI
Going out onto the ship deck as we made our way into the Boka, Herceg Novi was on the opposite side. By the time I was on the deck in the morning, with grey misting skies, we were already past Herceg – New Castle in Serbo-Croatian, Italian and Turkish. The best picture I can give is Kumbar, the next town on the north shore. I did note the city is the largest in the Kotor region boasting of over 30,000. Old Turkish castles, some re-used by Austrian authorities during their stay, one castle revitalized as an open-air theater today. Lots of places for people to stay here in the farthest western city of Montenegro. Nearby beaches invite guests to stay for their one-two week vacations along the sea. The nearest airport is across the waters south of Tivat.
LUŠTICA AND PORT ROSE
Luštica Peninsula on a hot hazy afternoon from atop Mount Lovćen.
Tivat airport in lower part on right.
Luštica Peninsula makes up most of the southern shoreline of both the Hercegnovski Zaliv and the Tivatski Zaliv. It also forms the eastern edge of the mouth of the Kotor Bays system. The peninsula sticks out from the mainland of Montenegro for 13 kilometers which means a 35-kilometer-long coastline. Until recently, the peninsula remained relatively undeveloped, but tourism is changing that.
Austro-Hungarian fortifications centered around the mouth of the bay at Fort Arza and Mamula Island in the middle of the mouth. Those two forts worked together with the Punta d’Oštrov on the other side from Luštica. About a kilometer further inside the bay, four battery forts worked in tandem. Two found on the opposite side on Kobila Gornja near where the border crossing station is on the Montenegrin side of the southernmost border with Croatia. Another two forts set up on the Luštica side – Fort Luštica and Fort Kabala.
PORT ROSE
Right around the corner from Kabala was the little port of Rose. This served as a submarine base for the Austrians up until the end of World War 1. From where men like Georg Ludwig Ritter von Trapp sallied forth under the watchful eye of harbor guardship and semi-submarine tender SMS Erzherzog Rudolf.
The port at Rose is one of the oldest in the Kotor Bays. Dating back to Ancient Greece, the port has been in use for many centuries acting as a guard fort for entry into the bay. The Austrians fortified the port with the whole port used today as a resort – Forte Rose.
Around the up-bay side corner from Port Rose you find two submarine caves. These date from the 1950’s, built for the former Yugoslavia navy. Similar caves can be found in other locations along the Adriatic. Past the caves, a small Yugoslav naval base sits at the water’s edge below the village of Zabrđe – part of the former Tivat Naval Base.
TIVATSKI ZALIV
After sailing through the Kumbor Strait, the bay opens to its largest extent with the Bay of Tivat – Tivatski Zaliv. Archaelogical findings show the area goes back to ancient times, but the town itself dates back to mostly the latter part of the 19th century – 1889 – when Austria-Hungary developed a naval base and arsenal at Tivat. Tivat lies in the western shadow of Vrmac protecting the port from potential artillery fire from Montenegrin artillery high on Mount Lovćen.
After the fall of Austria-Hungary, the naval base was used by Yugoslavia, Italy and finally Montengro. The base was being sold off in 2016 for redevelopment as Porto Montenegro, a superyacht marina.
Tivat is a moderately large town for the Kotor region with around 14,000 people in the municipality. Main industry beyond the port is tourism. The largest airport in Montenegro – Tivat Airport – lies only three kilometers to the south. The airport is very busy seasonally bringing lots of tourists in, tourists largely coming from Russia in the past.
Cruising to or from Kotor, the ship traverses the northern border of Tivat Bay. Impressively, the mountains of the Dinaric Alps rise high above the closer mass of Vrmac and the town of Tivat at its base.
VERIGE
Cruising through the Verige Straits is a highlight. Here you enter into the inner sanctum of the Kotor Bays. The channel narrows to only 340 meters over a length of 2,300 meters. Mountains rise over 700 meters on both sides with the promise of even higher reached lying directly ahead.
A little peninsula juts out from the north side with a small church dedicated to Sveti Neðelja – Santa Domenica in Italian and Saint Kyriaki in Greek – with a fine restaurant along the sea announces the entry into the Verige at the village of Kamenari. From here, a little ferry runs across the straits to Lepatane near the north end of the Vrmac Peninsula.
HISTORICAL STRAITS
Turks controlled the north shore of the bay centering on Herceg Novi. They looked to building two forts to control the Verige, forts that would have threatened Venetian control of Kotor. The Turks excavated grounds for the forts but never completed them. On the southeast corner of the straits, a small fort erected around 1526 by the people of Perast with the little church, Gospa od Anðela – Our Lady of Angels.
A heavy chain was put across the strait to try and control vessel movement in and out of the inner bays. A Turkish raiding party with 16 galleys stormed Perast 22 June 1624 causing a lot of destruction. The church was built into a small fortress in response which was burnt again in 1654 during another Turkish raid on Perast, but later rebuilt. Our Lady of the Angels is part of the UNESCO cultural-historical list and last saw renovation in 2015.
Above the Venetian church-fort, the Austrians built two forts – Fort Verige and Fort Bijeli Pjesak – overlooking the Verige. From the ship, you can just make them out along amongst the thick vegetation of the hillsides with surviving watchtowers sprouting nearby.
RISANKSI ZALIV AND PERAST
As the ship pushes on out of the Verige, things open up. To the north is the Risanski Zaliv – Risan Gulf. The heights of Orjen rise high above. Here is where the ancient river Bokelji used to come down from. Several forts erected by Austria-Hungary can be found high above the waters guarding against possible Ottoman or Montenegrin thrusts to the waters below from the north or east.
Straight across lies the atmospheric village of Persast. Earlier, Perast, a commercial and fishing center, served as important in the defense against the Turks situated on the border between the Turkish held area on the north edge of the bay and the heart of the Venetian area concentrated in Kotor Gulf to the south. Prominent in the defense of the town, the Fort of the Holy Cross erected in 1570 and enlarged several more times. The fort played host to troops of Napoleon in 1813 and later by the Austro-Hungarian army.
St George Island, Our Lady of the Rocks and Perast with the Risanski zaliv and the mountains of Orjen beyond.
The town reeks history with churches and the large houses of seafaring families. Very popular as a day visit from nearby Kotor, most visits include a little boat ride out to two small islands in the middle of the bay, St. George Island and Our Lady of the Rocks. Only a few hundred people call Perast home today, they are outnumbered by the vast numbers of visiting tourists. You have to park at one end of the city or the other and walk. The streets are very narrow and filled with tourists.
KOTORSKI ZALIV
When the ship turns past St George Island, it turns south for the final slow glide down the Kotorski Zaliv to the Stari grad – Old City – of Kotor at the south end of the bay. Mountains surround the narrow gulf, snow clad winter to mid or late spring on the eastern side. Lovćen rises to 1,749 meters – 5,738 feet. On the southern shoulder, note the towers of the gondola going up from Trojica Pass.
On the west side of the bay, villages hug the coast beneath the ridges of Vrmac – Sveti Ilja is the highest point at 765 meters-2,509 feet. Just past Perast on the Vrmac side, the little village of Gornji Stoliv hands about a third of the way up the mountain at about 260 meters. The village is known for its chestnuts and olive trees. The parent village of Donji Stoliv sits below on the sea.
Opposite the Stolivs, the bay opens up a bit to the east. Here lies the village of Orahovac with about 300 people and plenty of vacation apartments. Known for their wild pomegranate trees, there are several sea farms where mussels are raised – you will see such farms elsewhere along the bays, as well.
DESTINATION IN SIGHT
The suburbs of Kotor now stretch along both sides of the fjord until its end almost 3 kilometers to the south. The red roofs of the compact Stari grad begin to come into view at the base of the Venetial walls zig zagging up the mountain side.
If your ship is the only boat in port, you will be able to dock across the street from the Old City. If not, then you lighter into the same dock from offshore. Too soon your time ashore is over and you are recalled to reboard you ship, heading back out through the systems of bays and narrows to the open sea from which you ventured in from.
