Buljaricasand and fine pebble · 2.2–2.5 km · water ExcellentThe longest beach on the Budva riviera — 2,250 metres of sand, gravel and stone backed by a protected wetland, with almost nothing built on it.Buljarica or Petrovac?
Two beaches 2.5 km apart, measured the same way. Buljarica and Petrovac side by side, on the nine things that decide which one your afternoon should go to.
Buljaricasand and fine pebble · 2.2–2.5 km · water ExcellentThe longest beach on the Budva riviera — 2,250 metres of sand, gravel and stone backed by a protected wetland, with almost nothing built on it.
Petrovacsand and fine pebble · 600 m · water ExcellentA 600-metre crescent of reddish sand and fine shingle with a town promenade along its whole length and two chapel-topped islets offshore.The short answer
Choose Buljarica for
- room — it is half again as long
- quiet
Choose Petrovac for
- loungers, food and somewhere to change
Measure by measure
| Measure | Buljarica | Petrovac |
|---|---|---|
| Surface | sand and fine pebble | sand and fine pebble |
| Entry | moderate | gentle |
| Depth | shallow | shallow |
| Shade | umbrellas for hire | umbrellas for hire |
| Character | organised and free sections | organised |
| Length | 2.2–2.5 km | 0.6 km |
| Latest water | Excellent | Excellent |
| Crowd | quiet | busy in season |
| Getting there | by road | by road |
Bold marks a measure where the two differ.
Each in our own words
Buljarica
Buljarica is the space the rest of the riviera lacks: a 2.25 km strand that starts sandy at the Petrovac end and turns to gravel and stone as it runs south-east, with a brackish marsh full of reed warblers behind it and olive groves beyond. One small organised sector, a campsite and a few seasonal bars are the sum of the development; the rest is yours. The wetland has been a Natural Monument since 1968, part of the Katič Nature Park since 2021 and a BirdLife Important Bird Area since 2023 — and the development proposals that resurface every few years are the reason to see it now.
This is an open, unsupervised beach for most of its length: real waves in a southerly, stony footing, no shade or water beyond the western end, and soft ground in the reeds behind.
Petrovac
Petrovac is the family beach of the southern riviera: the sand really is red from the local rock, the water stays shallow and calm near the shore, and everything — cafés, gelato, restaurants, the bus terminus — sits on the promenade behind it. The Venetian Castello anchors the harbour end and the Katič and Sveta Nedjelja islets, now inside a protected marine area, give the bay its postcard. It is busy in July and August but it is a town, not a resort strip, and the better swimming at Lučice is a fifteen-minute walk over the headland.
The whole town uses this one beach, so it fills by late morning in high season and the promenade is loud until late; the open south-west aspect means a southerly wind brings swell straight in.