Igalosand and fine pebble · 600–1000 m · water SufficientThe flattest, gentlest shore on the bay: up to a kilometre of sand, pebble and concrete platforms in shallow warm water, with the mud beach of Stara Banja at the Sutorina mouth.Igalo or Meljine Beach?
Two beaches 3.8 km apart, measured the same way. Igalo and Meljine Beach side by side, on the nine things that decide which one your afternoon should go to.
Igalosand and fine pebble · 600–1000 m · water SufficientThe flattest, gentlest shore on the bay: up to a kilometre of sand, pebble and concrete platforms in shallow warm water, with the mud beach of Stara Banja at the Sutorina mouth.
Meljine Beachpebble · 30 mA compact 30-metre public pebble beach beside Lazure marina, with clear buoyed water and the mountains of the inner bay rising behind it.The short answer
Choose Igalo for
- sand underfoot rather than pebble
- room — it is half again as long
Choose Meljine Beach for
- pebble, and the clearer water that comes with it
Measure by measure
| Measure | Igalo | Meljine Beach |
|---|---|---|
| Surface | sand and fine pebble | pebble |
| Entry | gentle | gentle |
| Depth | shallow | shallow |
| Shade | umbrellas for hire | umbrellas for hire |
| Character | organised | organised |
| Length | 600–1000 m | 30 m |
| Latest water | Sufficient | — |
| Crowd | busy in season | busy in season |
| Getting there | by road | by road |
Bold marks a measure where the two differ.
Each in our own words
Igalo
Igalo is a spa town’s beach, and it behaves like one. The main strand — about 600 m by our guide, 1 km by our list — is sand and pebble with concrete platforms, a gentle entry and water that stays shallow and warm, which is why the Institute Dr Simo Milošević was put here in 1949 and why toddlers and physiotherapy patients share it. West of the Institute, at the mouth of the Sutorina, the cove of Stara Banja is where the black mineral mud is dug and applied. Loungers are €8–14, there is no step anywhere between the bus stop and the water, and the Pet Danica promenade starts at the Institute door.
This is not a clear-water beach: the bay is shallow and warm rather than transparent, the promenade behind it is busy, and Stara Banja is mud on purpose.
Meljine Beach
Meljine Beach is the small public family strand immediately beside Lazure Hotel & Marina. The beach itself is only 30 metres long, but it has a gentle pebble entry, clear water inside a marked swimming zone and the Pet Danica waterfront route at its back. Come for a swim during a walk from Herceg Novi rather than expecting a large resort beach: the marina, old lazaret and mountain amphitheatre are as much a part of the setting as the sand.
This is a very small beach next to an active marina, with boats and moorings outside the buoy line. Space is limited and some nearby water entries are from rocks or concrete rather than the pebble strand.