Morinjsand and fine pebble · 165 m · water ExcellentA 165-metre strip of sand and grey pebble at the corner of the bay where a cold stream comes out of the karst, with two campsites behind it and the mills restaurant above the road.Morinj or Stoliv?
Two beaches 5.1 km apart, measured the same way. Morinj and Stoliv side by side, on the nine things that decide which one your afternoon should go to.
Morinjsand and fine pebble · 165 m · water ExcellentA 165-metre strip of sand and grey pebble at the corner of the bay where a cold stream comes out of the karst, with two campsites behind it and the mills restaurant above the road.
Stolivconcrete platforms · 100 m · water ExcellentNo beach at all — concrete platforms and pontoons on the captains’ waterfront of Donji Stoliv, facing Perast across flat water, with the chestnut woods of the upper village behind.The short answer
Choose Morinj for
- sand underfoot rather than pebble
- water that stays shallow a long way out
- shade that is not rented
- room — it is half again as long
Choose Stoliv for
- pebble, and the clearer water that comes with it
- real depth close to shore
- nothing built on it
Measure by measure
| Measure | Morinj | Stoliv |
|---|---|---|
| Surface | sand and fine pebble | concrete platforms |
| Entry | gentle | steep |
| Depth | shallow | deep at the edge |
| Shade | trees and umbrellas | none |
| Character | organised and free sections | wild |
| Length | 165 m | 100 m |
| Latest water | Excellent | Excellent |
| Crowd | quiet | quiet |
| Getting there | by road | by road |
Bold marks a measure where the two differ.
Each in our own words
Morinj
Morinj is the one place in the Risan basin with something like a beach: OpenStreetMap tags it sand, the hub calls it grey pebbles in a shaded wooded bend, and both agree it is quiet and shallow — the family swim of this end of the bay. The springs under the surface keep the water cold at the stream mouths all summer, which is the point in August. Entry is free, loungers cost a few euros in season, Kamp Naluka is at the river mouth, and Ćatovića Mlini is in the mill gardens above the road.
The water is cold where the streams come in even in high summer, and the paid parking by the beach fills in July and August; we hold no toilet, shower or water-quality facts for the sector.
Stoliv
Stoliv is honest about what it has: the village guide says it "does not have any beaches itself so all sunbathing has to be done on the pontoons", and that is the swim — off concrete, into deep, calm bay water, with the church of the Name of Mary at your back and Perast and its islets straight across the strait. It is the end of the boka-shore-road walk from Kotor and the quietest swimming stop on the Vrmac shore. Bring everything; the waterfront sells nothing.
There is nothing here for a family beach day — no shore to paddle from, no shade, no facilities — and the pontoons you swim from are also where the boats tie up.