Velika plaža
Long Beach
Twelve to thirteen kilometres of fine dark sand from Port Milena to the Bojana mouth, shallow for a long way out and swept by a thermal wind every summer afternoon.
Our verdict
Velika plaža is not a beach you visit so much as a coast you choose a kilometre of. The named sections — Copacabana, Miami, Safari and their neighbours — have loungers, bars, fish restaurants and kite schools; the sand between them has nothing at all, and that is the point. Wade out waist-deep for a hundred metres in the morning, then give the afternoon to the maestral and the kites. It is the one beach in Montenegro that never fills.
Velika plaža, in facts
The shore
Facilities
Access
Facts verified September 28, 2026 · Length: Our Velika plaža guide says 12 km, the Ulcinj hub 13 km — the sand has no fixed end where it meets the Bojana mouth · 11 more still to check on the ground
Velika plaža in pictures
Some of these are ours, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0; the rest are licensed and are not.
Velika plaža in motion
The Port Milena canal and its kalimeras, the channel that separates the town from the start of Velika plaža
Photographs and footage by Montenegro.com, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Map
The shaded water is the official bathing zone for station Velika Plaža 10 — the stretch JP Morsko dobro actually samples, not an outline of the beach.
Getting there
6.9 km
Ulcinj
27 km
Bar
58 km
Budva
Straight-line distances — Montenegro's roads are mountain roads, so the drive is longer.
- On the Pinješ Pines walkStop: velika-plaza
- By busSummer minibuses from Ulcinj centre (no route name published); taxi €8–12 one way
- By carAbout 5 km south-east of the town, 10–15 minutes; a road runs behind the whole length with turn-offs to each named section and parking for a few euros
Today at Velika plaža
Which way the beach faces is computed from the OpenStreetMap coastline, so onshore and offshore mean this shore and not the region. Forecast by Open-Meteo
Water and awards
Excellent
Latest official sample September 28, 2026: Excellent
Sea 19.8 °C when the sample was taken
10 of 10 samples Excellent across the 2026 season
Official result from JP Morsko dobro, station Velika Plaža 10
Shallow water over dark sand; the afternoon wind stirs it, so the sea is clearest before noon
No award we can cite for this beach. Absence is information too.
Know before you swim
- The thermal wind (maestral) builds from early afternoon: kites launch and land from the sand by the schools — keep clear of the lines
- It shelves so gently that you are a long way out before it is deep; the return swim in an afternoon breeze is against wind and chop
- Between the named sections there is no lifeguard, shade or water for kilometres — carry your own
- Dark sand is very hot by midday; sandals for the walk from the car
When the water is warm
Velika plaža was at its warmest, 28.3 °C, on August 31, 2026, and at its coldest, 19.8 °C, on September 28, 2026. Every point is a real sampling visit with the temperature read on the spot, not a monthly average copied from somewhere else.
See all 10 samplings
| Sampled | Sea | Result |
|---|---|---|
| September 28, 2026 | 19.8 °C | Excellent |
| September 14, 2026 | 24.2 °C | Excellent |
| August 31, 2026 | 28.3 °C | Excellent |
| August 17, 2026 | 24.9 °C | Excellent |
| August 3, 2026 | 25.9 °C | Excellent |
| July 20, 2026 | 24.8 °C | Excellent |
| July 6, 2026 | 23.1 °C | Excellent |
| June 22, 2026 | 24.1 °C | Excellent |
| June 8, 2026 | 23.0 °C | Excellent |
| May 25, 2026 | 22.1 °C | Excellent |
Official result from JP Morsko dobro, station Velika Plaža 10
Season by season
Velika plaža has been sampled 69 times since 2020: 68 of those readings Excellent, 1 below it.
How warm the water got, season by season. The average is of the July and August samplings only — a fixed window, so a year the inspectors happened to come early does not read as a cold one.
A handful of seasons is a record, not a trend: the spread here is what a few dated readings look like, not evidence of a sea warming or cooling. A hollow point marks a season that recorded a sampling below Excellent.
| Season | Samplings | Excellent | Below | Jul–Aug mean | Warmest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 25.2 °C | 28 °C |
| 2021 | 10 | 10 | — | 26.4 °C | 27.8 °C |
| 2022 | 10 | 10 | — | 22.9 °C | 25.1 °C |
| 2023 | 10 | 10 | — | 25.6 °C | 28.7 °C |
| 2024 | 10 | 10 | — | 24.1 °C | 26.3 °C |
| 2025 | 10 | 10 | — | 23.9 °C | 25.3 °C |
| 2026in progress | 10 | 10 | — | 25.4 °C | 28.3 °C |
Official result from JP Morsko dobro, station Velika Plaža 10
Licensed as
The state leases this coast lot by lot. Velika plaža is tendered as 46 lots covering about 9,132 m of shore, each with an official category.
Also licensed here: a location for activity on the water.
Among them: Kite and windsurfing, Quiet bathing, Dog beach.
| Category | Lots | Shore |
|---|---|---|
| Family bathing | 31 | 6,131 m |
| Kite and windsurfing | 12 | 2,317 m |
| Quiet bathing | 1 | 334 m |
| Hotel beach | 1 | 330 m |
| Dog beach | 1 | 20 m |
About 438,898 m² in total. This is what has been licensed, not what we saw: the number of sunbeds, toilets and showers on a lot is fixed in the signed lease, which is not published. JP Morsko dobro tenders
Nearby beaches
Velika plaža and its neighbours
The same nine measures for the beaches you could reach the same day. Bold means it differs from this one.
| Measure | Velika plažathis beach |  Ada Bojana7.0 km |  Women's Beach7.0 km |  Mala plaža7.8 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surface | fine sand | fine sand | pebble — differs | sand — differs |
| Entry | gentle | gentle | rocky — differs | gentle |
| Depth | shallow far out | shallow far out | deepens quickly — differs | shallow — differs |
| Shade | umbrellas for hire | umbrellas for hire | natural — differs | umbrellas for hire |
| Character | organised and free sections | organised and free sections | organised — differs | organised — differs |
| Length | 12–13 km | 3 km — differs | 0.1–0.1 km — differs | 0.4 km — differs |
| Latest water | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent |
| Crowd | busy in season | quiet — differs | quiet — differs | busy in season |
| Getting there | by road | by road | on foot — differs | on foot — differs |
Stay near Velika plaža
All stays in Ulcinj →
The full guide
Read the Velika plaža guide
Everything above is the short form. The guide has the sources, the sector codes, the sampling dates and the things that change within a season.
Questions
- How long is Velika plaža really?
- Our guide says 12 km, the Ulcinj hub 13 km. Both are right within the uncertainty: the sand runs from the Port Milena canal to the mouth of the Bojana, and where the beach ends and the river delta begins is a matter of the season.
- When is the wind for kitesurfing?
- The thermal sea breeze (maestral) builds from early afternoon on summer days and is most reliable in July–September; schools run roughly May–October. Swim in the morning, kite after lunch. A two-hour lesson is around €40–50.
- Can I walk there from Ulcinj?
- Yes — the Pinješ Pines walk runs 6.6 km from the Old Town past Mala plaža, the Pinješ coves, Ženska plaža and Port Milena to the north-western end of the beach. Otherwise summer minibuses and taxis (€8–12) from the centre.
Sources
- montenegro.com — Velika plaža guide (/cities/ulcinj/velika-plaza-ulcinj)
- montenegro.com — Ulcinj city hub and the Pinješ Pines walk page
- montenegro.com — 25 Best Beaches in Montenegro (rank 11)
- OpenStreetMap — beach way 156809752 (centre used for the coordinates)