Balabušić Apartments

Balabušić Apartments sits in Bijela, a quiet coastal village on the Herceg Novi Riviera along Montenegro's Bay of Kotor. This particular unit is a one-bedroom apartment for two guests, with one bed and one private bathroom — a straightforward fit for couples or a pair of friends who want a base on the water rather than a large group setup. The building stands roughly 5 metres from the sandy beach, and the apartment comes with a fully equipped kitchen, TV, air conditioning, and a balcony. Terraces look out over Tivat Bay, Krašiće, and St. Mark Island. Parking is available on site, and water runs 24 hours a day. Bijela works year-round as a starting point: the Herceg Novi Riviera is walkable, and boat tours of Boka Bay reach Žanjic, Rose, and Perast's islands of Our Lady of Škrpjela and St. George.

About the area

The water is what you look at first in Bijela. The village sits on the outer arm of the Bay of Kotor where the channel widens, so the view from the shore runs across the Tivat bay to the low green line of Krašići on the Luštica side and the wooded island of Sveti Marko. The beach is a mix of imported sand and shingle, the bay is calm on most summer days, and because this is enclosed water rather than the open Adriatic it warms early in the season and stays warm well into October.

Boats are the natural way to see the rest of it. Day trips leave this coast for Žanjic and the sheltered coves at the mouth of the bay, for Rose on the tip of Luštica, and inward to Perast, where two islets lie offshore — Sveti Đorđe with its cypresses, and Gospa od Škrpjela, built on a man-made reef and still celebrated each July when townspeople row out to drop stones around it. Kotor, its walls climbing the mountainside to San Giovanni, is about half an hour by road. Closer to home, the shore path links Bijela to Đenovići, Kumbor and the rest of the Herceg Novi riviera; the walking is flat, shaded in places, and full of small swimming spots.