Never Leaves Shelter · 1,102 Verified Reviews
Two hours to Perast and Our Lady of the Rocks without ever passing the bay mouth. It is the shorter trip, the cheaper trip, and on a rough morning it is the one still sailing.
The Experience
From the operator's listing — the crossing, the island stop, and how long you actually get ashore.
Good to know: Audio Guide: Bring a smartphone with an internet connection (mobile data /Wi-Fi) to access the audio guide. · Our Lady Of The Rocks Church & Museum Hours (seasonal): · Apr, May, Sep, Oct: typically open until 17:00 · June: typically open until 18:00 · Jul & Aug: typically open until 19:00 · Hours can change and the church/museum may close earlier on some days. · The island itself can still be visited even if the church/museum is closed. · What to wear: In spring and autumn, it can feel chilly on the water-bring a light jacket or warmer layer. · Weather policy: The tour may be canceled or rescheduled if weather or sea conditions are unsafe. · Parking in Kotor: Summer parking can be very limited -arrive early if you’re coming by car. · Imporant: Church dress code: If you plan to enter the church, swimwear is not permitted, bring a cover-up or suitable clothing. · Skip-the-line note: “Skip-the-line” does not apply at Our Lady Of The Rocks (it’s a small church and entry is usually quick) · Not suitable for: Pregnant women, People with back problems, Wheelchair users, People with mobility impairments · Not Included: Hotel Pickup And Drop-Off, Optional: Our Lady Of The Rocks Museum Admission (€3, Cash Only), Tips / Gratuities
Out along the fjord, a stop at the island, back. No open water at any point.
This is the only hard decision. The Blue Cave lies outside Boka Bay, on the open Adriatic side of the Luštica peninsula, and it is swell out there — not weather in Kotor — that closes it. The bay itself is sheltered enough that in a month of hourly readings it never once passed half a metre. Read the strip at the top of this page before you read any price.
Roughly half these tours build in swim stops and the other half are sightseeing runs. In summer the sea here sits near 28°C, so a swim stop is the difference between a boat trip and a day out. If you want one, check it is named in the inclusions rather than assumed — the shorter Perast runs generally do not have time for it.
A small open speedboat is faster, wetter and gets into the cave more easily; a larger cruise boat is steadier and more comfortable but can be limited on a busy day. Group runs start around $28 for a short Perast hop and $47 for a full cave circuit; the flagship group tour is $64, and a private charter runs to several hundred.
On this route free cancellation is not a formality, it is the insurance against exactly the morning the cave is shut. Morning departures are calmer and less crowded — afternoon wind builds through the season — and if a cruise ship is in port, the early boat is the one that beats the queue at the island.
Photo Gallery
Mountain walls, the baroque waterfront at Perast, and the island church that has no road to it.
Book Your Experience
Select your preferred date and time. Instant confirmation — free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure.
Every trip here stays inside Boka. They differ by length, price and how much time you actually get ashore at the island.
| Feature | MOST REVIEWED Perast & the Island, 2h | Short Perast Hop | Do It Yourself From Perast |
|---|---|---|---|
| What You Pay | From $43 per person | From $28 per person | About €5–10 return for the shuttle, plus €1–5 cash at the church |
| How Long | Two hours | A short hop out and back | As long as you like — shuttles run continuously in season |
| Leaves From | Kotor, so a share of the time is the crossing | Kotor | Perast, 500 m from the island |
| Runs in Rough Weather | Yes — never leaves the bay | Yes — never leaves the bay | Yes, though local skippers make their own call |
| The Rating It Earned | 4.7 from 1,102 verified reviews | 4.6 from 270 verified reviews | Not applicable — it is a local ferry, not a product |
| Book It If | You want the bay seen properly from the water, with time at the island | You want the cheapest boat on this site | You have your own transport and only want the island |
| Check Availability | See the Short Hop |
More Sheltered Options
Shorter island hops, kayak trips, sunset runs and the full-day catamaran — all inside the shelter of Boka.
CHEAPEST ON THE SITEWhen you settle in comfortably and get to know the skipper/guide, we will set off from the port of Kotor. While traveling through our beautiful bay, you will observe …
HIGHEST RATEDDiscover the beauty of Boka Bay on a group boat tour from Kotor. Explore the beautiful town of Perast and the Blue Cave as your guide shares insights into the …
UNDER YOUR OWN POWEREmbark on an unforgettable kayaking adventure starting from the charming coastal town of Kotor. Your journey commences with a leisurely stroll from Kotor's harbor to …
FULL DAYBegin your excursion in Kotor, Budva, or Tivat. From here, your first stop of the day will be Bijela, where you will get the chance to have a refreshing swim. Visit …
CAVE WHEN IT CANDiscover the breathtaking beauty of the Bay of Kotor on this eco-friendly speedboat tour that combines adventure, history, and nature. Cruise the entire bay while …
UNHURRIEDEmbark on a memorable three-hour boat tour from Kotor, exploring the stunning Bay of Kotor and its historic landmarks. Your adventure begins as you board a …
The Independent Guide
The measured difference between the water inside Boka and the open sea outside it — and what to book on a rough morning.
If you have arrived here from the sea-conditions strip because it turned red, this is the honest answer: the bay tour is still sailing.
The Bay of Kotor — Boka — is a flooded river canyon, not a bay in the open sense. Mountains rise straight out of it on both sides and it connects to the Adriatic through one narrow entrance at the Verige strait. Water inside it behaves almost nothing like water outside it.
We pulled 792 hourly marine readings across a month, 2 August to 3 September 2026, at two points about 20 kilometres apart — the Blue Cave on the open Adriatic face of Luštica, and the water off Perast, deep inside the bay.
| Blue Cave (open sea) | Off Perast (inside) | |
|---|---|---|
| Median hour | 0.20 m | 0.10 m |
| Rougher hours (p90) | 0.42 m | 0.20 m |
| Worst single hour in the month | 0.90 m | 0.46 m |
| Hours above 0.5 m | 5.4% | 0.0% |
In a full month of hourly readings the inner bay never once crossed half a metre, while the open sea outside did so about one hour in twenty and peaked at roughly twice the bay’s worst moment.
That is not a marketing claim about a sheltered bay; it is what the numbers say. It also explains a pattern that confuses a lot of visitors — a tour operator cancelling the cave leg on a morning that looks flat calm from the Kotor waterfront. The waterfront is not where the cave is.
Two honest limits, the same as everywhere on this site: one month, high season, and a marine model rather than a harbourmaster.
Less water, more architecture. The bay run is two hours rather than three or four, and it trades the cave and the tunnels for time at Perast and Our Lady of the Rocks.
That is not obviously a downside. Perast is a single baroque waterfront of seventeenth-century captains’ houses with no old town to get lost in, and a good many visitors find it the prettier hour of the two. The island church is the thing you actually remember from this bay. And a shorter trip on calm water is a much better proposition with small children or anyone who gets seasick.
What you give up: the Blue Cave, the submarine tunnels, Mamula, and usually the swim stop — the two-hour runs rarely have time for one.
All of these stay inside the shelter:
The deepest-reviewed bay run, with time ashore at the island rather than a pass-by.
Check dates →The lowest price on the whole site. A quick run out and back when the island is all you want.
See the hop →A steadier, larger boat and a full day of the bay. Includes the cave when the sea allows it.
See the catamaran →Prices, ratings and review counts from our September 2026 data check; operators use seasonal pricing — treat them as the shape of the market, not a quote.
If the island is the only thing you want, you do not need a boat tour at all. Get to Perast by bus or car and take a shuttle the 500 metres out for roughly €5–10 return, plus a small church and museum fee — reported between €1 and €5, cash only. We cover that route in full.
When the open sea settles again, the Blue Cave circuits are here.
We are not affiliated with any boat operator. Tours on this page are sold by GetYourGuide and we earn a commission if you book through our links, at no extra cost to you.
Guest Reviews
"The 2-hour boat ride to Lady of the rocks and Parish City was an excellent experience. Mark and Tiger were friendly, knowledgeable, and ensured everyone felt comfortable throughout the trip. Their insights about the locations made the tour both enjoyable and informative. Highly recommended!"
"Great Tour. Mark and Zoki(sorry if I misspelt your name) were amazing. Very knowledgeable and friendly. Would definitely recommend this tour."
"Very nice experience with the speedboat; the guide Mark and the boatman Zogi were exceptionally friendly and helpful. Excellent."
"Very good boat tour. We were able to see Our Lady of the Rocks, and we had 45 minutes to explore the pretty town of Perast at our leisure. Our guide, Goran, was very friendly while remaining discreet. We were at the front of the boat and were able to enjoy very beautiful views of the mountains and the sea! A little bonus: We were treated to a "cup" of fresh fruit, which was very nice!!"
"If you’re in Kotor visiting Our Lady of the Rocks is a must."
"The tour started on time great guide can't remember his name very knowledgeable. Enough time in each place couldn't fault it."
"A trip with Mihailo and Marko in a very pleasant atmosphere. I recommend it to everyone with all my heart."
"Sam and Georges were excellent live guides, and the boat trip was an extraordinary experience."
Read all 1102 verified reviews
See All ReviewsPerast and Our Lady of the Rocks by speedboat, entirely inside the sheltered bay — two hours, rated 4.7/5 by 1,102 verified guests, from $43. The trip to book when the open sea is up, and a genuinely good one when it is not. Starting from $43 per person.
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What changes when a trip stays inside the bay, answered in the first sentence.
Far more reliably than the cave trips, and the numbers are stark. Across 792 hourly marine readings in a month, the water inside the bay off Perast never once exceeded 0.46 m and cleared half a metre in 0.0% of hours. The open sea at the Blue Cave, twenty kilometres away, passed half a metre in about 5% of hours and peaked at 0.90 m. Boka is a flooded river canyon with mountains on both sides and one narrow entrance, which is why it behaves so differently. A bay tour is the trip to book when the forecast is uncertain.
The bay tour never leaves shelter; the cave tour does. A bay run is typically two hours to Perast and Our Lady of the Rocks and back, all inside Boka. A cave circuit is three to four hours and goes out past the bay mouth to the open Adriatic side of the Luštica peninsula. The cave trip sees more, costs more and can lose its headline stop to weather. The bay trip is shorter, cheaper, calmer, and trades the cave and the submarine tunnels for more time at the baroque waterfront and the island church.
Yes — and a good number of visitors prefer it. What you see is the fjord-like inlet itself, the seventeenth-century waterfront at Perast, and an island church with no road to it. The bay is the reason this coast is on the UNESCO list, not the cave. It is also the better choice with small children or anyone prone to seasickness, since the water is flat and the trip is short. The two-hour run holds 4.7 from 1,102 reviews, which is the deepest sample of any sheltered trip here.
Two hours for the standard run, or under an hour for the short Perast hop. The two-hour version from Kotor spends a fair part of that simply crossing the bay to the islands and back — Kotor sits at the head of the inlet and Perast is roughly twelve kilometres along it. If you are short of time, going to Perast independently and taking a shuttle from there removes the crossing entirely. Full-day catamaran cruises also stay largely inside the bay and take, as the name suggests, the whole day.
Rarely on the two-hour runs — there is no time — and usually yes on the longer cruises. If a swim stop matters to you, look at the full-day catamaran or one of the cave circuits, which build one in. The water inside the bay is warm in season, near 28°C in July and August, and calm enough to swim almost any day, so the constraint is the itinerary rather than the conditions. As everywhere here, check the inclusions rather than assuming from a photograph, and bring your own towel.
If the island is your only target, drive or take the bus to Perast and use the local shuttle — it is far cheaper. The shuttle out to Our Lady of the Rocks runs continuously in season for roughly €5–10 return, plus a small cash-only church fee. What a boat tour adds is the bay itself seen from the water, commentary, and on the longer trips the cave, the tunnels and a swim. Kotor to Perast is about twelve kilometres along the bay road with a regular bus service.
Still have questions? Email us at info@boattourskotor.com