Our Lady of the Rocks

Our Lady of the Rocks — Gospa od Škrpjela — is a man-made island. That is not a figure of speech. There was a submerged reef 500 metres off Perast, and from the mid-fifteenth century onward sailors returning safely to the bay dropped a stone on it. Derelict ships were scuttled on top, loaded with rock. Over centuries the reef became an islet, and in 1632 a church was built on it.

The town has never stopped. Every 22 July at sunset the people of Perast row out and throw more stones — the fašinada — which is why the island is still, very slowly, growing.

There is no bridge and no causeway. Boat is the only access, and that constraint is the whole reason this page exists.

See tours that stop at the island

The cheap way, said plainly

If the island is the only thing you want, do not book a boat tour. Get to Perast — bus from Kotor or a short drive — walk to the waterfront, and take one of the shuttle boats that run continuously in season. It is roughly €5–10 return for the 500 metres.

Add the church and museum entry, and you are done. That fee is the one figure sources genuinely disagree on: we found it quoted at €1, at €3, and at up to €5. We are not going to invent a single number to look authoritative. Take coins, expect somewhere in that range, and know the important part, which every source agrees on: it is cash only. There is no card machine and no ATM on a rock in the middle of a bay.

There is no commission in that paragraph for us. The honest case for the tours below is everything the shuttle does not include — the Blue Cave, the submarine tunnels, Mamula island, and a swim stop in 28-degree water.

Two rules that catch people out

Dress code. It is a working church. Shoulders and knees covered, for everyone. A light layer in a bag solves it and doubles as wind protection on the boat.

The queue. The church is tiny and the cruise ships empty into the middle of the day. A late-morning arrival can mean waiting outside a single small door while three boats’ worth of people filter through. Early is materially better, and it is the same advice that gets you the calmest sea.

Is it worth visiting?

Yes — and it is the most memorable thing in the bay, which is not the same as being the most impressive. The church interior is small. What makes the visit is the idea of it: a piece of land that exists because thousands of individual sailors each added one stone to it, and a town that still performs the ritual annually.

The museum beside the church holds votive offerings and a well-known embroidered icon worked over decades by a local woman using her own hair. It takes fifteen minutes. Do not plan an afternoon here; plan an hour and let the crossing be half of it.

Which tour stops here?

All of these land at the island:

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.

The other islet you can see from here, St George, is a natural island with a Benedictine abbey and a cemetery on it. It is closed to visitors — boats pass but do not land, so no tour can offer you a stop there, whatever a photograph implies.

More on the town itself on the Perast page, and the cave circuits are here.

We are not affiliated with the sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rocks, the Municipality of Kotor or 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. Entry fees and shuttle prices are set locally and change — carry cash.