The rule worth knowing
At many beach bars — not all, but many — buying a drink or a meal gets you the sunbed. The concession is selling the day rather than the furniture, and the two beds and a parasol you were quoted €30 for are included if you eat there.
It is not advertised. Ask: *da li je ležaljka uključena?* Or in English, most staff on the coast speak it. The answer is often yes.
What things cost on a beach
| Beach bar | Café one street back | |
|---|---|---|
| Espresso | €2.50 – €4 | €1.20 – €1.80 |
| Beer, 0.5 l | €4 – €7 | €2.50 – €3.50 |
| Cocktail | €8 – €14 | €6 – €9 |
| Bottle of water, 1.5 l | €2.50 – €4 | €0.80 in a shop |
| Sandwich or salad | €7 – €12 | €5 – €8 |
| Two sunbeds and parasol | €15 – €40 | n/a |
The ones that are actually good
- Ploče, near Przno — cliffside terraces with pools cut into the rock, ladders into deep water, sunset the whole reason to be there
- Almara, Bečići — large, organised, and the one that runs the longest season
- Buljarica — simple shacks behind two kilometres of near-empty pebble, and the cheapest drinks on the coast
- Žanjice, Luštica — reached by boat, white pebble, open sea
- The Ada Bojana river restaurants — not beach bars, and better than any of them
- Dobrota promenade, Kotor — concrete platforms outside cafés, no sunbed to rent at all
The season
Most beach bars open in June and close by late September. A handful on the busier beaches run from May to October. Outside that the beaches are empty and there is nowhere to buy anything, which is either the problem or the point.
The last week of September is when they start dismantling. Arriving on 28 September to a beach with no sunbeds is common and not a failure of planning so much as the calendar.
The obvious economy
A 1.5-litre bottle of water is €0.80 in a supermarket and €3 on the beach. Six of those over a week is €13 saved for the effort of carrying a bag. The same applies to beer, and nobody minds a cool box on the public section.
On the concession section, drinking what you brought while occupying a rented sunbed is where people get looked at. On the free public section — which every beach has by law — it is entirely normal.
Sunset
The coast faces west, which means every beach bar on it has a sunset and most charge nothing extra for it. Ploče and the western end of Jaz are the two where people actually come for that rather than for the swimming.
