A small overview of the small village of Dobra Voda, which has become actively built up in the last 5 years. Today it is already a beach resort, still small, but no longer deserted. A lot of tourists also come here during the season. I’ll tell you where to eat deliciously, there will be a rating of hotels and apartments and an overview of the beaches. There are no sights here, well, except for the villa of Roman Abramovich, but I will talk about this later.
Table of contents:
- Dobra Voda: general information
- How to get there
- Rating of apartments and hotels in Dobra Voda
- Restaurants and taverns
- Overview of the beaches in the resort of Dobra Voda
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Dobra Voda: general information
Dobro Voda is a small fishing village that is part of the Bar Riviera.
- Map coordinates: 42.03691296715648, 19.142825047688767
- Located between two famous tourist cities
- from Bar – 10km
- from Ulcinj – 20km
- The name from the Montenegrin language is translated as “Good water”. The water here is actually clean and transparent, like many places in Montenegro :).
- The population of the city does not even reach 1000 people. This despite the fact that over the past couple of years the city has grown a lot. When I was here for the first time in 2015, I would say 400 people lived here, no more.
Good to know:
1000 people are those who permanently reside. In the high season, there are 5, and 10 thousand people here. And in winter, when everything is closed and there is no one on the street, it seems that this is a ghost town.
A bit of history: until 2015, it was an unknown fishing village. But land in Montenegro on the coast became more expensive, it was bought for hotels, and there was no free space at all in popular resorts such as Budva. And Dobra Voda came to the attention of investors and wealthy local residents. And the land here was much cheaper. Since 2016, Dobra Voda has turned into a continuous construction site.
And in 2020, this village was no longer recognizable, it was built up so much. Today, in 2023, construction is still underway, but not so actively. Dobra Voda is more and more like a classic beach resort. There is no longer that tranquility and solitude as 5-7 years ago.
How to get to Dobra Voda
There are no direct buses from both airports and major cities. There are several private minibuses that run daily in the direction: Dobra Voda – Bar and Dobra Voda – Ulcinj. But there is no official timetable, fares range from 1.5 euros to 2.5.
Good to know:
Dobra Voda is a transit city for all public transport. All regular buses that go to Ulcinj from the north stop here. And all buses from Ulcinj to the north also call here.
All buses from the schedule above pass through Dobra Voda. And how to get to the Bar, what to visit there, an overview of beaches and restaurants in a separate article at the link.
Rating of apartments and hotels Dobra Voda
There is one peculiarity here. Since the city does not have a thousand-year history, like the rest of the country’s resorts, residential buildings were built here right by the water. Years passed, generations changed, houses were rebuilt, but the land near the sea was privately owned.
Today, there are many hotels and apartments here, which are built right next to the sea. Here the stairs from the hotel go straight to the beach. There are few places like this in Montenegro. In Budva or Bar, there is still a large park between residential buildings and the beach.
Good to know:
In other regions, land near the sea, even if it is on a rock as in the photo above, has long been impossible to buy. And here it was for sale about 8 years ago. And they built such new small hotels with super views from the rooms.
Below is the dynamic rating of Dobra Voda apartments and hotels. These are the most popular options for tourists. For each hotel you can click, see photos, prices, reviews.
See all accommodation options on a large aggregator at the link.
Important point:
The entire Dobra Voda village consists of two parts. The old part is on a hill above the main road. New – hotels for tourists near the beaches by the sea. You can stay in both parts. If you rent an apartment in the old part, then the beach will be about 2km with a height difference of 200m. Be careful when choosing accommodation. This is not the best place for families with children, you will get tired of walking uphill with a stroller.
Restaurants and taverns in Dobra Voda
As elsewhere in Montenegro, there are enough cafes and restaurants even in the most distant villages. A tourist in this country will not remain hungry. Two cuisines are popular in tourist resorts: Montenegrin, where there is a lot of meat and Mediterranean, where the main dishes are pasta, pizza, risotto and seafood. But often, the restaurant menu has dishes from both cuisines.
It’s important to know:
In Montenegro, food portions are large everywhere. If you see the weight of a dish on the menu is 300g, often it is only meat, the side dish will be separate.
Below are 2 restaurants that I like. I will not say that they are the best, but the prices here are moderate and very tasty.
- Konoba Makina Vucinica: 42.048575313643774, 19.14494739839256. Family restaurant in the old part of the city.
- Dubrava Konoba (Konoba is a tavern): 42.03025548529056, 19.15269055366985. Another family restaurant. Cheap, tasty and large portions of food. I recommend. Only 900 meters from the main beach.
Overview of the beaches in the resort of Dobra Voda
The town is small, there are only two beaches. There are also parts of the rocks that are called beaches. Wherever you can go down into the water is the beach. Often these are steps and a 2 by 2 meter pontoon to get in and out of the water, this is also called a beach. But below I will talk about all 2 real beaches in Dobra Voda.
The beaches are called Mali Pijesak and Veliki Pijesak, which translates as Little and Big Sands. I must say right away that these beaches have nothing to do with sand. The photo below clearly shows what these beaches are.
- Veliki Pijesak: 42.034578378455315, 19.142740300120145. The main beach of the city. Its length is about 400m. Pebble. The beach is free. During the season, about 70% of the beach is occupied by sun loungers. 2 sun loungers and an umbrella = 15 euros per day. You can sunbathe on a towel. The beach is urban and free for everyone.
- Mali Pijesak: 42.03935280213026, 19.143461543323372. The beach consists of two parts of 100 meters each, between them there are another 100 meters of rocks and a hotel. I would say that the beach is wilder, since there are no sun loungers, but in season there are a lot of people here.
Walk about 500 meters further, where you can walk, there are still sections on the rocks with a good water entry. They call it a wild beach, but it doesn’t look like a beach at all.
That’s all about Dobra Voda. There are no attractions here. You can order a sea excursion along the coast. You will be shown the cottage of Abramovich. The truth is already former, like he sold it, and it is not clear whether he was here at least once. There is an opinion that this is just a fairy tale to show at least something to tourists.
Important:
You will get bored very quickly in this resort if you do not have a car. Here even the promenade is very small – for a 10-minute walk.
The nearest cities where you can go on an independent tour:
- Ulcinj, the longest beach in Montenegro and an abandoned salt works: follow the link for an overview of the city.
- Bar and shopping center in Montenegro. The link to Bar’s review was at the beginning of the article.
- And from Dobra Voda it is easy to find a minibus to Albania. It’s only 20 km from here. Some go for cheap shopping, and some for visarans. For details on how to get to Albania, read the link.
- Well, a useful article about holiday trends in Montenegro: everything a tourist who comes here for the first time needs to know.
And if you haven’t decided where to relax yet, but are looking for a small resort without much fuss like Dobra Voda, then below are reviews of three more coastal resorts. They are all small in size, with good beaches and are quite similar to Dobra Voda.
In conclusion: there is no need to expect anything special from a holiday in Dobra Voda. Once it was a quiet town, but today it is a rather noisy resort, especially in July-August. If you read somewhere that it is quiet and peaceful here, it is from November to April, when there are no people. Hotels were built here for a reason and they do not stand empty. There are more and more hotels, and there are still two beaches left.
Today Dobra Voda is a beach resort without any attractions. Beach, restaurant, hotel – that’s all the schedule for the day.
Resources to help you plan your dream trip to Montenegro
- Flights at the best prices with discounts
- Car rental in Montenegro (cheaper – only by bus):
- Discovery Cars – a large international resource
- LocalRent – work with local rental companies. Leader in car rental in Montenegro.
- Hotels and apartments all over the country: Booking
- Tours, excursions and activities (including extreme ones):
- Comprehensive travel insurance: EKTA
- eSIM virtual card in Montenegro
- Taxi and transfers from Montenegro airports: Intui.Travel