How clean is the sea at Montenegro's beaches? In the round sampled on 1 September 2026, 100 of 114 monitored beaches had excellent water, 9 good and 5 satisfactory, and no beach was rated poor. Across all eight rounds of the 2026 season, 50 beaches were excellent every time. The water is sampled about every two weeks from late May to September.
The monitoring is run by Morsko dobro, the public company that manages the coast, with the sampling done by the Institute of Marine Biology. We downloaded every 2026 result from its public map on 25 September 2026.
What did each round show?
| Round | Sampling dates | Excellent | Good | Satisfactory |
| 1 | 25 to 27 May | 103 | 4 | 7 |
| 2 | 8 to 11 June | 91 | 12 | 11 |
| 3 | 22 to 25 June | 91 | 14 | 9 |
| 4 | 6 to 10 July | 101 | 3 | 10 |
| 5 | 20 to 31 July | 91 | 11 | 12 |
| 6 | 3 to 7 August | 89 | 13 | 12 |
| 7 | 17 to 28 August | 84 | 18 | 12 |
| 8 | 31 August to 1 September | 100 | 9 | 5 |
Quality dips in the busiest weeks of July and August and recovers as the season ends. All three grades, excellent, good and satisfactory, mean the water meets the standard for bathing; in 2026 no site fell below satisfactory. In the last round of 2025, on 7 October, 92 sites were excellent, 9 good and 13 satisfactory.
How did each town do on 1 September 2026?
| Town | Beaches monitored | Excellent | Good | Satisfactory |
| Herceg Novi | 22 | 19 | 2 | 1 |
| Kotor | 15 | 12 | 2 | 1 |
| Tivat | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 |
| Budva | 34 | 32 | 1 | 1 |
| Bar | 15 | 13 | 2 | 0 |
| Ulcinj | 18 | 16 | 1 | 1 |
Budva, with the most beaches, had excellent water at 32 of its 34 sites. Beaches in the inner Bay of Kotor and in the centre of Ulcinj appear most often in the list below.
Which beaches fell below excellent most often?
| Beach | Town | Rounds below excellent, out of 8 |
| Mala plaža | Ulcinj | 7 |
| Borova šuma 01 | Ulcinj | 7 |
| Opatovo 01 | Tivat | 6 |
| Donja Lastva 01 | Tivat | 6 |
| Perast 01 | Kotor | 5 |
| Sv. Stefan plaža 02 | Budva | 5 |
| Žukotrlica 02 | Bar | 5 |
| Igalo 03 | Herceg Novi | 4 |
"Below excellent" here means good or satisfactory, both still fit for swimming. How warm the water is in each month is covered in our guide to the weather in Montenegro, and the number for emergencies at sea, 129, is in our guide to emergency numbers.
How can you check a beach yourself?
The monitoring site shows every beach on a map, coloured by its latest grade, with the history of all rounds. Choose the year and the round, then click a beach for its results. Beaches are often split into several sampling points, such as Topolica 01 and 02 in Bar, so check the point nearest to where you swim.
Frequently asked questions
Is the sea in Montenegro clean? Mostly yes: on 1 September 2026, 100 of 114 monitored beaches had excellent water and none was poor.
How many beaches are tested in Montenegro? 114 bathing sites along the coast, about every two weeks from late May to September.
Which town has the cleanest sea in Montenegro? On 1 September 2026, Budva had excellent water at 32 of 34 sites and Ulcinj at 16 of 18.
Which beaches had the most results below excellent in 2026? Mala plaža and Borova šuma 01 in Ulcinj, each below excellent in 7 of the 8 rounds, though still fit for swimming.
Is satisfactory water safe for swimming? Yes. Excellent, good and satisfactory all meet the bathing standard; only a poor grade would not.
Where can I see the latest results? On Morsko dobro's monitoring map, which shows each beach's latest grade and history.
Sources
All results come from Morsko dobro's bathing water monitoring map, downloaded for every 2026 round on 25 September 2026; the counts and the ranking of beaches are our own analysis of that data. The role of the Institute of Marine Biology and the June results are described in reporting by Dan. Checked on 25 September 2026. Fijaka is a classifieds platform; water quality can change after heavy rain, so check the latest round before you swim.