Montenegro - Clearance
Montenegro is not yet in the EU (it is a candidate) and is not in Schengen. It is therefore a good place for non-EU yachts to re-set the TI clock and for non-EU sailors to wait outside Schengen.
Montenegro Pre-Arrival Procedures for Yachts
Arrival and Departure processes are made to be as effortless as possible, even officially encouraged to be so by the Montenegrin tourism ministry. If you choose to not stay at a marina, it may benefit you to stay one night at arrival and then one night prior to departure, in order to expedite and simplify the arrival process. Make an advance reservation.
Yachts approaching the Montenegro coast should expect to be intercepted by naval craft patrolling the area. Upon entry to Montenegro waters vessels must monitor Montenegro VTS on channel 11 and channel 16.
Ports of Entry
All yachts must proceed to the nearest Port of Entry which include: Bar, Zelenika, Tivat, and Kotor. Cruisers MUST check in before anchoring or proceeding to any other minor ports.
Yachts coming from the south usually clear in at Bar. Yachts coming from the north may clear in at Zelenika, Tivat, or Kotor.
See the “Explore Country” button followed by the anchor symbol for “Main Ports” to see a list of Ports of Entry.
Montenegro Arrival Procedures for Yachts
All foreign-flagged yachts should fly the Q-flag with the Montenegrin courtesy flag.
Contact the harbour master/port on approaches by VHF PRIOR to landing. Most marina offices will direct you to either a berth or the customs dock (if there is one).
General Procedure
On arrival from a foreign port, the captain must complete the entry process with Customs, Immigration and Harbor Master (even if just stopping for fuel or water).
Most marinas will be able to arrange transportation to the immigration officials (if off-site) for the skipper.
All crew must remain on board until clearance formalities have been completed.
See Documents for what is required for clearance.
Yachts must purchase a cruising permit (Vignette) for 1 day up to 1 year (even if just stopping in Montenegro for fuel or water). The fee depends on the length and type of the vessel, as well as the period the vignette is valid for. Payment is made directly to the Harbour Masters office by credit card. This must be stuck on the boat in a visible place – use removable tape or it will mark the boat.
Tourist tax must be paid after purchasing the vignette, and is in accordance with size of the yacht and length of stay. It covers all crew on board the yacht during the validity of the Vignette. This must be paid within 24 hours of arrival in Montenegro at a bank, tourist office or post office (check opening hours), or you will be fined. Take boat registration, insurance, marine license, ID and proof of Vignette payment.
There is a fee for clearance. See Fees for details of clearance costs.
Allow half a day for formalities. Clearing in at a marina can make the whole clearance process simpler with on-site customs and immigration (for exampe at Porto Montenegro in Kotor or Portonovi Marina in Herceg Novi).
Domestic Cruising in Montenegro
Whilst in Montenegrin waters VHF Channel 16 should be monitored constantly and if contacted by a naval vessel, the radio operator of the yacht will be expected to give the following information: name of the yacht, international callsign, flag, port of registration, last port of call, destination. The name of the owner and the general description of the cargo is sometimes also requested. Failure to respond guarantees a visit from the authorities.
Visitors to the boat should be added to your crew list and updated with the harbour master.
Montenegro Departure Procedures for Yachts
When departing from Montenegro to another country, you must conduct the proper departure procedures. Mostly it is the arrival process but in reverse. Marina offices usually assist with the departure procedures. The typical process will include:
- Update crew and passenger list (if required)
- Ensure permits are “voided” for departure
All crew (except the skipper) must stay on board as soon as the departure process begins.
Last updated: July 2024
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We entwred Montenegro from Kroatia in Zelenika. Formalities are straight forward,easy and friendly. We sailed down to until the Albanian border . Albania is a no go for charter boat as you can’t reenter.
Montenegro has some nice bays to anchor you often lay on beaches with hundreds of sunchair for their clientele.
Very, very remarkable is the Luštica Bay Marina, built in 2018. Very wel managed beautiful place with shops, restaurants and residences at very reasonable prices. We paid in Aug 2024 with 6 people on a 51 feet boat €89 ! Unseen in the entire reagion. Helpful friendl staff and at the lighthouse a bar with great view.
Thanks for your feedback Robert – do let us know if there were any differences in the entry formalities you experienced compared to those on Noonsite. This sort of feedback, especially entry fees, is really useful for us. See https://www.noonsite.com/place/montenegro/view/clearance/. Thanks so much.
The documents lists specifies original registration document.
We are registered in the UK, and original document is not given by the authorities…
The registration documents are available only online (can be printed from the website).
Hello: We plan to move our boat to Montenegro (from Croatia) in Spring of 2024. Could anyone please give us advice on good marinas where we might set up base? Cheers Stephen & Julie.
We would love to follow this as we are planning to winter in Montenegro as well from October 2023 to April 2024. Please keep us posted.
Ingrid and Alan (Amel Mango)
inkydoorn@hotmail.com
We would love to follow this as we are planning to winter in Montenegro as well from October 2023 to April 2024. Please keep us posted.
Ingrid and Alan (Amel Mango)
inkydoorn@hotmail.com
Our vessel SV EMRYS is presently moored at LAZURE Marina. It is very close to the customs dock. The marina is new, clean with many amenities. We have weekly reports sent to us regarding the status of Emrys and the staff is extremely helpful. Highly recommend you check it out.
Tax Free Fuel Suspended.
As of 10th of June 2022, the Montenegrin Government temporarily suspended tax-free fuel for yachts. The decision is valid, initially, for 30 days. There is a strong lobby wishing to overturn the decision after the 30 days has expired since the marine and tourist industries will be hit hard just as the summer season has got underway.
As of today Montenegro opened it‘s borders again for countries in which a rate of active cases of coronavirus is less that 25 per 100,000 inhabitants w/o need of quarantaine.
See: http://www.gov.me/en/homepage/measures_and_recommendations/
Yea !
Montenegro has been my “home port” for the last several years (I am a British registered yacht). A great place from which to visit the Adriatic and Ionian regions but also a wonderful cruising ground in its own right. Also a good place to over-winter with good guardinage. Not being in the EU favours it in several ways – maybe more so once the effect of Brexit on British registered yachts becomes clear. Anyone requiring more local information feel free to contact me. Ciao Richard
Hello Richard, I am considering moving my yacht from the USA to Montenegro this year pending the fall out from Brexit. I’m assuming that after that, we will be ‘non-EU’ citizens and thus free to take our boats into Europe under Temporary Importation for 18 months without any VAT issues, but even HMRC have no idea how that’s going to work.
Interested to know where you are based and how you find the prices there.
Can you PM me at talisa(at)duncanellison.com?
Hi Duncan – I have sent you a comprehensive rely by e-mail.
Hello Richard. We are currently debating whether to over-winter in Montenegro as opposed to Greece, given that we need to leave the EU before October and with the current situation. Could you recommend anywhere reasonably priced and most importantly secure? We are looking at Porto Montenegro, although this is pretty expensive. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Please email jilloconnell6@gmail.com if you have the time. Appreciate it. Many thanks. Jill
Hi Richard, we are planning to pop over from Brindisi to reset our EU clock as we are a Guernsey registered boat. Will we have to show check out papers from Italy on our arrival?
Hi Richard,
I am planning to move my boat to Montenegro. Any practical tips when entering, harbours (good/bad ones), customs clearance etc. My boat is EU-nation flagged/registered.
We plan to arrive in Porto Montenegro directly from Italy (Sicily). Do I need to clear out of Italy (have all passports stamped as leaving the EU) in order to check into Montenegro?
Hi Steve – See https://www.noonsite.com/place/montenegro/formalities/. The answer is yes.
Hi Steve. If you come direct then yes you must clear out of Italy and must clear into the first port of call (Bar) unless you stay outside the 12 m limit. You can then clear in at the nearest port of entry at the point where you cross the 12 mile limit. They do keep tabs on boats. A good route from Sicily if you have the time is to check in Greece in the Southern Ionian and wander up the islands and clear out in Corfu.
ha – just noticed the post I replied to was from last year !!!!
We have cleared in at Kotor before. Is this still possible?
Yes. See https://www.noonsite.com/place/montenegro/#port-section for ports of entry.
Dear Rita,
You can find information regarding bringing pets into the EU on our EU general information page found here: https://www.noonsite.com/General/EuropeanUnion. It reads:
“Most pets can be moved around Europe if they comply with the regulations of the Pets Passport Scheme and have an EU Pet Passport.
Note: Rabies vaccinations administered by a veterinary practitioner not authorised by an EU country will render the EU Pet Passport invalid for travel.”
You can also find more information regarding the European Regulation on the movement of pet animals here:
https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/pet-movement_en
Thanks for using Noonsite.com.
We will be sailing from Greece to Montenegro, then to Croatia with a dog this spring. He is microchipped, current on rabies vaccination and will have a current EU Health Certificate issued in the US. Does anyone have any experience/advise bringing in a dog to Montenegro and then to Croatia?
Thanks!
Rita
We visited Montenegro and loved it. This is a beautiful country and I highly recommend it. A few observations – the port authorities in Bar were extremely helpful and friendly. Also, the restroom facilities in Bar deserve special mention. I believe they were cleaned three times a day. These had to be the cleanest facilities we have seen anywhere.
As noted previously, it is possible to purchase duty-free fuel after clearing out. However, the fuel dock in Bar would not sell us duty-free fuel unless we procured the services of an agent. This was a cost of 100 euros. Although we did save money even after the 100 euro fee was included, it still irritated me that this was required.
Just spent a few days in Montenegro, wonderful. Used Tivat as Port of Entry, the customs dock is just on the left of Marina Porto Montenegro. Not quick but everybody very nice and helpful. Purchased vignette for one week at 38 Euros (17m sailboat).
You are absolutely right Zenit, there is no need to pay in that case vignette for 6 months period.
If you want to moor your boat in some marina, you just take 24 hours vignette on arrival, moored it and buy another one on departure after 6 months 🙂
Montenegro, one can purchase diesel at 60 cents per litre, however, one must have made an appointment at the fuel dock and have evidence of clearing out with customs, they must be leaving Montenegro, ideal for motor boats.
Unfortunately, you need to book well in advance as we tried for the next day, on the advice of the marina, to make a booking time and they only had one time slot available to refuel late in the afternoon. Navily shows that D-Marin Portonovi has fuel but when we contacted them they said that their fuel system was not yet operating. This is not the first time that we have found issues with Navily information.
After many phone calls we eventually found fuel available at Herceg Novi. Have found the information in the Navily app to be incorrect on a number of occasions now, including where fuel may be obtained.
We arrived from Albania at the port of Ulcinj late in the evening, we tied up on the town quay for the night, tried calling the HM on VHF 16/12, no reply, the next morning 10.00 just as we were about to leave for port of Bar to clear in for one month cruising, HM comes along and asks where we have come from, we tell him Albania, and now heading for Bar to clear in,
he tells us to stay and calls the police, they come and advise that we are in breach of there immigration laws by not going straight to Bar, I am taken to the local police station and fined €275, then police take me back to boat to see that we leave immediately, they were not at all nice and quite enjoyed the experience, I then had to pay another €225 for their cruising permit for one month. Welcome to Montenegro.
Booked in at Bar, where I was surprised to find that a weeks cruising permit for a 11.5 meter monohull costs about €27; but for an equivalent length catamaran €84! How can this be?
SY DeDanaan is 16 meters, the total cost for one month was €225.
It is better to know that the cruising permit must be paid for your cruising period in Montenegro waters. If you will arrive in Montenegro you will have to pay for 1 week cruising permit minimum, but if you will decide to stay at the marina 6 months without a move, you do not need to buy 6 months cruising permit.
LPG Refills in Tivat, Near Porto Montenegro—
We were able to refill a US type LPG bottle and an EU (Blue) bottle at an LPG/Diesel/Petrol filling station on the road between Porto Montenegro and the Tivat airport.
We went by dinghy to the Navar Marina at 42 25.142 18 42.496. We asked the marina personnel to call at Taxi to take us to the LPG filling station. The cab took us out of the marina and turned right on the main road to the airport. We travelled about 500 meters to a diesel/petrol/LPG filling station on the right side. Cab fare 1.40 euro. While we waited a few minutes, they filled 1 each 10# US aluminium bottle and 1 each EU blue bottle for 11 euro total. Taxi back to the marina 1.40 euro.
Bill
BeBe