06. July 2019- The Herceg Novi – Tivat speed boat line started last week, bringing passengers from one side to the other of the Boka Bay in twenty minutes. Nataša Bajat, the owner of Montenegro Boat Company, launched this interesting offer. She has lived and worked in New York since 1997, but she spent the last summers at her home in Herceg Novi.
What inspired her was the long time she had to spend to get to Herceg Novi from Tivat Airport by land: "It was not difficult to come to this idea since I travel frequently. Always, when I would land at Tivat airport, I thought that it would be nice to get to Novi faster, and this is what I wanted to achieve," Nataša says.
Currently, a Sea Ray 240 Sundeck - "Wizard", with a capacity of 10 seats, is operating on that sea line, but from next week, another with 7 seats will be included. The route is covered every hour in each direction. From Herceg Novi to the airport, a speedboat arrives in about 20 minutes. Departures from Herceg Novi are at odd hours, starting at 7 a.m and from Tivat Airport from 8 a.m. It is necessary to make reservations via phone, e-mail, Viber or WhatsApp to service passengers and guests from abroad. One way ticket costs 19 euros, but discounts are planned for return tickets, as well as benefits for regular travellers and guests. People usually don’t believe that the price is so low for this sea line, Bajat said.
"The emphasis is on transporting passengers and tourists to the airport in order to avoid traffic jams from Herceg Novi to Tivat, but we stop and transport to all locations according to the requirements of passengers, including Tivat Bay, Krašići, Krtole, the complete left and right side of the bay to Igalo, as well as Rose and Njivice. Upon request, we are open to including Perast, or that part of the bay and add it to our sea line," explains the owner of the company. This service is open not only for airport passengers, but also for people who want to come to Tivat from Herceg Novi, or vice versa by this connection.
The boat stand is 350 meters away from the airport, which is a 4-5 minute walk from the Airport Terminal to the Marina Restaurant. The cooperation with Taxi drivers - Car Pool option has been arranged. The ride, which lasts less than a minute, is 5 euros, and the car can take five passengers who share the cost of transport.
"This season is a pilot project to make sure that all of this works and it would certainly be nice to have a service like this in the bay. It would be a good way to reduce pressure on road traffic," Bajat said.
The company currently has five employees, a female and male captain, a hostess who welcomes passengers at the airport and sends them to the mole where the boat is seated, as well as two sailors.
Nataša Bajat came to New York as an exchange student from Novi Sad, where she studied philosophy. She worked in tourism for sixteen years, for a world corporation of restaurants and hotels, where she remained a consultant, now she is in real estate. As philosophy remains in every segment of our lives: the philosophy of tourism, statehood, real estate, it will always stay a part of her life, too. However, boats have been her love since childhood, and she desires to return one day from New York to Herceg Novi and Boka.
