What is Blatna Plaža?
Blatna Plaža - also known as Stara Banja - sits at the end of the Igalo promenade, where the Sutorina river meets the Bay of Kotor. At 9.000 m², it is the largest beach in the Herceg Novi municipality and the only one in Montenegro known for its healing radioactive sea mud. From the beach it is an easy trip to the sights of Herceg Novi.
What makes the beach unusual is its sand - in fact a fine, mineral-rich sea mud - which brings visitors here for a free spa treatment right on the shore. Locals and travellers alike come to treat rheumatism, arthritis and other musculoskeletal complaints, simply by spreading the mud on the skin and letting it dry briefly in the sun.
Scientific confirmation - the record since 1930
The healing properties of Igalo's mud are not only folk medicine. Extensive laboratory testing carried out in 1930 by the celebrated French spa town of Vichy confirmed the mud's exceptional mineral and radioactive characteristics. That certificate put Igalo on the map of European health tourism decades before the phrase itself became fashionable.
After the Second World War, on the initiative of Mirka J. Stijepčića and with the involvement of Dr Svetozar Živojnović, long-postponed plans for a spa hospital were finally carried out. On 1 November 1949 the Government of Montenegro formally founded the spa hospital in Igalo - the institution known today as the Institut Simo Milošević.
Stara Banja beach - the other name for Blatna Plaža
If your search turned up the name Stara Banja beach in Igalo, that is this beach - two names for the same place. Locals and long-standing guests still call the beach and the ground behind it Stara Banja, after the old baths: an early twentieth-century bathing sanatorium where Igalo's mud was already used therapeutically, well before the present Institut Simo Milošević was founded in 1949.
In practice that means everything true of Blatna Plaža - free entry, the healing mud, shallows that suit children - is true of Stara Banja too. If you are looking for accommodation near Stara Banja in Igalo, Apartmani Monako are just 100 metres from the beach, at Dubrovačka 1.
What can a visitor expect at the beach?
The beach is sandy and shelves gently, which suits families with children. On site you will find:
- A beach bar with cold drinks
- Sunbeds and parasols for hire
- Parking close by
- Cafés and restaurants just behind the beach
- Tito's villa and the Institut Simo Milošević
The mud therapy is free and open to everyone - all you need is a swimming costume and a willingness to get a little dirty. And if you would rather stay at the source of the treatment, our apartments in Igalo are only 100 metres from the beach.
Igalo as a centre for health tourism
Igalo has established itself as the gateway to health tourism in Montenegro. Between the healing mud, the Mediterranean climate and the Adriatic, the town draws visitors who want rehabilitation and a holiday at the same time. The Institut Simo Milošević also runs formal medical programmes that use Igalo mud as part of certified treatment. Patients who come for several weeks of therapy often need somewhere to stay for longer - for them we offer monthly apartment rental in Igalo, Herceg Novi (€500 a month, everything included), a five-minute walk from the Institute.
One local note: every February the Institute hosts the flower exhibition of the Mimosa Festival - the oldest festival on the Montenegrin coast, whose main stage stands on the square in front of the Hotel Igalo, a few minutes' walk from Blatna Plaža.
