Last week we visited Ada Bojana for the first time this year and there is no need to say that it was a huge disappointment to see the progressing devastation of the nudist holiday resort and the disastrous decline of the island itself.
The triangular island of Ada Bojana (Ada is the Turkish word for ‘island’) is located south of Ulcinj, on the southernmost tip of Montenegro, with only the Bojana (or Buna) river separating it from Albanian territory.
It is interesting to know that the Bojana river, which flows out of Lake Skadar and reaches the Adriatic Sea after 41 km, is a miracle of nature. Why? Just imagine: the bottom of its river bed in the upper part is 36 km under sea level. Seawater rushes deeply upwards through the river bed, which means that the river flows both upstream and downstream! The salty water and the river water create together a unique ecosystem, which is a habitat for around 140 fish and 300 bird species.
But how was the island formed? There is an interesting legend about it: In 1858, a ship called “Merito” crashed and sank at the mouth of the Bojana river. At the same place, there were already two tiny islands. The rapid flow of water with sediments, colliding with the sunken ship and the two islands, created an obstacle and at this place the river was divided in two branches. As a result, an unusual island with a surface of 6 square kilometers was created. Is this legend true, or is Ada just a delta in formation?
In the seventies and eighties of the last century Ada was a famous international nudist settlement. Opened in 1973, it attracted many tourists from Western Europe. But due to the Balkan Wars, it was abandoned and neglected.
Privatization of the completely dilapidated settlement failed and finally a part of it was refurbished and reconstructed by the Ulcinjska Riviera Hotel Enterprise. Ada has now 350 beds available. There are two restaurants, a beach bar, a camping ground and many sporting possibilities. In the meantime, it has also become one of the best kite surfing and wind surfing locations on the Adriatic Coast.
The corona summer has come to an end and everything was closed now. But it was clear to us that the devastation of Ada Bojana has NOT come to an end!
Walking along the beach and through the former nudist settlement, we had only one question: what is happening to Ada Bojana?
The Present Situation
First of all, it is quite clear that the Ada Bojana is shrinking; we could see it with the naked eye. Several bungalows, which were once located at a distance of 30-35 meters from the coast line (see air picture on a poster from the seventies!), are now damaged by the sea and cannot be used for renting any more. The beach bar was flooded. Wooden posts and sandbags around the foundations appeared to be useless.
Satellite images confirm that the beach of Ada has been reduced by about 80 meters during the last three decades. And the beaches on the eastern side of the island have virtually disappeared.
How did this happen? Is it the influence of strong waves from the south, reduced flows of sediment and water? Is it caused by the removal of sand or by sea currents? Or is it the lack of action by the responsible state institutions?
Despite the negative impact on tourism industry and the warnings of environmental groups, until 2017 nobody has undertaken any action to overcome this problem.
In August 2017 the flow of water along the right branch of the river Bojana slowed so much that the river just trickled and was eventually blocked before it could reach the sea. The island of Ada Bojana temporarily became a peninsula.
A state intervention was unavoidable. In mid-2018 the works began with pumping out surplus material and deepening the river bed.
About 5,000 cubic meters of deposit extracted from the closed mouth had to be used as so-called ‘beach nourishment’ for Ada and the Long Beach, south of Ulcinj.
But what did we see? Huge sand hills, deposited at the edge of the river mouth and the holiday resort, just in front of a few beautiful (renovated) bungalows of the resort. The obstruction of the view from their terraces was obvious and it will be impossible to rent them under such conditions. And I can imagine what happens to the sand hills on a windy day…..
The Resort
Once, the naturist resort of Ada Bojana, with its beach of 75,000 square meters, reached a daily occupancy rate of around 3,000 guests per day in the main season.
Nowadays, only a part of the resort is renovated. Many houses and cottages are dilapidated and the once so beautiful park is neglected. The trails through the park and to the beach are overgrown, roofs collapsed, doors are broken …. It looked as if we were walking through the set of a horror movie!
Of course, the corona crisis has prevented any attempts to stop the further decline of the resort. We can only hope that it will be restored one day, as it is a very significant segment of Montenegrin tourism industry.
But first of all, attention should be paid to the protection of the island, as one thing is sure: if no further action is undertaken, Montenegro risks losing this iconic island and its unique ecosystem!
Thank you for the article. It is sad to see such a rare beauty of nature get neglected so badly but on a postive not perhaps an apportunity for an investor to build somethng magificent. Montenegro was once famous for its nude beaches and perhaps it will be revived again.