Jaz Beach, Budva: Where 40,000 People Watched the Rolling Stones and the Sea Remained Clean

Montenegro | Budva | Budva Riviera

On July 9, 2007, Mick Jagger introduced Charlie Watts to approximately 40,000 people on the field behind Jaz Beach as “the mad man of Montenegro.” The concert was attended by approximately 40,000 people. Budva held the distinction of being the smallest town ever to host a Rolling Stones gig. The A Bigger Bang Tour stop at Jaz was part of a deliberate initiative to put Montenegro — independent since June 2006 — on the international cultural map, financed substantially by Svetozar Marović, the influential Montenegrin politician and native of Budva. It worked: the Stones played, and the beach’s name circulated in the international music press alongside a country that most of the audience could not have located on a map the year before.

Just over a month later, Madonna decided to perform her first-ever live concert in Montenegro, with her Sticky & Sweet Tour, on September 25, 2008. The concert was massively successful, with 47,524 people in attendance. The Sea Dance Festival — part of the EXIT Adventure circuit — held its opening editions at Jaz Beach from 2014 to 2017, with Jamiroquai, Underworld, and other major acts playing the field behind the beach.

The beach itself — the 1.2-kilometre sand-and-pebble crescent 2.5 kilometres west of Budva — predates all of this and will continue to exist after the last festival poster has faded. Lonely Planet listed Jaz Beach as one of the best beaches in Europe in 2015. It holds the Blue Flag certification. The campsite behind the beach has 2,000 lots.

Getting There: €3 Parking, €1 Bus from Budva, or 5-Minute Taxi

From Budva, Jaz Beach is 2.5 kilometres west along the E65 Adriatic Highway — a 5-minute drive, a 10-minute taxi (approximately €10), or the seasonal beach bus that runs hourly from near Perla’s Café in Budva Old Town for €1 per person between 8am and 8pm.

By car, parking is available in the large gravel field behind the beach — approximately 500 spaces, charged at €3 for a full day. The parking fills quickly in July and August, and the morning arrival recommendation (before 9am) is consistent across visitor accounts for securing both parking and a good beach position.

The bus route also continues past Jaz to Trsteno and Ploče beaches further west, making the full western Budva Riviera beach sequence accessible by the same service.

The Beach: 1.2km of Sand and Pebble, Two Sections, Blue Flag, Nudist Western End

Jaz Beach consists of two areas. The main section measures approximately 850 metres of mixed sand and pebble. The secondary section, formerly a nudist beach, stretches around 450 metres to the west. The campsite directly behind the main beach has 2,000 lots.

The source article’s description of the beach shifting from shingle on the eastern end to finer sand on the western side is accurate. The eastern end, closer to the road and the main access, is more organised — the beach bars, sunbed hire, the water sports stations, the inflatable aqua park anchored offshore, and the Poseidon Hotel and its beach section are all concentrated here. The western section approaching the nudist area is progressively quieter and less organised.

The local tip is to arrive before 9am or after 4pm. The western section of the beach is the quietest. The small restaurant “Jaz” at the western end serves grilled fish for €10 to €15.

The Blue Flag certification confirms the water quality standard — notably maintained despite the volume of beach use and the proximity to the Budva marina infrastructure. The open bay position of Jaz relative to the enclosed Bay of Kotor means the water circulation is considerably better than the inner bay beaches, and the Adriatic colour at Jaz — the turquoise that the source article describes — is the open sea quality rather than the fjord-green of the enclosed bay.

The Concert Field: 40,000 Capacity, the Smallest City for Rolling Stones, and the Sea Dance Legacy

The concert infrastructure at Jaz — the stage, the access road, the 40,000-capacity field in the hinterland immediately behind the beach — was built specifically for the Stones concert in 2007. The field is a flat gravel area that becomes the concert venue and transitions back to open space after festivals. The Sea Dance Festival used the same infrastructure for its annual editions between 2014 and 2017 before moving its primary venue.

The specific significance of the Budva concert in the Rolling Stones touring history — the smallest city they had played to that point — is the detail that gives Jaz Beach its unexpected cultural credential alongside the beach qualities. The town of 15,000 permanent residents (swelled considerably by the summer tourist population) hosting 40,000 concert attendees in a field behind a beach is the specific scale of the event that gives it its character in the accounts of those who were there.

Mick Jagger spoke to the crowd almost exclusively in the local language, was considerably more animated and energetic than at typical large stadium shows, and dubbed Ronnie Wood “the beast of Budva.”

The Campsite: 2,000 Lots, the Practical Reason to Stay

The campsite directly behind Jaz Beach — with 2,000 lots, the largest camping provision on the Budva Riviera — is the specific accommodation that places the beach access immediately outside the tent door. For camping visitors, Jaz Beach is the beach you walk to in the morning in flip flops; the concert field is where the music plays in the evening; and the campsite is the accommodation that makes both possible without transport. The campsite serves as a youth-oriented alternative to the more formal hotel accommodation of Budva proper, and the demographic it attracts gives Jaz its specific after-dark energy — the combination of the beach bars in the afternoon and the campsite social life in the evening producing the atmosphere that distinguishes it from the more managed resort beaches.

Trsteno and Ploče: The Quieter Neighbours

Immediately west of Jaz Beach, the smaller beaches of Trsteno and Ploče provide the quieter alternatives within the same bus route. Trsteno Beach is characteristic for its shallow water even far from the coast and its turquoise colour. Ploče Beach (meaning Slabs) is located on rock with a paved portion containing pools. Both are significantly less visited than Jaz and accessible on the same €1 bus from Budva.

For the beach club option on the same coast, Mogren 2 Beach Budva — the tunnel-accessed cove below the Old Town walls — is the contrast position within the Budva beach range: small, intimate, cliff-backed, accessible only on foot from the old town versus the large, open, road-accessible, concert-capable Jaz.

Jaz Beach near Budva is the 1.2-kilometre Blue Flag sand-and-pebble beach where Mick Jagger called Ronnie Wood “the beast of Budva” to 40,000 people in 2007 and Madonna brought 47,524 in 2008 — and where the campsite has 2,000 lots, the bus from Budva costs €1, parking costs €3, and the western end is quietest.

Arrive before 9am or after 4pm. Walk west past the sunbed section.

The grilled fish restaurant at the western end costs €10 to €15 and is better than the branded beach bars.