Dubrovnik Shore Excursion: Sea Kayak and Snorkeling Small-Group Tour

Very enjoyable trip in September 2016. We had time to walk the city walls and visit the old town earlier in the morning before this trip. This kayaking trip takes you out all the way around the Otok Lokrum island including past a nudist area and then over to a tiny pebble beach southeast of Old Port that is accessable by water or a series of steep steps consequently, it isn't overly crowded for snorkeling and lunch. The guides stopped frequently and re-group us as we paddled and take the opportunity to discuss the history/interesting facts/lore regarding the area. Directions on how to get there were a bit confusing. It would have been easier if they had told us to walk down the stairs at the Placa and then walk 1000ish feet and we'd see it on the left we found it on our 3rd attempt. There is more than one kayak company at this location, so make sure you have the right one. A few in our group seemed surprised at the quantity of paddling. We have kayaked before recreationally a few times and thought the quantity of paddling was just fine.

Amazing tour. Beautiful surroundings. Gives you a different view of Dubrovnik.

beautiful views and experienced kayaking guide. It was a fun and unique excursion. Challenging to find due to not having a worker at the designated meeting spot. The route was changed due to rough seas, which was fine, but he seemed to have us kayaking randomly around to "use up the time" for the trip. Perhaps a more exciting "Plan B" should be devised b/c it was obvious that he was wasting time.

Overall, the logistics leading up to the sea kayaking Viator tour was not as advertised. What is even worse, the picture used for this advertisement is actually a picture of the "competitors" kayaks; the actual kayaking service is directly across from the picture site, making this entire experience quite confusing and frustrating. Also, the so-called easy directions provided are not that at all; none of the "talk to me about sea kayaking" groups know where to send you--in the end, we matched the advertisement picture, walked down the stairs to the kayaks, asked the "competitor" and eventually was loosely directed to the appropriate check-in spot. Next, the check-in attendant was uninterested, not friendly and certainly not in the mood for providing additional details regarding the sea kayaking event. Moreover, the tour started 15-20mins late and ended over an hour late due to the unannounced and unadvertised length of the actual amount of "sea kayaking" being done. For context, this excursion is 99% sea kayaking (over 8 miles) and 1% snorkeling. There was less than 15mins of really snorkeling time; the rest of the 30min stop was used to recover for the upcoming, unknown and unexpected 6-7mile sea kayaking tour around the nude beach island--Viator's travel experts clearly left this 'revealing' detail out. Word for the wise: this isn't a "casual" kayaking tour; if your party is not in great to excellent physical shape, they will struggle mightily and tire out quickly. One bright spot: the first stop at the cave inlet for snorkeling--there is an actual cliff that can be climbed and subsequently jumped off (i.e. 7-10meters) for a free and fun cliff diving experience! This definitely beats paying 100 kuna to jump from the Old Dubruvnik city wall. So instead of snorkeling, I would plan on grabbing a quick breather and then take a few cliff jumps before kayaking past all the nudes :) Final conclusion: save your money and do the Elafiti Islands tour :)

What an amazing trip! They were easy to locate and the guides were so friendly and engaging. They gave us great tips for activities in town and pointed out great features of the town and surrounding areas. We kayaked around a nearby island and then went for a snack and break at a small cave where we could swim and look at the little fishes. I can't wait to go back!