Sea kayaking Croatia

The Elaphiti Islands

The most accessible sea kayaking is around the islands that glisten tantalisingly off the Dubrovnik coast. They are the Elaphiti Islands, a small archipelago covering around 30km², the main ones being Sipan, Lopud and Kolocep. You can spend a week kayaking on this part of the Dalmatian coast, traveling in a small group and being fully guided by expert kayakers, taking your first trip out onto the water by ferry to Lopud. Here you will spend a day getting used to being on a kayak, paddling around tranquil, sandy bays such as Sunj, having a sunset walk through its lush woodland, and then chilling at a waterfront café in the evening.

When you are kayak confident, you will start island hopping, leaving your bags to be transferred for you by a boat while you go in search of, for example, the island of Sipan, this time without a ferry. After kayaking through turquoise Adriatic waters past natural stone arches, dramatic cliffs and a cornucopia of coves, you reach its coast, letting the waves carry you ashore. Sipan is the largest of the Elaphiti Islands and a place to also explore on land, with a plethora of ancient, romantic towns, tiny fishing villages, vineyards and olive grove covered hills.

A highlight for many kayakers is the exploration of sea caves. Paddle out to the island of Ruda, off Sipan, then kayak to, and swim through, a hole into a magical, shimmering cave, where the sunlight peeks through just enough to illuminate it and the water. Sea kayaking vacations in Croatia, whether four-day breaks or weeklong odysseys, are full of magical maritime moments like this.

Istrian idylls

It is hard to find a bit of the coast that isn’t covered by sea kayaks, and the Istrian Peninsula in the north is another paddling paradise. This is a good spot for a multi activity vacation in Croatia, combining sea kayaking around the ancient coastal town of Rovinj or the Porec Islands, for example, with a couple of days’ hiking in Plitvice National Park. Water addicts need not panic, however, as Plitvice is a land of 16 freshwater lakes and 90 waterfalls. And for those who like the idea of combining inland and coastal, you can also go on a kayaking vacation that starts on the Zrmanja and Krupa Rivers in Velebit Nature Park, rafting or canoeing all the way down to Obrovac, where you change to sea kayaks and enter the Novigrad Sea.