Sea Kayaking in Croatia – See the Coast and Caves of Pula

Do you love the water and beautiful views? Sea kayaking in Pula may be right up your alley! Sea kayaking offers the opportunity to see the beautiful Istrian coast from a whole new perspective.

While staying in Pula, I had been made aware of the beautiful rocky coastline beyond the sight of the city. I knew that I had to see it, so I began going over my options.

One of the most popular choices was to drive a bit up the coast, park, and walk down to the water.

Not active enough.

Another possibility that I saw a lot of was people renting stand-up paddleboards (SUP).

While this can be fun, I wanted to be able to go further as SUP has always felt a little more limited to me in terms of distance.

Eventually, I started thinking about sea kayaking in Pula. It checked all of the boxes: physical, adventurous, distance, and the sights.

Where to go?

It was more difficult to just rent a kayak on my own. So this had me looking to local operators that offered tours.

While in the local tourist office, I found plenty of options. You know those racks filled with brochures that you see in rest areas? Well, they had one that was jam-packed with options for sea kayaking in Pula.

Pula Kayak

Through intensive research and stringent vetting process, I selected Pula Kayak as the operator I would use. (i.e., their brochure had the coolest picture)

Booking was easy. You simply go to their website, select your day, and choose an available time slot.

Shortly after, I received a phone call from a guide who spoke English. We went over where and when we would be meeting. While the meeting point was still in Pula, the drive was about ten minutes from the amphitheater.

The meeting area was at Stoja Campsite on the edge of the city. I had stayed in a regular hotel “village” for this trip because I had planned for possible quarantine, but if you’re into budget traveling like I usually am, this would have been a great place to stay.

The meeting place proper was actually right at the campsite entrance. There’s a parking area, and you’ll be able to see the large rack of sea kayaks.

After the meeting, it’s waivers and emails.

Why would they need your email? Well, throughout the duration of your excursion, the tour guide will be taking pictures of you and your group with a waterproof camera! This includes pictures of you cliff jumping and snorkeling but more on those later.

All aboard!

Once waivers were signed, it was time to load into the sea kayaks. I’ll confess that I was a little disappointed that they were all two-person kayaks, but I got over that in short order. Paddling through the ocean can be exhausting on the arms, so having someone to help you worked out to be positive.

Sea caves?!

Did you think all we did was kayak out, turn around, and come back? No, of course not!

This excursion isn’t only sea kayaking in Pula; it also includes a number of other activities to break up the day.

The first thing we did was kayak through some old caves. The caves were pitch black, so we required headlamps to see anything. Anything, like the thousands of bats that hung from the ceiling!

Let me tell you, this cave is exactly the type of place you would expect to see pirate gold or a secret camp years ago.

At one point, we all turned off our headlamps, where we were treated to a show by thousands of bioluminescent comb jellies.

You’re going to see them everywhere along the Istrian peninsula. Don’t worry, these aren’t real jellyfish. They’re a type of ctenophore that’s small, doesn’t sting, and is harmless to humans.

Did I say we were treated to a light show? Ha. A thing of the past. The true beauty of this cave comes as you exit. It’s here that you can take the photograph from the brochure that I mentioned earlier. After I finished sea kayaking in Pula, this was easily my favorite picture.

Who knows, this might even be my favorite picture from my entire Croatia trip!

History, Cliff Jumping, and Snorkeling.

After that beautiful cave, we stopped at an old military staging point where we swam and climbed through the rocks. Floating in the center was such a cool view. It almost felt surreal to be swimming in that tight little alcove.

After loading back into the kayaks, we headed up the coast a little further. It was here that we stopped for a snack, some snorkeling, and cliff jumping.

The cliff jumping was really fun. We jumped twice, from two different heights. The first was only around ten feet high, while the second was about twenty-five.

Admittedly, I’m more fond of massive rope swings. Since I tend to seek those out instead, I don’t do a ton of cliff jumping. It was still incredibly fun, though, even if the second jump was high enough to blast my eardrums and sinuses to pain levels.

After cliff jumping, our guide passed out masks and snorkels. From there, everyone hopped in the water and swam around at their own pace.

I went all the way down a few times to see the starfish bed, but it did seem to be a bit deep for standard snorkeling. Not to mention my ears were still killing me from my second jump. There also weren’t many at the time. Oh well, luck of the draw, right? 

Just be wary of the sea urchins as they cling to the rock you exit the water from en masse. Someone learned this the hard way.

Back to base.

After the snorkeling, it was time to head back home. Everyone launched their kayaks and then it was a long, but relaxing paddle back.

This time, there were no breaks, but that was okay because we were now aided by the current. Paddling was far easier than it had been fighting against it earlier in the day.

Sea kayaking in Pula, Croatia complete.

Back on land, I shook out my arms and smiled. This was quite a fun adventure. One that I wouldn’t mind doing again. The following day, I even pointed out the cave and cliff jumping points to others who were with me on my dive charter.

One couple liked the sound of it so much that they decided to book it for the following day.

Should you be interested, there are a number of operators beyond the one I chose. They all seem to be slightly different in terms of trip length and activities, but prices are all in the same general range of $50-65 for two to three hours.

Pula Kayak cost 380 Kn or about $58 for a three hour trip.

You can find some of the others listed HERE but I stand by my support of the company I used.

There are also options for sea kayaking in other parts of Croatia such as Dubrovnik, but aside from seeing the city from a different perspective, I think Pula offers the better experience.

Have you ever been sea kayaking before? What did you think of it? Let me know below! I’d love to hear your story!

 

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