All Dubrovnik kayaking tours canceled? And other ideas?

I always recommend taking the local ferry, about 10-15 minutes to Lokrum Island for a nice hike, swim, lunch or bring a picnic. There is one cafe and one bar to get drinks. It is a National Park so the only people who stay over are firefighters or some workers. Just an FYI, the tickets went up significantly to around 25€.
You can also hike up, down or both ways to Mt. Srd. You can take the cable car the other way. Another FYI, while we were up in Mt. Srd last October, there were ATVs you could rent and ride around. I don’t know if they will be there this year.
I consider walking the walls around the city to be an Urban Hike for us city folk.
There is also a boat ride around the city in the evening when you can watch the sunset.
About the kayaking, PM local.du here on the forum. He lives in Dubrovnik and is a tour guide. Maybe he can find out for you.
As soon as you arrive in Dubrovnik I would go to the TI office (it is on the Main Street near the water fountain, Ploče entrance) and ask them. Every trip we make to Dubrovnik new excursions pop up while others disappear. The city is constantly trying to figure what is best for the locals and tourists.

It’s been some years since I was there and spent a cruise day just being IN Dubrovnik, wandering the streets, spending time at a street market, visiting the aquarium which is in an old fortress by the harbour, so doubly interesting, walking the walls, eating - I remember enjoying the Croatian version of proscuitto in a fresh bread roll, it’s a beautiful city and it’s worth taking the time to enjoy it, especially as you will have had the advantage of a tour the night before and thus be aware of places worth a revisit.

Thank you! I love the idea of the ferry to Lokrum, and also the sunset cruise. Thank you also for the contact info. And that is a great point about having better perspective on our own wanderings after the formal tour!

The ferry to Lokrum and the sunset cruise leave from the same port. When you take your walking tour the guide will most likely take you pas the pier. Inside the old city is very small, just one Main Street, you really can’t get lost.

Sounds like your itinerary is set aside from one full day in Dubrovnik. Frankly, I would just stick around and explore Dubrovnik a bit. Walk the walls in the morning, take the cable car to Mt. Std, take a quick swim if you’re up for it (Lokrum is a great place to swim.) There’s no shortage of day long and half-day excursions to the Elafiti islands. There are a bunch of booths at the old port, you can chat with them and decide when you’re there. There’s not really a need to book far ahead. And I think Lokrum is probably a decent stand-in for anyplace you might visit on an island tour.

I kind of have a hard time imagining this is the end of kayaking in Dubrovnik or something. There’s quite a few of these outfits. It may be just particular operator your agent deals with. Odds are there is something, just departing from a different spot. In the end, it’s all about who’s getting their cut of the tourist dollars. I’m sure this will work itself out before the season kicks off.

I was told the same thing by my kayak tour guide and my tour was canceled. Thank you for the alternative suggestions.

Hello Everyone,

We are going to be in Dubrovnik in July and see a variety of tour operators that are still accepting reservations for a morning kayak trip. Has there been any updates from anyone that has been there in the past couple of weeks? Lots to do but we are hoping for a morning paddle.

thanks

patti

Hello. Your travel agent is mistaken. I own one of the kayak companies impacted by this current outage. The city didn't ban all kayak tours in Dubrovnik for the year. Kayaking tours are expected to resume any day now. The tours are severely delayed however.

The situation is that the City of Dubrovnik (like many other Croatian coastal cities) has failed to follow the new Croatian maritime law (adopted in 2023). The latest version of the law states that the public call to begin the bidding process required for the acquisition of permits should be posted by the city by no later than February 1st of the current year. These permits allow companies to operate within maritime zones along the coast for a period of between 1-5 years. All kayak companies and many other coastal activity providers operating along the Dubrovnik mainland coast (and other Croatian coastal areas) are subject to this bidding process. The city of Dubrovnik currently oversees 184 permit locations and people who had permits in previous years have priority in the current year.

The city of Dubrovnik ignored all legal mandates and did not post the call for bids until well into April. Their criteria for bids stated that it could take up to 30 days for the winning bids to be finalized. Had they followed the legally binding document they'd written, that would have meant the decisions would have been made by June 1st. It is now June 19th. The press and many stakeholders are putting pressure on the city officials. The city officials are still sitting on the permits. Every time we check we're told it's close, they'll make a decision soon.

This outage has been catastrophic to businesses in Dubrovnik. We can only continue to provide full transparency to the guests who opt to standby for a tour. We're now being told that the bids are still being reviewed and all winning bids will be approved at the next city council meeting. That meeting should allegedly occur any day now.

I hope this clarifies the situation.

Warmest regards,

Alexandra

In reality what is a kayak trip? You go from the launch point to another beach where you get out and then go back. You get to see the city from the water, that is about the crux of it. You will not be going anywhere you could not go in some other fashion. Think of it as an urban trip in a boat. You will not be on a river with nature, or crossing the sea. It is simply a different view of the city.