kayaking in CT

I haven't done it and don't know where you would pick up a kayak. It's a perfect area though. The water is clear (you can see the fish from the surface), the waves are calm and the views are great. I don't recall seeing any kayaks when I was there but we there in October. If someone isn't renting kayaks, they should start.

Hi Bobbi,

The last time I kayaked in CT was in August a couple of years ago, but from what I read in Rick's book last year, not much has changed. Our experience was great! A couple notes:

My friend and I rented a 2-person kayak from the harbor in Riomaggiore. The nice man spoke very little English, and we spoke very little Italian, but the language barrier wasn't a problem. You get your kayak, your life jackets, and a waterproof pouch to put your stuff in while you're in the kayak. I think we put everything in there -- cameras, passports, etc. In retrospect, it might have been smarter to leave our documents in a secure, dry location, but whatever you're comfortable with.

At least when we went, there were no waivers or liability forms to sign, which we thought was totally different from the U.S.! Also no lessons or words of warning or anything. We just shoved off into the Mediterranean and got the hang of it quickly. I'm sure the man who rents the kayaks could give a few pointers if you needed some help, but we found it's pretty intuitive.

There's a little bit of chop to the sea in the CT, but nothing too scary. We were two petite 19-year-olds who had never done ocean kayaking before, but we never felt unsafe. We stayed close to shore most of the time, just poking around exploring. There were other kayakers out in the water too. We took awesome photos from out on the sea looking back toward town, and it was one of the highlights of our trip.

Hope you enjoy!

Thanks so much. I've done a bit of kayaking but I'm no expert. Sounds like I could manage this however and glad to hear you got life vests. Something from RS book mentioned not receiving life vests.