Venice Kayak was featured in TNT Magazine, the May 5th issue, an article by Xav Judd:

The article does contain at bit of artistic license, where it describes a near accident involving a speeding taxi. Had that happened, we would have reported it to the police.

via Paddle power: Travel the iconic canals of Venice by kayak – TNT Magazine.

Accepted cards are:

• Visa
• MasterCard
• Maestro
• American Express
• PagoBancomat (Italian)
• JCB

I’ve tried to mark on our map where we went, and lost the plot. We went down canals little wider than a ditch, under bridges too low to paddle, just pull yourself through with your hands. Under the Rialto and Accademia bridges, no problems with height there. Down the canal at the back of the Guggenheim, around two sides of the Arsenal, crossed the Grand Canal several times, a bit of a dig in the Giudecca canal, all over the place.

Read the full review here.

The celebrations of the Sensa includes a magnificent procession at sea, with colourful parade boats from all the rowing associations in Venice following the magnificent Serenissima which carries the mayor and the patriarch.

You can experience this ceremony with the associated procession of Venetian rowing boats from all the rowing clubs in Venice from a kayak.

Read more about the Festa della Sensa 2013 in kayak …

Reviving the lagoon

Until recently the foreboding, overgrown site of a former military base and the ruins of a Carthusian monastery, Isola della Certosa has been spiffed up as part of the same municipal lagoon restoration project that is reviving the Mazzorbo vineyard. Just one vaporetto stop from Sant’Elena, the island hosts a marina where you can take sailing lessons, rent a vessel or embark on a lagoon excursion in a kayak or a bragozzo, a traditional Venetian fishing craft.

There’s a casual hotel with 18 rooms and the seasonal restaurant Il Certosino. I’ve often eaten a leisurely lunch on the terrace, surrounded by a lush green lawn, before taking hikes on the nature trail being cultivated around the run-down army barracks and fragments of an explosives factory, where rabbits dart to and fro. Although you can see the main island from there, it feels miles away.

Exploring the islands of the Venetian lagoon – The Washington Post.

The same article has appeared in several other newspapers, such as the Star Telegram.

The Grand Canal is silent. The still surface of the water is a glossy black, mirroring the night sky. On either side, the six-storey palazzos soar up and their reflections plummet down, a bottomless symmetry of baroque. Floating in the dead centre of it all, I rest my paddle on the spray deck and try to remember to breathe. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my life.

Many thanks to journalist Steve Bleach for coming along on our tour.

‘Wonderful!” exclaims a Japanese tourist. He jumps to his feet, causing the gondola to rock and the sour-faced gondolier to curse, then aims his long lens and starts taking photographs. Of me. A little later, an American family of four stops on a bridge, slack-jawed, then points and giggles. At me.

via Venice, Italy | Gondolas at starboard.

Must do Discover Venice by kayak. The Cipriani can organise a guided kayak tour that will take you to parts of Venice that most tourists don’t get to see. It’s a wonderful experience to kayak down the Grand Canal.

Full article in PDF format

Hundreds of trees have been uprooted, ancient ruins have collapsed, and our kayaks have been tossed around like leafs in the wind. Most have survived the ordeal, but there’s quite a bit of damage to the fiber glass boats.

The area where we have the equipment is no longer safe to use due to fallen and half-fallen trees and branches.

On June 12th just after 11am a tornado (strength EF2) hit eastern Venice. It formed south of Venice between the Lido and the Giudecca, then moved northwards passing Sant’Elena, Certosa, Vignole and Sant’Erasmo. Nobody got serious hurt by the tornado, but it caused material damages of €10 million or more.

Venice Kayak is based on the Certosa island, and our base there got a direct hit. The tornado ran across the island, first close to the hotel where tables and chairs were strewn all over the area, then down the middle of the island uprooting large trees and causing the collapse of the only building left of the medieval monastery which has give the island its name.

It then reached the central part of the island, where Venice Kayak and the Venice Sea School have their boats and equipment. Boats, both kayaks, sit-on-tops and smaller sailing boats were thrown around, some landing over 50m from where they were.

The tornado then continued over the northern forested part of the island, uprooting still more trees, before continuing  across the Vignole to Sant’Erasmo.

On the Certosa island over one thousand trees were uprooted, broken or damaged.

Compared to the damages others have sustained Venice Kayak has escaped the worst, but the damage is more than enough to cause problems for a small company like Venice Kayak.

Most of our fiberglass kayaks are damaged, some severely. One was thrown under a container, which then fell down from its supports and squashed the kayak completely. Another was hit by the bow on another kayak, which must have been thrown like a dart at it. René’s kayak ended underneath the others, and has serious damages front and centre. Most of the other fiberglass boats have lighter damages, but bad enough that they cannot be used unless repaired.

All our plastic boats survived without worse damages than detached hatches and some superficial scratches.

Venice Kayak is still able to do tours, thanks to the robustness of the plastic boats and a bit of good fortune.

We’ll be operating from a different location on the island, and tours will start from the marina rather than from the beach, as there are too many fallen and broken trees in area where the beach is.

Photos from the kayak area

Photos from the rest of the island

Een schitterend avontuur door de lagune en de stad Venetië! Vaar in tien dagen door de stad die uit meer dan 100 eilandjes bestaat en de lagune boordevol natuur en cultuur.

Tijdens deze trip bezoek je de stad per kajak! Een must is het om van te voren een introductie kajakken te hebben gevolgd. De intro 3 daagse toerkajakken is ook een prima cursus om goede ervaring op te doen. U zult hier voordelen aan beleven. Als u al enige ervaring heeft kunt u direct aansluiten.

Read more here: Zwalker – Venetië per Kajak.