Venice Kayak

A holiday in Venice can be made even more special by adding a day in kayak.

Venice is a city of canals, and it should be experienced from the water in a boat.  The difference in experience is staggering.  There’s not crowd of tourists around. The main sights of the city can be enjoyed in peace. The palaces on Canal Grande can be studied close up.  Canals inaccessible to pedestrians can be explored. Venice almost becomes another city.

All Venice Kayak trips start from the Certosa island. Click here for instructions on how to find us.

A day trip with Venice Kayak is normally a full day's paddling. We meet at 10 AM in the bar of the Certosa hotel, so we're ready in our kayaks before 11 AM. We'll paddle through the day, in a relaxed pace with a good lunch break and pauses as needed. Lunch is either sandwiches or we'll eat in a café or bar along the way. We typically start turning back at 3-4 PM with the intent of being back on the Certosa island around 5 PM and in any case before sunset.

Most paddling trips in the city are around 12-15km.

The route is agreed with you before we start, based on your wishes, desires and skills and on external factors such as traffic, weather and tide. A planned route isn't immutable, and if necessary we'll change or adjust it along the way.

Groups can be up to 6 persons. Larger groups can be arranged, but must be agreed upon well in advance, as we have to find an assistant guide for larger groups.

Required skills

We expect our guests to have basic paddling and rescue skills, to feel safe close to water and to know how to swim. You should at the very least have tried kayaking or canoeing before a few times.

If you haven’t paddled a sea kayak before, but still want to try, we’ll start with a short tour in the calm waters close to our base, before we set out in earnest.

Practical information

Venice Kayak supplies kayaks, paddles, spraydecks, life vest (PFD), paddling jackets and drybags for change of clothes and valuables. The price also includes maps, use of toilets and showers at the camp site, and insurance.

All tours are guided by experienced Italian and English speaking kayak coaches.

Guests should bring sports clothes and shoes suitable for paddling, a change of clothes for afterwards, and protective items for outdoor activities, such as sunscreen, a hat and sun glasses. Water and snacks can be bought on the camp site.

Don't bring cameras that aren't waterproof. It only takes a few drops of salt water to ruin a camera or other electronics. Venice Kayak has one or more waterproof cameras suitable for taking pictures while kayaking. We will send you the photos we take afterwards.