Three hours paddling the cliffs and hidden coves along Marjan's south shore, with two swim stops and a cave you can only reach by water. The best way to see Split from the side it was built to face, and easy enough for a complete beginner.
By Ana Kovač
You launch from Kašjuni or Bene, hug the cliffs west, stop to swim twice, and paddle into a small sea cave near the western tip. The water is flat most mornings; the afternoon maestral wind picks up around two, which is why every operator runs the good trip in the morning and the sunset trip after five. The route is about six kilometres with long breaks, and the cliff side of Marjan is the part of Split you cannot see from the land.
Both launch points are swimming beaches in their own right — Kašjuni has the clearest water within reach of the city.
The hill above the cliffs is worth a walk on another day: Marjan Hill.
None required. Guides take complete beginners in double kayaks; the route is about six kilometres with long breaks. If you can swim and sit upright for three hours, you are qualified. The double kayaks are stable enough that capsizing is rare, and the guide will tow you if you are struggling.
If you would rather stand than sit, stand-up paddling from Kašjuni follows the same cliffs.
Swimsuit, sunscreen, water shoes and a hat that will not blow off. The operator provides the kayak, paddle, buoyancy aid, dry bag and usually water and fruit. Bring a phone in a dry pouch if you want photos — the cliff from the water is the shot you came for.
Around €35–45 per person for a group trip including kayak, paddle, buoyancy aid, dry bag, guide and usually fruit and water. Sunset trips cost a few euros more and are worth it. Private trips are €60–80 per person and only worth it if you want the guide to yourself.
Right now · Autumn
September is the best kayaking month here: flat mornings, warm water for the swim stops and low golden light on the cliffs. Trips thin out through October.
Get out there
Guided trips that include this stop, with live availability.
Boat trips
A full day on a fast twelve-seat boat: the Blue Cave on Biševo, the Monk Seal cave, Stiniva's famous cove, lunch on Vis and a swim off Budikovac's turquoise lagoon, finishing with a stop at Hvar town. Ten and a half hours, small group, no coach transfer.
Within a short walk.
Adventure
Board hire from Kašjuni and Bene for about €15 an hour, or a guided paddle along the Marjan cliffs. Flat water most mornings and a shoreline with no boat traffic close in — one of the easier places to learn.
Beaches
The best beach within reach of the city: white pebbles, clear deep water and pine shade on the south side of Marjan. A beach club at one end, empty rock at the other, and a sunset that faces exactly the right way.
Adventure
Bolted limestone routes on Marjan's south face, fifteen minutes from the old town, with the sea directly below. Guided beginner sessions run all year; the rock faces south so winter is often better than summer.
Adventure
The pine-covered hill on Split's western edge, a fifteen-minute walk from the Riva and the reason the city feels liveable in August. Free, open always, with viewpoints, hermit chapels, swimming coves at the bottom and a proper trail network on top.
Family
The south side of Marjan drops straight into clear water over rock rather than sand, which is exactly what you want and exactly what the city beaches are not. Bring a mask, walk in off the stones at Kašjuni or Bene, and it costs nothing.
Culture
The villa Ivan Meštrović built for himself on Marjan's south slope, now the best museum in Split. Sculpture inside, a garden of bronzes with a sea view outside, and the Kaštelet chapel with his wooden reliefs five minutes down the road.
Adventure
Two hours on a board lit from underneath, pushing off Stobreč as the sun goes and paddling into the river mouth in the dark. The LEDs light the bottom through three metres of water, which is the whole point: you can see what is down there.
Adventure
An hour and a half up the marked path from Strožanac to the chapel of St George, topping out around 441 metres with Split, Kozjak, Mosor and the islands all in view. It is free, it starts at a supermarket, and locals walk it before work.
Adventure
Around eleven kilometres of the Cetina through its canyon below Omiš, on grade II–III water in summer. Three to four hours on the river, most of it drifting between short rapids, with swimming stops and a cliff to jump off if you want one.
Adventure
Eight steel wires strung across the Cetina canyon about three kilometres from Omiš, 2,100 metres of cable in total. The longest single run is 700 metres, 150 metres above the canyon floor, and takes well under a minute.
Boat trips
A skippered yacht for the day, out to Šolta or Brač and back on the afternoon wind. Slower than the fast boats, quieter than all of them, and the only way to see this coast the way it has always actually been travelled.
Adventure
Walking, swimming and abseiling down the Cetina where the canyon narrows above Omiš. The extreme version drops you 53 metres beside the Velika Gubavica waterfall and 25 metres again near the canyon exit; the ordinary one keeps its feet closer to the water.