Speedboat Tour Along The Albania Riviera
23rd May 2024 - New Experience Number 13.
If you’re planning a trip to Albania, you’re sure to come across mentions of the Albanian Riviera. I’d seen pictures of the beautiful beaches and crystal clear water along this particular stretch of coastline when I was looking into our road trip to the Balkan country.
Basing ourselves at Livadhi beach for a couple of nights, we decided that the easiest way to experience some of the hidden coves, secluded bays, and most breathtaking beaches in the world, was to take a speedboat tour along the Albanian Riviera.
What's The Hype About?
You know when you see images of a place and it looks so beautiful you question how real it actually is? That’s how I felt ahead of our visit, and I wondered whether it would actually live up to the hype.
If you were asked to describe paradise, we would all probably come up with something slightly different. For me, it would certainly include some of the Albanian Riviera that we saw. I thought it really was that spectacular!
Where Is The Albanian Riviera?
In south west Europe, Albania sits in The Balkans between Montenegro and Greece. The Adriatic sea laps the shoreline in the north of the country and the Ionian Sea rolls onto the coast in the south.
It’s the southern part of the country which has been called the Albanian Riviera, conjuring up images of beautiful clear water, unspoilt beaches and a relaxed pace of life.
Beginning in Sarandë, a small coastal city in the south which lies opposite the Greek island of Corfu, the Albanian Riviera encompasses the coastline that stretches up to the city of Vlorë.
Comprising of quiet villages, rocky tracks, small settlements, and farmland, the beautiful shoreline is not always that easy to get to, and due to the mountainous landscape is not dominated by beach resorts. At least not yet anyway.
Speedboat Tours
The coast of Albania is quite rugged and rocky, and there are many places that aren’t easily accessible on foot or by a wheeled vehicle.
Gjipe beach was on our list to definitely visit. As we pondered which other places along the coast we wanted to see and how to get to them, we realised that one of the easiest ways to experience more of this famed Riviera would be to take one of the boat trips.
Staying On The Albanian Riviera At Livadhi
We were staying at a campsite at Livadhi beach, (you may also see it written as Livadi), which is almost midway between Sarandë and Vlorë. It’s also just around the corner from Himara which is a meeting point for many boat tours in this area.
Livadhi was a fabulous base for us for a couple of nights, with some really good restaurants, a brilliant bakery where we picked up fresh pastries for breakfast, and a variety of bars from the fantastically quirky Boho Livadi to the very flash Blue Horizon, and Blue Bay which was the perfect place to watch the sky change colour over Corfu at sunset, and see the moon rise above the hillside.
Finding A Speedboat Tour Along The Albanian Riviera
There are lots of different boat tours available to visit the Albanian Riviera, and it can be hard to decide which one to pick. With posters advertising various companies, and multiple reviews online, there are plenty to choose from.
I can highly recommend Himara Seas The Day who we did our tour with. I do love a pun, but that’s not the only reason they were so good! You’ll find out more later.
If you are booking a trip yourself, you’ll find that a lot of the tour operators don’t have websites, instead you can get all of the details by contacting them through their social media pages.
Options For A Speedboat Tour
There are usually two types of tour;
Private – you hire the boat and a captain, and that pretty much guarantees your trip will happen. The captain will take you and up to a handful of friends along the coast with plenty of opportunities for a swim. Although you will have the boat to yourself, you’ll probably have to share some of the secluded beaches with other boat tours.
Group – you pay for a place on a shared boat. Depending on the company, these may only run once they have a certain number of places filled. Again, there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy a dip in the water at some tranquil bays.
Tour Destinations And Durations
Destinations – You’ll find most tour operators offer similar packages in terms of where you’ll visit.
Most boat tours start from Sarandë, Himara, Dhermi or Vlorë. Depending on where you begin your trip, there are a couple of key places pretty much all of the boats will visit.
If you’re starting a tour from Himara like we did, most tours will visit places such as Gjipe Beach, Pigeon’s Cave, Crystal Bay, Pirate Cave, Grama Bay, and Thunder Cave.
Durations – Tours typically offer similar length trips ranging from 2.5 hours up to 5 hours – of course there will always be some difference but those are the ball park timings that we found during our research.
Booking On A Speedboat Tour Along The Albanian Riviera
One of the first companies I contacted was through Instagram. They were very friendly in their messages and quick to respond. After finding out their offer and prices, I enquired about doing a group tour the following day. They told me they would get back to me that afternoon. Which was fine, but, it did make me wonder whether they would wait and see if anyone else signed up before they committed to taking us out.
We didn’t have the luxury of time to be able to postpone it to another day. I really didn’t want to miss the opportunity to witness the Albanian Riviera for myself, so found another company and messaged them. Again, they were very quick and friendly in their replies. They were definitely running a trip the next day, so I put our names down.
The first company did message me back but it wasn’t until the following morning, and only about an hour before the trip was due to depart.
Himara - Our Meeting Point For A Speedboat Tour Along The Albanian riviera
The meeting point for many of the boat trips along this mid section of the Albanian Riviera, is at the main beach in the small town of Himarë, (you might also see it written as Himara).
It’s a really nice place where a small promenade with restaurants, bars and of course excursion points, meet the tree covered peninsula
It is all really efficiently organised and although there are a lot of different tours, just look for the name of yours as they’re all well signposted.
My Experience Of A Speedboat Tour Along The Albanian Riviera
Our friendly and welcoming captain, Nico, introduced himself with a big smile, and we slowly chugged out of the harbour.
As soon as we were far enough away from the shallows, he let rip. We were speeding across the water, bumping over the waves, getting faces full of big spray as the boat bounced over the sea. It was brilliant!
The tour included some fascinating history and local knowledge from our captain. He slowed down to point out areas of interest such as Aquarium Beach and Gjipe, shared tales from the area, and gave us time to take plenty of photos. It wasn’t just a tour of beautiful places, it was an incredible way to learn more about the country.
Secluded Beaches
Our tour included stops at two beaches; Crystal Bay and Pigeon’s Cave. Here we got out for a swim and to enjoy the shoreline. There was the option to stay on the boat if anyone didn’t want to get in the water.
We arrived at one beach where a couple were enjoying having the place to themselves. That is until we all descended from the boat! I have no idea know how they got there; there didn’t seem to be any footpaths, there definitely wasn’t a road, and they didn’t have any floating vessles.
Crystal Clear Waters
Getting out of the boat wasn’t too difficult, you could just jump straight into the inviting water lapping at the sides, or we could use the ladders. It may have been a warm day, but the sea still had a slight chill to freshen us up when we first dipped in.
As we bobbed about in the cooling caresses of the waves, I felt exceptionally lucky to be floating with just a handful of other people and some small brightly coloured fish. The peace, the quiet, the remoteness and the almost untouched scenery is something I’ll never forget.
Sun On The Shore
Getting out of the water and on to the shore proved a little tricky as the waves were slightly more forceful than I’m used to. There was no graceful exit from the sea, in fact I was knocked off my feet several times which made me laugh at my ineligance.
To be fair, I wasn’t the only one who made it look like hard work! Most of the shoreline is quite pebbly which can be uncomfortable to walk on. I certainly experienced some wincing and painful steps elsewhere on our Albanian road trip!
However, I’m very grateful we had decided to take our sea shoes with us on the speedboat tour. They may look pretty naff, but they made it ever so slightly easier to walk on the beaches.
Spending time on the shore was lovely. We let the warming sunshine dry us off, relaxed as we took in scenes of the most incredible blue seas I’ve ever seen, and explored some of the small caves.
The Last Leg
Expertly manoeuvering the boat so that the nose peeked into Pirate Cave, Nico gave us the lowdown on the story behind the beautiful phenomenon for our final spot of sightseeing.
Then it was time to take us back to the jetty. Whilst the outbound journey had been hugging the shoreline and interspersed with local knowledge, pausing at places of interest and immersing ourselves in the scenery, the return leg was slightly different.
Whilst we’d thought the boat had been fast before, we went really fast now. Further away from the land, Nico turned up some music and showed us what the boat could do. It was certainly exhilirating!
Why I Loved This Experience
I am not a fan of swimming in the sea. I previously swam in the Baltic Sea, but other than that, I’m not usually all that keen to fully immerse myself into the water. It’s just so huge and not being able to see what’s around me really freaks me out, so I’m usually happier paddling.
That said, the sea along the Albanian Riviera was ideal for me to actually enjoy spending time in the saltwater! With it being so clean and clear I could see exactly what was going on beneath me. In addition, there was no evidence of seaweed which meant I could relax as I’d easily spot if anything was going to brush against me.
The tour was easy to book, and we felt really well looked after; Nico was a perfect guide offering local insight with a relaxed humour.
Whilst the bigger towns often have a more resort feel to them with umbrellas and deck chairs for hire, our tour took us to places where tourism hadn’t made its mark – yet.
Seeing so many incredible places along the coastline, I can see why it is a place that is getting a lot of attention. Natural and beautiful, it really is worth all the hype.
Want To Try It Yourself?
- We took our speedboat tour along the Albanian Riviera from Himara.
- Our tour was with Himara Seas The Day
- There are several places along the Albanian Riviera where you can easily find boat tours. The most popular include Sarandë, Himara, Dhermi and Vlorë.
- You will find you can do a day trip to the Albanian Riviera from Tirana, however you’ll probably only scratch the surface and leave wishing you’d had longer in the area!
- Another great boat experience in a beautiful part of Albania is the boat trip to Shala River in the North of the country.
Cost Of Experience
- Our 2.5 hour group speedboat tour with Himara Seas The Day cost us €30 per person in May 2024.
- Whilst Albania officially uses the Albanian Lek, they are more than happy to accept Euros.
Recommendations
- If you’ve got a dry bag it’s worth taking with you as there can be a lot of spray coming into the boat!
- Take a towel for drying off between swims.
- It can feel a bit fresh after you’ve got out of the water and you’ve got the wind in your face as the boat moves on. Take a layer to put on that you don’t mind getting wet with sea water.
- Make sure you’ve got sun cream and don’t forget to use it.
- If you’ve got goggles, or a snorkle, take them along to get a fantastic clear view of the array of bright and colourful fishes you might be sharing the water with!
- Take sea shoes if you’ve got them to make walking on the pebbles easier.
- We were able to book a tour for the next day, however, this was in early May. If you’re going in the peak summer months it’s definitely worth booking a tour in advance.
- Don’t forget your camera! You’ll get the chance to take pictures of some incredible places.
- Take a look at some of the other travel experiences that I’ve claimed as new things towards my annual goal of trying fifty-two new things.
This was so informative! What a beautiful destination with clear waters. I’m happy to hear you got to enjoy some time in the salt water. Thanks for sharing such beautiful photos!
Thank you :o)
Hope it wasn’t information overload! Still feeling incredibly lucky we got to experience such a phenomenal place. Thank you for reading!
This sounds like it was such an amazing trip! All of the photos are so beautiful! Thank you for sharing all of this very helpful information!! 🙂
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Thank you so, so much! I really appreciate it, and I’m glad it is helpful information. Such a beautiful place, I still can’t quite believe we got to see it!