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Beyond San Diego

Original La Jolla Sea Cave Kayak Tour for Two

Badge of Excellence
San Diego, USA
High interest
Booked 5+ times today.
  • 1 hour 30 minutes (approx.)
  • Mobile ticket
  • Offered in: English

Why travelers loved this

4.5
·
· Courtney_W ·
Jun 2026
We had an amazing time on that tour! We love that our tour guides really prioritized safety throughout the experience. We felt very good going out to open ocean with them. They also told us a lot of good facts. Tomas and Summer killed it as tour guides 10/10 would recommend!
· Curtis_W ·
May 2026
Excellent excursion! Guides were enthusiastic, knowledgeable, funny and very helpful. Excursion was adventurous, beautiful and worth doing. Prepare to get wet and work out. Thrilled we did it before we are too old to do it. The guides helped us get into the cave on kayaks and ride the waves in back to shore.

Overview

Explore La Jolla Ecological Reserve's sea caves during a 90-minute kayaking tour. Follow your experienced guide through several diverse ecological habitats, home to one of the highest concentrations of sea life in California. Paddle toward the Seven Sea Caves, where you can get stunning views from inside Emerald Cave, the only north-facing cave in the state (conditions permitting). Explore a giant kelp forest inhabited by wildlife like harbor seals and sea lions. Use of all kayaking equipment is included; no kayaking experience is necessary.
  • Explore La Jolla Ecological Reserve's sea caves during a kayaking tour
  • Follow your experienced guide through several diverse ecological habitats, home to one of the highest concentrations of sea life in California
  • Paddle toward the Seven Sea Caves and enjoy stunning views from inside Emerald Cave
  • This highly-protected and unique area boasts one of the highest concentrations of sea-life in the West Coast. Guests commonly encounter seals, sea lions, and a multitude of birds and fish, and lucky guests might even see dolphins or whales
  • Use of all kayaking equipment is included; no kayaking experience is necessary

What's Included

  • Professional guide
  • 2 person kayak with all required equipment
  • Gratuities
  • 12% Concessionaire Percentage Fee
  • Hotel pickup
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off (if option not selected)
  • Transportation to/from attractions
  • Wetsuits are available for rental for $12.00 per wetsuit per person for the day.
  • Lockers are available to store belongs (small items) for $6.00 per locker for the day.

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

  • 2261 Avenida De La Playa, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA

    Please, ensure that you arrive 30 minutes prior to your reservation time for Check-in at: 2261 Avenida De La Playa, La Jolla, CA, 92037 We have changing rooms, lockers available for rent, and anything else anyone would need to have an amazing experience available at our shop.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

1

Sea Cave

2

Everyday California

Additional Info

  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
  • Children must be at least 5 years old and accompanied by an adult
  • Wheelchair accessible
  • Refunds will not be issued if tour/activity is missed due to late or non-arrival of guests
  • Dress code is swim wear or beach attire (anything that can get wet)
  • Stroller accessible
  • Kayak weight limit is 425 lbs
  • Once you have purchased your voucher, please contact suppliers booking office directly at the number on your voucher to confirm the reservation. Failure to do so may result in not being able to participate in activity
  • Reservations, recommended two weeks in advanced, subject to availability
  • Please arrive 30 minutes prior to schedule tour time for check in
  • A maximum of 6 people
  • Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
  • Most travelers can participate
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 2 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

Marylee_R
We had a lot of fun kayaking yesterday! Our guide is Lydia and Trevor and it was a great experience! Lydia was very knowledgeable and with a great sense of humor to make the tour fun! I highly recommend them because they were patient enough with us considering we were late and still waiting for us. Also, we get discount for life with their merch- since we used them for the tour.

Reviews

4.5
based on 914 reviews
Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

Is great, the guides are...

Yeannari_M, Jun 2026
Is great, the guides are friendly and made very easy. Best experience ever. Highly recommended I’ll come back

Fun!

Jessilee_P, Jun 2026
We are from Idaho and love kayaking in the summer here, so to kayak on the ocean and go into one of the caves was so fun!! The guide was super nice and friendly and very knowledgeable!

Bait and switch, with extra add on fees for using viator.

Derek_B, Jun 2026
I was charged a $15 fee by the company, because I booked through Viator. The second fee seemed wrong. I was ok with spending money of equipment. Then I paid to see a sea cave, we just kayaked in the ocean. There was no sea cave for us to visit. I was told that no one visited the sea cave on that day. The guide was nice, but the companies involved were shady.

La Jolla Cave kayak tour

Thomas_W, Jun 2026
It can be a workout. Water and win were a challenge. Views incredible. We were not able to enter caves due to waves.

Wonderful!

Sara_H, Jun 2026
Wonderful! The guides were amazing, and kept our adventure safe, exciting, and incredibly memorable (thank you!!). I highly recommend!

Amazing time! Great tour! Thank you Tomas and Summer!

Courtney_W, Jun 2026
We had an amazing time on that tour! We love that our tour guides really prioritized safety throughout the experience. We felt very good going out to open ocean with them. They also told us a lot of good facts. Tomas and Summer killed it as tour guides 10/10 would recommend!

Lovely experience

Kate_K, Jun 2026
Lovely experience. Guides were knowledgeable about safety and the area. Instructions were clear and easy to follow.

My boy and I were...

Marsela_N, Jun 2026
My boy and I were expecting a guided tour, that’s not what this was. The gave us life vests and sent us to the beach. There was no guide nor tour. It’s self directed. Not how it’s described and what we expected.

Fun Adventure

Jeremy_C, May 2026
It was an awesome adventure! They had lockers to rent. The staff was super friendly and helpful. We had Ryan and Blake. You will get wet!

La Jolla Cave Kayaking a Win!

Curtis_W, May 2026
Excellent excursion! Guides were enthusiastic, knowledgeable, funny and very helpful. Excursion was adventurous, beautiful and worth doing. Prepare to get wet and work out. Thrilled we did it before we are too old to do it. The guides helped us get into the cave on kayaks and ride the waves in back to shore.

10000% recommend

Juliana_M, Apr 2026
Amazing experience! We had Duke and Sawyer as our guides and we felt safe and relaxed while enjoying our kayaking experience. Would absolutely do this again.

Definitely kayak to the caves

Kristen_L, Apr 2026
The guides Andy and Tatum were great. Andy was very entertaining and filled with knowledge. We saw leopard sharks and other marine life. It was beautiful to kayak to the caves.

Really enjoyed our trip!...

Melanie_M, Apr 2026
Really enjoyed our trip! Our guides were amazing! Devon and sadly I forgot guys name were super friendly!

It was so much fun!!! Our...

Jada_I, Apr 2026
It was so much fun!!! Our guides, Trevor and Jade were very helpful. Along with the shop, they have a lot of things you could buy to accommodate your worries. Amazing experience, I would go again!

Fantastic Ocean Adventure

Kari_E, Mar 2026
Fun times, great guides, Tomas and Bradley (new-did great). We saw sharks, seals, sea lions, birds. Amazing time!

Okay but not amazing by any means.

Jennifer_L, Mar 2026
Make sure you are at the location 30 minutes before the tour is scheduled to depart. You will get wet, so dress accordingly. If you want to bring a phone or device, have a waterproof bag. The caves you enter is a singular cave, and it was very crowded on our tour - you’ll get limited time inside of the rock formations and while stunning it’s very quick. The tour overall was chaotic with ten kayaks and two guides who did a good job of educating the guests on the local sea life but it was very challenging to hear them since you’re on the open water with a large group trying to not run into other kayaks. It’s a great workout so being in some athletic shape is helpful. Overall the experience was underwhelming but I like ocean kayaking and being on the water.

So much fun

Kenneth_D, Mar 2026
Amazing experience and our guides were absolutely incredible. This was totally worth the money¡!!!!!!!

Super fun! Make sure the...

Lorena_L, Mar 2026
Super fun! Make sure the arrive early to find residential parking as they don’t offer any. Guides were really friendly and knowledgeable throughout the tours.

Staff were super...

Todd_U, Mar 2026
Staff were super friendly, gave clear instructions on kayaking, equipment was good. Staff were knowledgeable about the ecology of the area. The cave part was underwhelming. We entered one cavern and stayed about 2 minutes before being escorted out to allow others to enter.

Yay!

Lindsey_H, Mar 2026
Great wildlife viewing- hilarious tour guides! The waves crashing into the cove made it such an experience

What an awesome, educational kayaking experience!

Marylee_R, Mar 2026
We had a lot of fun kayaking yesterday! Our guide is Lydia and Trevor and it was a great experience! Lydia was very knowledgeable and with a great sense of humor to make the tour fun! I highly recommend them because they were patient enough with us considering we were late and still waiting for us. Also, we get discount for life with their merch- since we used them for the tour.

It was great our guides...

Monica_H, Mar 2026
It was great our guides Danielle and Ezra made the experience amazing! I would totally recommend to family and friends.

La Jolla kayaking cave tour

Kristi_M, Mar 2026
The tour guides were knowledgeable and made the tour interesting. Luckily, we went on a day when the water was calm, and we were able to enter one of the caverns. Our guide made sure that we had a safe experience inside the cave. Definitely would recommend this tour!

10/10 do not miss!

Karen_G, Mar 2026
Duke & Lauren were absolute pros. They knew where to find the cool animals, had a wealth of knowledge about the area and were experts at navigating the waves. So so fun!!

Wow!! Amazing!

Amanda_J, Mar 2026
This was an amazing trip!! Guides were very good!! We saw wildlife and entered a cave. The story telling and history…

Great tour!

Jenna_S, Mar 2026
Lauren was super knowledgeable about the ecosystem and history of the sea caves, it was a beautiful day to experience the area

Tour guide needs help

Kris_P, Jan 2026
Tour guide was not that friendly. After 8 years of doing what she was doing, one would think she would be more informative. Not a people person and should probably consider a different line of work. Some of us appreciate a good experience that we pay for!

I wish they would’ve taken us through cave

Ritu_R, Dec 2025
They don’t take you through cave as pictured. Other than that it was good experience. Staff was really good and professional. As shown in picture that’s the closest you go.

It was a very enjoyable...

Thomas_V, Dec 2025
It was a very enjoyable experience, Sawyer was a great guide. Wasn’t too difficult and actually got to see a lot of wildlife.

Guides nice, tour meh, soaked

Kari_B, Nov 2025
It was meh. Never got to go into caves and so was simply kayaking for 2 hours with a few stops to talk about what is under the ocean that we could not see. Also, charged me additional $13 when I got there for some reas since booked on Viator. I may have missed in fine print, but was not obvious if I did?
Likely to Sell Out

From $129.00

per group (up to 2)

up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

Book ahead!
On average, this is booked 9 days in advance.

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